post crash inspection?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by dogface
i took a pretty good spill today on a downhill on the trail and while i escaped with a few scrapes and a slight headache (thank god i was wearing a helmet) my bike is a little worse for wear. the front tire is mangled, tacoed two different ways and a small piece seems to have broken off the front brake. can anyone tell me what checks i should making to make sure the bike is ok and still rideable. the rest of the bike seemed to be fine when i gave it a really quick lookover.

Don't take chances with the front end of the bike. Unless you want to use your broken bones to get sympathy from girlfriends, it's the last place you want to see a failure.

Front wheel/tire mangled: replace.
Pieces of front brake broken: replace.
More than cosmetic damage to the fork: replace.
Any cracks or bends in the stem or handlebar: replace.

I assume you get the idea...

the only thing I would do is give the bike a good cleaning and check all welds with a flashlight for any cracked paint. If you see cracked paint on any weld it could be a cracked weld/frame. You do not want to cruise down a hill with a cracked frame.

Ron

I would second all the advice given so far, if in doubt don't risk it.

If your helmet took much impact at all it may be time to replace it too. Sometimes they can be damaged and still look fine.

To be really safe you could ask a bike shop to inspect your bike.