I collided with a 4×4 that had stopped in the road going downhill at about 25mph (no I don’t know how). My trusty ’98 Stumpjumper M2 appears to have come off a lot better than I did, the brake levers are bent, the front disc seems to be bent somehow, but apart from that it seems OK. I’ve not given it a good clean and had a real proper look yet though.

Has anyone got experience in inspecting for damage? I’m hoping to get back on a bike again after three months recovering, I’m guessing I need to be looking for cracks/bends in the frame, steering (Easton EA30 kit), forks (rockshox recons). Its a light frame and it was a hell of an impact so I’m really surprised it appears to be minor damage – the back of the 4×4 was a real mess apparently although a lot of that will have been my body.

I’d take it to a bike shop but I struggle to trust bike shop mechanics, they often look like they are barely old enough to legally work, plus it is kind of in their interest to say x needs replacing etc, I’m probably being paranoid though. This is my commuting bike but its a great bike and I worked my a*se off for £3 an hour to buy it back then, so I don’t want to just abandon it.

Cheers

tbh you can buy a new frame for £100, better to chuck it now than for it to fail in a big way with you on it.

If nothing is bent then unlikely to be much damage. I’d get a shop to check it, although it’s mostly obvious stuff like alignment etc – much of which can be checked by eye.

I take it was head-on? If you were following it then who’s liable?

@ br, yeah the main thing I’m worried about is it looking fine but then the head tube coming off under heavy braking and it all happening again or something daft.

@cynic, I was going down the hill behind the car, somehow I missed it had stopped until too late, got on the brakes for maybe 1 second, I don’t know, I don’t remember much. I don’t know who is liable, I didn’t admit it was my fault, just described what i could remember to the policeman who turned up whilst I was in the ambulance stuck into a spinal board, basically I remember having to come out of the bus/taxi/bike greenway lane we have here in edinburgh because some MELON had parked in it despite clear signs saying you can’t until 9.30am, then some distance after that I hit the 4×4 that had stopped in the road. The distances from that to where I crashed just don’t add up in my head and I have no idea how it could have happened, the police didn’t interview the cars behind or any other witnesses so I’ll never know. The guy I hit said he would fix the damage to his car through his insurers, not heard anything in three months, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the car twice recently with damage still on the back of the car, so no idea what’ll happen there. I just want to get fit again and put it behind me to be honest.

somehow I missed it had stopped until too late

Seems that you are liable.

Were you wearing headphones?

Bike shop it, on the off chance that you do make a successful claim – not sure you will as it was bike into car, not the other way round.

If it was bike into car I’d bike shop it for accident damage every time, other guys insurance will be covering it and any replacement parts.

No I wasn’t wearing headphones – I don’t know how people can ride with headphones, especially in cities, crazy fools.

@missing, I’m not planning on making a claim as I didn’t have bike insurance, if thats what you meant, I don’t quite follow.

Never mind the bike, what did you do to yourself?

@ bigyinn, I was pretty lucky but still managed to get in a bit of a mess. Basically as I went into it in the ‘on bike’ position, arms and knee took most of the hit, so had a broken collarbone on the left, mashed up right shoulder, badly bruised right knee which footballed up, bent my back badly, and then loads of bruising and some small cuts. Was thoroughly x-rayed in hospital and had a CT scan for internal bleeding and kept in for obs for 24 hours. Collarbone was actually the least painful thing for the first 24 hours, and back was the most troublesome after that, I couldn’t sleep for more than a few hours for a month or so. I’ve got a frozen shoulder now following the collarbone break.

Main thing is i didn’t hit my head hard, it was a honda crv, if it had been a range rover my head would have made contact and it would be a whole different game, as it was i think my head was over the top of the back and I only had scratches on my helmet, possibly from hitting the road. Might have been worse with a car too – might have gone flying. Also the guy that runs the shop I crashed outside of said the last person that crashed there, on a motorbike, died, as a bus went over them. That gave me the heeby jeebies as I landed in the bus lane.

Ride safe peeps!

Glad you’re on the mend at least. Sounds nasty!

Cheers, just wish bikes healed too!

Hey bigjim, that sounds grim. As per bigyinn glad that You are on the mend.

Personally I wouldn’t trust a frame of that age after it’s taken a shunt. But given the sentimental value I would trust Andrew at the BicycleWorks in Argyle Place to check out your frame. If anything has borked the frame it will show on the surface – rippled paint, or alignment. 5 minute job to check if you have the tools. Seriously he’s a good guy and very busy all the time, so very unlikely to chisel you for doing unnecessary work.

Good guy. Used to be an elite level xc racer he did.

@bigjim – Where did this happen? Was it over by Dick Vet School? Glad to hear you’re on the mend.

@scotbike, cheers for the recommendation, I’ve had a couple of small things done at Bicycle Works and found the guy really good so maybe I’ll take it along there. Then again a new frame is sounding more and more tempting…

@ml , cheers, no it was going down the hill from bruntsfield place to tollcross. I’ve been commuting that way for years and have seen a couple of nasty bike smashes along there – saw a guy who’d gone through the side window of a car that had turned across into a side road, looked horrible. Its so easy to get up to traffic speed on stretches like that, it kind if made me realise how a little mistake by rider or driver can be really bad that fast.

TBC in cannonmills. They know what they are talking about.