I lent my carbon road bike to a pal for a race abroad and apparently its rear wheel got buckled in transit. No great shakes as these things happen and shes happy to replace, however a couple of questions …

You reckon this is worth claiming on household insurance? Wheel is £300 quid, and whilst she offered to pay I kind of feel bad that shes having to…

Rest of the bike has apparently been checked out by a shop and theres no visible damage at all. It did get me thinking however if the frame could be ‘internally damaged’ given something has clearly given the rear wheel a bit of a pasting.

thoughts?

You feel guilty making her pay for something that broke on her watch? She not let you have her wicked way with you yet then?

If I borrowed something, and it broke whilst I had it, I would replace it like for like immediately. Your pal thinks the same. The rest of the bike has been checked, so go with that for now.

You reckon this is worth claiming on household insurance? Wheel is £300 quid, and whilst she offered to pay I kind of feel bad that shes having to…

I reckon if you claim it’ll cost you more than £300 over the next 5 years premium increases, and whenever you want to change Insurers you’ve to declare it…

What’s your excess? Probably not worth it if you’ve to pay the first £200 of a claim.

Different lady munro biker! But well remembered….

I’m not making her pay,, infact she ordered it before I even knew about it. It was more the point that I thought I could help her out with cost through my insurance.

That said br make a valid point, so probably not worth it.

Perhaps she could claim off her home or travel insurance?

If it’s got a decent hub, is it worth building a new wheel around your existing hub, might work out cheaper for her and you get to customise the wheel a bit?

With regards to further damage such as the frame etc, it would be useful to know how the wheel damage happened, and how the bike was transported.. She must have some idea surely?

Also if it was damaged in transit, there may be some recourse from the ferry /airline company?

This was done recently, but if you are open about it being damaged in transit (flight?) then I think you’ll find every single insurance policy that exists explicitly excludes damage during a flight, even an airlines own insurance

Really? In the case of a flight you generally have to pay extra to ship ‘sports equipment’ so your saying that’s completely at your own risk? Doesn’t sound quite right.

she thinks just in transit…bike was packed in large cardboard box.I don’t think for a second it was her fault, shes a very experianced cyclist who travels the world competing at the very highest ladies level and carts her bike all over the place.

Having looked at the course she was riding i wouldn’t be that surprised if it happened during the race and she didn’t notice. Ladies tour of Norway….had a few cobbled sections!

On a side note isn’t it shocking that someone of the calibre to race in a UCI race against the likes of orica greenedge doesn’t have the team support to be offered a spare bike (hers broke the week before the event).

she’s racing abroad but doesn’t own a bike ??

and, dood, a couple of alcopops and a bag of chips is what gets the laydeez wanting you – not a bike

anyhow, about these women-only carriages, …

err, 😉

Dan W, I think you might be wrong i travelled 2months back with easy jet, bike damaged in transit, easy jet paid in full no questions asked…no hassle, I was amazed. I didn’t make a claim on my own insurance at all but it was covered there to.

I may have just caught them as they were heading to the the pub though

Really? In the case of a flight you generally have to pay extra to ship ‘sports equipment’ so your saying that’s completely at your own risk? Doesn’t sound quite right.

I think it is more paying for an oversized item that is harder to accomodate, nothing to do with the value to you. Bikes are expensive and easily damaged so it makes sense to exclude. I’ll try and find the thread where another forum member was struggling to find insurance to cover the bike during flights…

I found this Interesting article .

I couldn’t find the recent thread here with someone struggling to insure their bike during a flight (I think it was to NZ), but there are two similar very old ones here and here. Snowcard seemed like the only option at the time but in the wording of the policy damage top all MTB’s at any time are specifically excluded. I realise it is a road bike here but things don’t seem straight forward with damage to a bike during travel.

Basically OP, I would scrutinize the home or travel insurance before claiming if you go down that route as most policies exclude damage to bikes during air travel.

This doesn’t make sense. She ‘competes at the highest level’ on a borrowed bike and transports it in a cardboard box…? They’re all sponsored and use Bike Box Alan’s shirley?

On a side note isn’t it shocking that someone of the calibre to race in a UCI race against the likes of orica greenedge doesn’t have the team support to be offered a spare bike (hers broke the week before the event).

Yeah, it is a disgrace to be frank.

Nicole Cooke had to work to support her cycling, madness.

I’ve done a tiny bit of googling , and predictably it seems airlines don’t always pay out without a fight, although some do..

I’d suggest contacting the civil aviation authority if you have no joy with the airline, and if then no joy, sue the airline via money claim online (small claims court).

The fact you’ve paid a premium for the bike to be carried, suggests a duty of care by the carrier.

I suppose it depends on effort you are prepared to go to.

The fact you’ve paid a premium for the bike to be carried, suggests a duty of care by the carrier.

Err no, it doesn’t. If they charge you extra because your bag is overweight does that buy you enhanced compensation?

whoa, back up there a second…

Having looked at the course she was riding i wouldn’t be that surprised if it happened during the race and she didn’t notice

if it happened when she raced and she didn’t notice, i.e. she continued to ride it, how is it not repairable?!

bike was packed in large cardboard box

and only one wheel got buckled? Whilst in the box? Chinny Reckon, cos having flown bikes regularly for 20 years I can’t see how just a rear wheel in a bike box would get damaged in transit. I can picture a box being filled so ineptly that a wheel could be squashed and bent as a result of packaging (rather than actually being transported), but every bike box I’ve used the rear wheel has stayed put between the, er, stays, and it’s the front wheel that’s vulnerable as it gets put alongside the frame.

Either way, she’s damaged it she repairs or replaces it. Just can’t figure out why it can’t be trued.