Can I have a what’s it worth thread please?

2 weeks ago i was knocked off my bike and shattered my wrist. Went for a check up yesterday and the surgeon confirmed it’s royally buggered. 3 months off the road bike, but it’ll never gain full strength, will probably need the bones fused next year, and all things pointing to any kind of rough off road out the question for a long long time.

This leaves me with 2 mtbs that will be gathering dust and I’m working out whether to sell now rather than wait till they further depreciate in value. Thing is, I imagine they are worth buttons …

Specs are:

2015 giant trance with 1x xt and carbon wheels. Done around 400 mile total. Upgraded with mattoc 2, fox dropper, hope e3 brakes, all of which have done less than 30 miles.

2nd bike is a yeti ascr, 1x xt, sids, fox transfer, Dt x1700 wheelset. Again in very good condition.

Not sure if i really want to sell, especially not the yeti, but at same time seems kinda pointless if I’ll never be able to ride them again. So really just trying to work out if it’s worth my while financially.

Ta

Not great news but I’d wait to see how strong you can make it and see what you can ride…

You should definitely be asking about other’s experiences of recuperation / alternatives to fusing after similar experiences. Infinitely more positive then flogging your stock because of depreciation. Chin up dude.

What Dick says.

Consultant told me 3 years ago not to run more than 5k after knee surgery.

I ran 40 mile ultra last weekend, No pain at all in said knee.

Defo don’t rule out mtb for good. I rode with a guy at uni a few times that had one arm. (plus about 6″ of the stump on the other) Yes the bike was heavily modded (front brake and both gears on one side, used left arm stump to control a body harness brake lever for the rear wheel – all his own creation).

He was bloody rapid. Uphill he was quick but on the descents he was insane – easily as fast as the fastest guy I was out with!

I’d imagine something like a broken/weak wrist could be adapted for reasonably easily – even if it takes a few weeks CAD and a 3d printer!

EDIT: Also – I don’t know the story behind the accident but definitely worth claiming for Loss of amenity, can’t remember the exact numbers but I remember this guy had paid for all the modifications and a fair bit of specialist kit from the compensation, pretty sure it was into the many many thousands of pounds.

Bad news there bud.

You could keep the yeti surely. Even if it only lets you get onto rough forestry tracks that you couldn’t ride on a road bike.

Sell one keep the other for a year and go from there. Then wear a wrist guard and see how it goes. Ive been able to ride a bit of cross and off road despite the wrist. Can trade scans 😉 . Do the physio and then some more. Add strength. It will get better.

Surgeons are famously pessimistic about recovery. Probably because they know what butchers they are and are secretly amazed that the patients recover at all 🙂 Obviously I don’t know what you did to your wrist (and it sounds horrible) but it probably wasn’t as bad as what Froome did when he rode into that wall at full pelt and he’s back on the bike already. OK, he wasn’t on an NHS waiting list for physio, but you get my point.

Yeah I’ll admit I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I dont think I could bare to sell the yeti tbh..i think it’ll just need to be used instead of the gravel bike (which is now broken as a result of said crash) from now on. Probably alot more comfy as well.

Wrist is a really bad dislocation/break. Chap said hed never seen anything similar in all his year’s as a surgeon. Feel free to tell me tales of other miraculous recoveries from injury however ! I could do with some positive vibes.

but it probably wasn’t as bad as what Froome did when he rode into that wall at full pelt and he’s back on the bike already.

My thoughts exactly when i pointed out froome had been close to death and is back on bike in 4 months! Unfortunately he pointed out my injury, whilst less serious, is far harder to fix! Whilst frooms leg snapped in half, my wrist dislocated in 4 places and broke in many many more apparently!

Never say die. I thought I was never going to ride again after nearly sawing off my thumb at work. Two years later and I was riding again.

According to the doctors, after my injuries, I shouldn’t be able to use my left thumb, load my spine or elevate my right arm. I still ride my bikes and go rock climbing but I do it carefully, take precautions/use strapping support and stop when it hurts.

Doctors want to wrap you in cotton wool but only you know how your body feels and what you are comfortable doing. See how you heal up before making hard decisions about the things that you love doing.

doctors always give the worst case scenerio. Mine told me not to go mtbing as it’s dangerous after a break.
Can’t be too hard on him as he did a great job at plating my shoulder up.

When I did my wrist in (operation, pins etc.) I found that riding a downhill bike on downhill tracks was far less painful than a 5″ full suss XC bike. 8″ forks and rear suspension made everything a lot smoother and less bumpy on my wrist.

I’d keep which ever has the longest travel and smoothest forks.

I did my hand and wrist in multiple places, broken, fractured and pinned, both hand and wrist… Recovery is 100%, never given me a moments trouble and was pretty mashed up.

I’d say keep the yeti at least!
Was in a not too dissimilar position 3 years ago, broke both wrists and arms but the left wrist was a proper mess, 1st surgury the surgeon basically said he was going in to save my fingers, my wrist would be fused and that was that. Fortunately I was then moved to a hand and wrist specialist and several surgeries and 8 months with a completely immobilised left wrist later I could start riding again. The movement is much reduced, I have to wear a brace to protect it, but I can ride almost as well as before. As I’m an MTB guide in the alps then I think day in day out riding of alpine trails counts as mountainbiking, not just riding along a forestry road! Injuries differ, the standard of care I received in France may or may not be better than what you have available, the road back might take a lot longer than you think and even when you’re back, it might be painful and frustrating, but I’ve seen folks riding with some pretty messed up bodies. If you still want to ride, you’ll find a way and for me, having a bike I really love sitting there waiting to be ridden again is a big help.
I wrote up everything I found from a lot (LOT) of research into how to recover from wrist dislocations and breaks from a MTB perspective, it mostly focuses on the scaphoid as that was my, and most peoples, problem bone in the injury but a lot of the stuff I found carries over, it’s all here: http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2018/scaphoid-stories/ hopefully it’s useful to you.
Good luck.

Healing vibes OP.

So annoying when it’s someone else’s fault, I know from my own less serious experiences.

Mate of mine was hit by a car, broke most his ribs, both shoulders, plates in spine, open wounds, head injury (you name it!) this was only last year and thought he’d never ride again; police said he shouldn’t have survived…

Long story short, he’s already done more miles than me this year! Then again, I am a lazy sod!!

There was something in last months mag about a lad with a weak wrist/hand who did a placement with Hope and he designed a brake lever with 2 blades so his strong hand could operate both front and back brakes so he could still ride.

“When I did my wrist in (operation, pins etc.) I found that riding a downhill bike on downhill tracks was far less painful than a 5″ full suss XC bike.”

Indeed. Big forks run soft, riser bar and ride from your feet/hips. Avoid super long reach bikes that demand you lean on the front in turns. Prove him wrong!

If Ton can still ride after all the stuff he’s had done, so can you.

I’m really sorry to hear that.

Don’t give up hope yet. I was told in 2009 I won’t be able to ride again, my wrist will never been strong enough, I might need a joint (or two) fused and worst of all “We’re going to ask a specialist *something* to speak to your about an adapted vehicle and some things for your home.

I won’t lie, it hurt like hell, the physio was a sadist, it took 9 months to get to the point I could sit on a bike and hold my weight on the bars, it was another 6 months before I dared to ride anything ‘proper’ but 14 months after the accident I was riding Whistler Bike Park.

You know the old saying, “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail”? That applies to Surgeons too. They can’t help it – Solution=Surgery. If you’re not in too much pain and it’s healed, don’t have it fused. If you are don’t be afraid to get a second opinion – I spend a relatively tiny amount of money to speak to a fancy Consultant at my local Spire hospital, he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know in regards to my injury, but he did tell me lots about different options. For me it was “well, if you want to ride, ride, the pain will stop you if you can’t do it”.

Ultimately I got another decade as I was, the pain has been bad and getting worse the last 2 years or so, so I asked the GP, she sent me for X-Rays, spoken to another Surgeon, I need some metal work removed as it’s causing issues and my carpel tunnel done (metal work has caused it) bosch, 4-6 weeks recovery and I’m good as gold again. 10 years of healing gives them a lot meat to worth with.

Surgeon said that my wrist looked like a paper bag full of broken biscuits on the xray!

I had an external fixator on for a while.

It’s a right manky shape now but I’m back riding normally. Took a few years to get it all sorted but got there in the end.

Keep your favourite bike so that you have something to get out on when you are ready.

I’d wait and see, a fella near me rides the same 25ft jumps etc with a stump wedged into a bar end and the bars, I reckon with some adaptation you could make a brace to ride the mtb.

Some decisions dont need to be made until they are made for you.

So in otherwords, dont sell.

See what you can ride in a few months time and go from there.

I twisted my left leg almost 180 degrees riding motorcycle enduro – told that riding a bicycle would be out of the question. Turns out that was incorrect, Ive been riding road and moutain bikes ever since with no problems. Just took a few months to get over it and a few weeks of riding to get back up to speed.

My gymnastic coach smashed the head off her humerus and was told she’d never be able to handstand again….

Thanks for all the encouraging words folks, it’s made me feel better.

Just stuck the tt bike on the turbo and am going to try it out tonight to see if I can train pain free. Any ideas on best way to keep the cast as cold as possible as I believe the main risk is sweaty cast and itching. I have a big fan, and will be outside. Was thinking an ice pack over the cast but that may just be a ridiculous idea.

Stick at the physio. I shattered my wrist at the Foxhunt last year and got a pile of titanium in it.

While I’ve not done much bumpy stuff this year it’s getting stronger all the time and I’m pretty sure next year I’ll be back on the MTB properly. If you don’t use it you’ll never get it strong enough.

Oh, and buy a wrist support/splint – they are cheap and make a huge difference.

OH mate. Thats gutting, BUT take it as a challenge to prove him wrong. Mate of mine shattered his wrist, proper mess and now rides with a wrist splint which limits the movement and flexing of it. Took him a while to get use to it but he’s flying now.

Defo call on the positive insights shared already.

FWIW I was hospitalised with a collapsed lung age 10. Doctors said I would never play football again – an especially big blow as that was probably the most important thing to me at that time. ‘Twas a load of pessimistic twaddle given I played Sat/Sun leagues into my 20s.

Healing vibes bro.

Given I’ve just been informed my mtb days are pretty much over…

C’mon……that’s a bit melodramatic aint it?, i know folk with one arm who ride mtb offroad (pretty bloody well actually) – I can’t stand up unaided and when i do manage i have a few seconds vertical before i fall down or manage to hold onto something for support due to no muscle control or leg strength (secondary progressive ms) and i still ride my mtb, albeit now with a throttle equipped bafang motor on my cove hummer as my legs don’t work at all for peddling or walking, admittingly i seem to spend most of the time wrestling with my useless limbs on the ground after falling off on the tiniest of roots/wet leaves/mud/puddles, yesterday i spent an hour and a half lying on the ground in my local woods till a dog walker came along to help me back onto the bike and when i set off the back wheel spun on roots and spat me off again, so i was helped back on and 2nd time lucky i managed to get all the way down the hill and out the woods to a flat road.
I used to have a scott e-genius with a bosch motor that was brill to ride due to plus tyres and decent suspension but i had to sell that as i couldn’t get any way to convert the bosch motor to throttle power so i converted my old cove hummer with a bafang motor, not nearly as good as the bosch but at least i can get out the house.

There’s always a way to carry on, don’t give up

Oh yeah, watch out for the itching. It’s a nightmare!

I’m not going to go back over what people have said about recovery, I think that, rationally, you probably know all that. I will say that you can exceed what your surgeon is telling you. Stick with the physio and give it time. Your bikes will not go off or get stale and they will still be waiting for you when your wrist is strong enough.

Stick with it.

Worst case there’s a chap who rides in my local cyclox league with only one arm. He’s never last either 😎

tpbiker, just wait and see how YOU feel after your recovery. you may be very surprised mate.
the specialists are not always correct.

i have 3 fused joints, and a false one. with a bit of careful planning and a bit of reigning in what you ride, offroad riding is still doable.

Given what Hope have done with one lever/two brake braking, and a recent thing I saw from Ribble re adaptations for one handed shifting and braking, your days are not done yet!

Might be worth an appointment with Brian Simpson in Ipswich, he’s sorted many a Moto crosser and Motorcycle racer after bad/near catastrophic injuries.

Surgeons are famously pessimistic about recovery. Probably because they know what butchers they are and are secretly amazed that the patients recover at all

This made my day! 🙂

Suppose you could sell them, use the money to pay for good physiotherapy to help it heal, then once its good again acquire new bikes?

I dislocated my wrist, broke my scaphoid and snapped ligaments about 10 years ago. I needed three operations on it including k wires and a screw in my scaphoid.

Is my wrist 100%? No, I only have about 50% movement and reduced strength. However it doesn’t stop me riding one bit, I’ve got a good wrist brace and it’s helped no end.

There’s no reason you can’t continue to enjoy cycling once you’ve recovered as much as you did before your accident.

Nope it’s not over you can overcome and recover, just look at Tommy Wilkinson for inspiration

Overcoming all obstacles – riding with one arm by Tommy Wilkinson