Road Cycling - Wheel damage. How does that happen?

Been road biking for a month on my new Lemond (about 200mi so far). Yesterday, here iam , having a great ride of about 18miles,and began to relax a bit. After checking the road ahead and behind, decided to adjust my shoe etc...and boom, before i know it, iam on the ground, all over the road, completely surprised. This was inside a park, so it was OK, other than the embaressement factor. I was pleased that i didnt get hurt much.

Get up, got a few scratches, and some rash, but OK. However, the bike's front wheel is completely twisted. I did not hit anything,and was on a flat, riding at no more than 8-10mph...just lost concentration. About 10 miles prior, i did hit a pothole, but everything was OK after that.

Question: Can the wheel give up based on a prior impact,and throw me down? the LBS i went to, swears that he hasn't seen such a bent wheel in a while, other then the ones that meet an automobile! I need a new wheel now. I somehow believed that wheels are made much stronger than this, and might just go out of true; not get destroyed. Would i be wrong in wanting the wheel to be checked to see if it was structurally unsound in the first place. Do you guys change your wheels often?

Realize, though, that i am a newb in this business!

I think when you went down to check your shoes, your weight on the handle bar shifted and caused the bike to snap sideways which upon impact probably broke the wheel.

Bike wheels aren't amazingly strong to side loading. IMO, today's low spoke counts make the situation worse.

slovid's theory is probably right. You got the front wheel sideways, the tire bit into the road with your momentum pushing... game over.

What you need to do is determine if the rim is warped or if you've just pulled a few spokes from the nipple. Though your LBS is the best judge because we can't see the wheel.

Thanks, guys. Your analysis seems to hit the nail on the head; I think the handlebar must have turned at an acute angle, and side-loaded the wheel. I am still surprised that bikes are built so tough and light, and yet there was a failure of this kind. Quite a learing experience, although i still was wondering if this is something that the manufacturer should be made aware of.

F1_Fan....were you also switching between OLN and SpeedTV last sunday to catch the TdF and Hoceknheim? I was :D

I am still surprised that bikes are built so tough and light, and yet there was a failure of this kind. Quite a learing experience, although i still was wondering if this is something that the manufacturer should be made aware of.


For the wheel to be resistant to the side loads we're dicussing I think the result would be a much heavier (and unridable) product. Think of an F1 suspension... it's very strong and light but get hit in the wrong way and it'll crumple like a beer can.

Of course, if your wheel was super strong we might now be having a similar discussion about a damaged fork.

To be honest, the accident you had is a one (or maybe two)-in-a-lifetime thing. I've never damaged a wheel like that in 15 years of riding even though I've had my share of crashes.



F1_Fan....were you also switching between OLN and SpeedTV last sunday to catch the TdF and Hoceknheim? I was :D

Not far off it... I'm in the Pacific timezone so all that happens way too early for me. When I was sleeping, the VCR was recording TdF while my PC was capturing the F1 race. Got up and watched the TdF tape while the PC was burning the captured F1 video to DVD. After the TdF I had breakfast then watched F1.

I've got it down to a science... no flipping :D