Advocacy & Safety - how much have poorly maintained roads cost you?

Today i was on my bike trying a new route and was forced on the sidewalk by aggressive drivers then after a block, it went downhill and before i knew it i was at the curb to the street with a pot hole smack dead in the middle of the edge of the street close to the curb. so then it hit me: Would it be cheaper to just try and break and flip over and get some scrapes or try to jump it and buy a new back wheel? so i went with the wheel and to say the least i'm out 100 bucks for a new back wheel. which has added up to about $210 all because these damn bad roads over the past 3 years.

How much damage did bad roads cause you?

A few tubes.

(if glass & steel wire counts)

Today i was on my bike trying a new route and was forced on the sidewalk by aggressive drivers then after a block, it went downhill and before i knew it i was at the curb to the street with a pot hole smack dead in the middle of the edge of the street close to the curb. so then it hit me: Would it be cheaper to just try and break and flip over and get some scrapes or try to jump it and buy a new back wheel? so i went with the wheel and to say the least i'm out 100 bucks for a new back wheel. which has added up to about $210 all because these damn bad roads over the past 3 years.

How much damage did bad roads cause you?

None. I've never travelled so fast on a sidewalk that I couldn't brake for dangerous potholes.

My bike originally cost me $300 and came with crappy wheels. My ride goes over 8 miles a day of gravel roads which are often quite rough, though I wouldn't call them poorly maintained, that's just how gravel roads are.
The factory wheels only lasted about 1500 miles IIRC, but the 12 spokes I broke in that time were all due to load/unload because they were improperly tensioned.

Once I gave up and built my own wheels, I never had any trouble regardless of what I hit. Eventually I did break an axle on the rear, but it took 5 years and 15000 miles of gravel road punishment to do it.

Again, I don't feel these roads are poorly maintained, but they are quite rough.

There are some poorly maintained roads around here but I don't have to ride them.

There aren't any sidewalks here so it's not really possible for me to be forced onto them.

Donno, haven't gotten the hospital bill yet. Some permanent scars or my face. I'll refer to the thread for more details.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?631959-I-crashed-but-I-m-a-ight

Not a thing.

I knew beforehand how nasty the streets were and are here, so my rides have all been MTB. Part of that choice, of course, was due to the fact that the potholes would be AT LEAST as rough on ME as they would the bike. (Had an HT set up with a rigid post for ONE DAY -- swapped in a suss post, never went back....)

Sure, my fat tires are slower than your skinnies -- just as my >30-lb. machine is slower than your <20-lb one. That, for me, translates into MORE SADDLE TIME, so it's a no-lose situation.

Potholes, broken pavement, curbs, etc. -- practice field for my hopping skills! Fun, and marginally impressive for the .000002% of drivers that actually care enough to look my way.

I lost one wheel to a big pot hole going down a hill at 40-45 mph. Just recently I took the impact of some terrible bumps on a club ride, not to swerve and crash another rider, which has left me a rim with a flat spot, soon to be replaced.

I do avoid bad roads, but I could not avoid those two situations.

My bike slipped out from under me on a street that was caked with something, nothing happened to the bike but my knee hasn't been the same since then.

I've already got new rims and spokes in the closet, which I purchased cheap some months back. Its a matter of when, not if, I'll need them.

Today i was on my bike trying a new route and was forced on the sidewalk by aggressive drivers then after a block, it went downhill and before i knew it i was at the curb to the street with a pot hole smack dead in the middle of the edge of the street close to the curb. so then it hit me: Would it be cheaper to just try and break and flip over and get some scrapes or try to jump it and buy a new back wheel? so i went with the wheel and to say the least i'm out 100 bucks for a new back wheel. which has added up to about $210 all because these damn bad roads over the past 3 years.

How much damage did bad roads cause you?

I had a semi-major accident where, I didn't have to go to the hospital but, I definitely had to take my bike in for repairs. The 'Trrafic & Engineering' department had not left a construction cone on the concrete base that still remained from its' former position. I ran into the concrete base of the traffic light's former positon. It felt like I ran into a brick wall.

$2000 deductible (out of about $3500 total) for a broken collar bone a few years ago.

In cases of personal injury caused by unsigned road hazards left by construction or maintenance crews, I'd chase after the municipality for covering my medical expenses. Around here they'll jump at the chance of simply covering actual medical costs instead of getting sued for P&S if they left some hazard unmarked and someone gets hurt.

My commute bike was built with crappy roads in mind... I just had too many little issues (falling, flats) with narrow tires and the local roads and impatient drivers.

So I had a "tank" built. Does that cost count?

yesterday I passed one pothole – actually it was a space between a sewer and the new pavement on 62 heading toward route 2 and if I didn’t see it - it would have gobbled up my front tire and flipped me on my head. The road crews are absolute idiots even when they do work on the roads

yesterday I passed one pothole – actually it was a space between a sewer and the new pavement on 62 heading toward route 2 and if I didn’t see it - it would have gobbled up my front tire and flipped me on my head. The road crews are absolute idiots even when they do work on the roads

A few years ago, Honolulu roads were so bad, I was destroying a rim about once a year. I even switched to a full suspention mountain bike for awhile and the roads stress fractured the rear triangle on it.

I report every pothole I find and if I suffer any damage from one then I will be going straight to the council to get them to pay for it. It is from years of their mismanagement that the roads are in the condition they are.

Today i was on my bike trying a new route and was forced on the sidewalk by aggressive drivers then after a block, it went downhill and before i knew it i was at the curb to the street with a pot hole smack dead in the middle of the edge of the street close to the curb. so then it hit me: Would it be cheaper to just try and break and flip over and get some scrapes or try to jump it and buy a new back wheel? so i went with the wheel and to say the least i'm out 100 bucks for a new back wheel. which has added up to about $210 all because these damn bad roads over the past 3 years.

How much damage did bad roads cause you?

I was returning from an appointment today(actually yesterday) during afternoon rush-hour. Since I may have injured my knee previously, I was having a harder than average time, not just dealing with the traffic. But also dealing with the parts in the road, that had worn away, down to the first layer in the road. I actually crashed at one point, trying to navigate the sidewalk. I hate riding on the sidewalk.

Today i was on my bike trying a new route and was forced on the sidewalk by aggressive drivers then after a block, it went downhill and before i knew it i was at the curb to the street with a pot hole smack dead in the middle of the edge of the street close to the curb. so then it hit me: Would it be cheaper to just try and break and flip over and get some scrapes or try to jump it and buy a new back wheel? so i went with the wheel and to say the least i'm out 100 bucks for a new back wheel. which has added up to about $210 all because these damn bad roads over the past 3 years.

How much damage did bad roads cause you?

I was returning from an appointment today(actually yesterday) during afternoon rush-hour. Since I may have injured my knee previously, I was having a harder than average time, not just dealing with the traffic. But also dealing with the parts in the road, that had worn away, down to the first layer in the road.

At one point, I had to get on the sidewalk because it would be less pressure on knee. I actually crashed at one point, trying to navigate the sidewalk. I hate riding on the sidewalk.

why are Honolulu roads so bad? isn't the weather there great?