rollsroyce

First off, here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

blood on stem


blood on spokes


gnar gnar


Now that you are thoroughly sucked in by this compelling imagery, I need your advice.

Got hit-and-run by a car here in NYC while on my Columbus SL 80's Ciocc San Cristobal. I'm ok, but my bike might not be. The wheel is an obvious goner, but when I got home, I noticed one single tiny ripple in the paint about 1.5 cm wide on the top of the top tube just behind the head-tube lug. The direction of the ripple runs perpendicular to the top tube and it is no more than a millimeter in thickness. The geometry of the bike has not changed, and I suspect that as far as this type of damage goes, this case is not so bad. But, I still would like to know that its just the paint and not the tube that is affected. What are my options in determining if this is a crack or a just paint ripple? Am I left to somehow strip the precious original Italian paint where the ripple is? Sandpaper? What would you do? Thanks in advance and sorry for my roommates creepy lurking toes in that one photo.

DiabloScott

Yes your wheel's history but we need photos of the frame.

Generally a head on will cause a bulge on the underside of the downtube near the head lug... got anything like that?

rollsroyce

Heres a photo:


It wasnt a head-on. I got T-boned. I inspected the undersides of the tubes at the head tube joints, and what is in the photograph is the only noticable damage.

vpiuva

I won't report the creepy toes to a moderator if you send me that skewer.

CampyGuy

If that's the only damage to the frame I would keep riding it. A friend of mine rode his bike for years with big bulges, and considerable rust, on the top and down tubes. I told him he shouldn't be riding it like that, but he refused to stop as it was his only bike.

coelcanth

just wipe your blood off the stem

lotek 

If you got t-boned, and there are no bulges on the underside
of the head tube or down tube I'd say the frame is Ok. Just to
be sure you might want to have a shop double check.

glad to hear you're ok, and yah, clean the stem.

Marty

norskagent

On a semi-related note, I just got back an old ciocc from the powdercoater, it looks fine except for 3 or 4 pin holes evident on the underside of the top tube. Not sure if they resulted from the blasting or were hidden under the old re-paint job. Is this thing safe to ride?

tuz

Seconded.

A guy at an LBS told me that he once saw a bike ridden without the TT. That's stupid of course, but my bike has a few dents on the TT and I'm not stressed. I would *maybe* sand the paint to check it's not a crack.

Hope you'll be back on the road soon.

luker

The bike is certainly rideable; however, if there'll be an insurance claim, I'd get the thing fixed. It is steel, it is easy for a good frame guy to fix, and would only cost about $75 (uh, plus paint). Still no never mind for most insurance companies. A tweaked neck muscle, however, could set 'em back big. Was there insurance?

DiabloScott

It was a hit and run.

Old Fat Guy

Even if it is a hit & run, insurance in some states mat require that it be paid. In Michigan, for example, there is 'no fault' insurance. The claim would be paid from a pool, or from ones own insurance (providing the injured has insurance).

File a police report, and check into it.

rollsroyce

Thanks guys. I'm gonna have the frame checked out today just as a precaution. I dont know what more a shop mechanic can tell me that I dont already know, but it'll be nice to have another opinion.

I dont have insurance because I dont drive and I wasnt aware that such a thing as cyclists insurance existed. I'll file a police report, but here in NYC I have a feeling it'll just get filed in with the rest of em. Cops (and drivers) around here don't take too kindly to cyclists.

On a semi-positive note. I'm gonna be posting a few nice things in the for-"trade" thread because I need a temporary front wheel or a new wheelset. Items include Super Record front and rear derailleurs and the Campy skewer from that destroyed hub. Check it out! Thanks again!

luker

A little additional unrequested advice from an old guy that has crashed a whole lot...get back on the bike as soon as you can. Those scars have to stretch back into the riding position that you prefer, and its easier to stretch 'em while they're forming!