grolby

It happened on Wednesday. I was behind two cars at a traffic light. The light turned green, and as I pedaled away, I glanced down for a second as I clipped my brand new shoes into the clipless pedals I had installed on Saturday. CRUNCH! I suddenly found myself sprawled on a the trunk of the Chrysler convertible in front of me. I got a foot down, then followed the convertible the rest of the way across the intersection, where we pulled it over. How I made it without falling is something I'm not clear on - I couldn't steer! When we stopped, it became clear why. My front wheel was half an inch or more back from where it was supposed to be. The fender hardware was catching on the frame. Well, the guy driving the Chrysler turned out to be a class act. He offered me a ride home, which I gratefully accepted given that I clearly wasn't riding any futher that day. The accident itself was clearly my fault. Though the guy in front of the fellow I hit had no reason to abrubtly stop, I should not have had my head down for even a fraction of a second. It only a took a 10 MPH (or less) impact to really hurt my bike. Fortunately, I was unharmed.

When I got home, I inspected the damage to my bike. It turned out that I had managed to bend the fork (which I had just replaced a month before; go figure), and to bend it at the steerer somehow, right above the fork crown. The blades are still fine. Once I saw the damage to the fork, I started inspecting my head tube and head lug. My worst fears were confirmed - there was a tiny crinkle in the paint on each side of the headlug at the join with the downtube, and a slight but definite bulge on the top of the headlug extension on the downtube. I'd zinged my front end but good. It's not a question of if the joint will eventually fail, but when - 5 miles or 500,000, there's no way to know. It looks like my faithful commuting, touring, all-rounder bicycle, my first 'real' bike ever, and the first bike I poured my heart (and a lot of my money) into is going to that big bike heaven in the sky.

What it amounts to is that I need a new bike. Fortunately, I have a backup. I currently live car-free in an area with sketchy bus service, so my bicycle is my lifeblood. Unfortunately, the backup (which is my rain bike, and will be my primary winter ride) isn't adequate for my car-free needs. It's an old Schwinn LeTour III converted to a three-speed. There's no way to mount a decent rack on this bicycle. Shopping will be a challenge.

Luckily, my parents may be willing to help me (a poor, starving student) by contributing toward a replacement. Sadly, I will not be able to purchase the bike I wanted and was saving up to buy in the spring - it would have worked as my all-round, all-weather commuter, with my now-killed Miyata as the long-distance, heavy-duty hauler, retired from daily riding. But now I need a bike that can do all of those things, except for the worst of the salty winter roads, and a bike that can do it for less money. Right now, I'm thinking that the bike is going to be a Surly Long Haul Trucker. By transferring the drivetrain parts from my current ride and using the v-brake road levers that I've had lying around since the beginning of creation, I can probably keep the damage to $800 or less. I'm glad that this might work, and getting a shiny new bike is a neat prospect, but it's sad to say goodbye to an old friend.

Sorry for the long post, just had to share. Advice, sympathy or random musings welcome. Ride safe, everyone.

jyossarian

Sorry to hear about your loss, but a Surly LHT can be pretty pimp w/ the right choices. Since you're on a budget, transfer over everything you can, but take a look at some of the LHTs in the Commuter Pics thread. There's some nice rides in there.

unkchunk

Whoa... I'm impressed. Not many folks can do that. Good luck getting the new bike. Oh, and glad you're okay.

Falkon 

Gotta keep that head up! On and off the road!

If you need another rain bike, I have this old lugged raleigh sprite frame in nearly perfect shape with fenders already on it. It's setup to be a single speed deal.

ZachS

sounds like you just need a new frame. glad you weren't hurt.

madscot13

Sorry about the accident. Honestly htought I would try and scrounge up for the more expensive bike that you really wanted. my logic goes like this: 1000 is only two hundred more than eight hundred, and that is less than half the cost of a new eight hundred dollar bike. catch it? The internal hub seems really cool.

bmclaughlin807

Meh... I'd raid the thrift stores, garage sales, and check Craig's list. Find a cheap bike with a useable frame and swap the stuff over. You'll be back on the road for less than $100, and not kill your chances of getting a new bike in the spring.

I paid $50 for my Raleigh Technium, and I love it. All told I have $390 invested between two bikes, all my equipment, and the cycle clothing that I wear.

xB_Nutt

I almost did the exact same thing last week on my way home. Luckily I looked up in time to lock the brakes and skid to within inches of the Honda Accord in front of me...Sorry to hear it didn't work out that way for you, bro. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Good luck getting whatever bike you decide on built/bought and on the road. Surly Cross Check would be on my list to check out as well...

Jasonv8z

Sorry to hear about the bike. At least you were ok. It scares me to be directly behind/in front of a car. I stay to the right, and if cars are stopped at an intersection, I head to the front. If there's no room on the right, I'll split the lanes. If I want to draft, I stay just off the corner of the bumper, but I never want to be directly in the path of a motor vehicle. In an accident, the bike will always lose.

oboeguy

That's exactly what I was thinking. No sense in compromising your dream bike for a short-term (few months) fix.

Banzai

Good luck to you.

I know that Surly's have a nearly cult like following, and are reputed to be of terrific quality (I want to build a Cross Check myself), but if you are on a really tight budget have you given thought to transfering your components to a Nashbar touring frame? It's less than half the cost, and it's aluminum, so rust won't be as much of an issue.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

grolby

Thanks for the kind words and advice, everyone.

The advice to get a cheap replacement now and save up so I can still get my Bianchi makes sense, and I did think about it. The thing is, I do need a touring bike, and a Surly LHT with hand-picked components is another, albeit older, dream bike of mine. The Bianchi (or similar internal-geared road bike) can do pretty much everything except haul loads over hill and dale, unless I get pretty inventive. On the other hand, I CAN get pretty inventive, and might be able to sell some parts to make up the difference. And the San Jose has mid-fork eyelets for a front rack, so the only issue is the gearing. Hmmm... now you've got me thinking! I'll have to give this a bit more thought, but it might be possible to have my Dream Bike by the end of the summer. Maybe. If not, I'd be really pleased to own an LHT. It's a good, solid bike. Thanks again everyone!

Banzai

Do an internally geared LHT. It's a little more money, but if you did the chainring ratios right, it certainly could haul gear over a hill. If you run Shedon Brown's gear calculator for a Nexus 8 speed with a 44/22 combo I think you'll be surprised just how "load friendly" that gear ratio goes.