Colorado Kid

On the way home Tuesday night, some guy hit me and I flew like Superman (according to eye witness.) into a Corn Field. After a night in ER I have this to report. Broken Sternum, two cracked Vertebrae and a whole lot of pain. Fortunately the cop got the guy and now I have 5-6 weeks off of work because of my accident. To make a long story short, the bike is totaled as well as some of my gear. Can anyone recommend a good winter cycling jacket as well as a commuter bike similar to a touring bike, aluminum frame preferably?

spivonious

Glad you're not dead! Doubly glad that the police caught the guy. I hope he's convicted and thrown in jail.

Lots of bike recommendation threads on here. Just do a search.

bombardier

OP gets hit by car, mangles body, comes on BF the next AM on the prowl for a new ride - now that's some dedication. Enjoy the "time off", how do you think you'll spend it?

As for your bike recommendation request - whats your budget? Do you want disc brakes?

Mark Stone

Ouch! Glad you're a survivor!

locolobo13 

Sorry to hear that. Rest & heal. No recommendations except now's the time to think about the bike you've been dreaming about.

tjspiel

Very sorry that happened and I wish for you a speedy recovery.

Jim from Boston

+1 x2.

After my cycling accident that totaled my bike and left me with a fractured sacrum and three months off work, I went from a classic steel Bridgestone RB-1 road bike to an ultralight, ultramodern Specialized S-Works. It happened in the summer, so I eventually got new Pearl Izumi shorts.

But a new bike was a minor concern until I made sure I could ride again (after five months).

no1mad 

Uh, you've lost a day some where. OP got hit Tuesday PM and it is now Thursday AM...

acidfast7

112

??

Dave Cutter

Glad you're alive and will recover! Bummer about the bike.

I hope the guy that hit you carried insurance that can/will reimburse you for your missed work and other losses. Also that your employer doesn't feel too deprived by your absence (but is at the same time is reminded how needed you are). Don't sign anything without a lawyer.

zandoval 

RATS - Another sternum and Back - Glad your alive - Having had similar injuries I would recommend that you get or rent a Lounge Chair that extends to standing - It will really help with your sleeping and pain...



Its going to be a few months till you ride again -I am at seven months but hoping to ride soon...

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ga-chromo.html

Rudz

Wow, what a trooper. Glad the cops caught the guy. I hope his insurance pays you enough for your dream bike

no motor?

Me too. You'll have plenty of time to shop, ,ake sure you post some pictures of your new ride after you get it.

DiabloScott

I'm recovering from a broken pelvis - not as bad as your diagnosis. And my bike (not commuting) came out of the accident with minimal damage. But while I'm not able to ride my commute bike to work, someone stole it from my side yard! Hasn't been a good month for me and bikes.

Anyway, my Masi fixed gear commuter with all the goodies like lights, rack, fenders, saddle bag etc is gone. I wanted another fixed gear and yesterday went down to LBS and put a deposit on this one: Trek District S. Aluminum, flip flop, forward dropouts, lots of room for fenders although I would've preferred V-brakes over the long-reach sidepulls... almost exactly what I wanted - not sure I'll keep the riser bars - I'm more used to road bars but I'll give them a chance and there's plenty of room for gadgets.



Why do they so often airbrush the tire valves out of these pictures?

Mark Stone

Wow, that's strange. I never even noticed that. Now I gotta go to all the bicycle websites and look for valve stems on the wheels - -

rumrunn6

already planning for winter? right on man!

FBinNY 

Best part of this is that the disabling injury will keep him from working, but not from riding. Don't post any Facebook pictures of you riding while on sick/injured leave.

downwinded

Good advice there.
Glad your going to be able to recover. Those injuries could leave nagging problems. Don't push for too much too fast. Give yourself time to recover.

Colorado Kid

Thanks everyone for the great replies. Trust me, I don't think the pain could let me on a bike much less ride it. Anyway, I'm gathering ideas of what to get when I start riding again. This goes to the next question, so should I get a fix gear bike or geared bike? ( I don't know how much money the insurance company will give for my old bike-55k & 11 years old.) I would like a fixed gear but there are some steeped hills around here. As far as budget, $500. to 1,000K.

Dave Cutter

I just try to turn the wheels so the stems don't show when I photograph my bike(s).

DiabloScott

Well if you're OCD about bike photography, the stem lines up with the tire label which you DO want to show. On the District S photo, you can see that Bontrager even designed their branding so that the top and bottom labels are both right side up when the stem is down (you can see the valve hole where the stem should be if you zoom in).

Anyway, I can understand having a preference for the crank position and the wheel positions for aesthetic reasons in the photograph - but I just don't understand the "no valve" look. In my case, I was wondering if the bike came with Schraeder valves - doesn't say anywhere in the specs and they don't show up on the photo so I guess I just have to wait to find out (and swap them for Presta).

Dave Cutter

No..... But maybe I am a little CDO (correct alphabetic order).

dscheidt

Age of the bike is pretty well irrelevant; you had a properly maintained bike, that you expected to last forever. Now you don't. That's your loss, make them make it whole. Get a shop (ideally, one that sells the brand your wrecked bike is, if such exists) to say "This is the current production version of that bike" and provide a quotation for the bike and whatever accessories (saddle, rack, bags, lights, computer, ...) were on it. Compared to the medical bills, the bike is peanuts. ($1000 won't even pay the ambulance bill in Chicago...)

prathmann

That was my experience when my bike was wrecked although the accessories were salvageable so I didn't include those - and in my case the claim was only for the bike damage since my injuries were very minor.

It's not really like the case of a totaled car where you can usually find something that's just about equivalent in the local used car market. Bikes are often significantly customized by the owner and also have to be the right size to fit properly. So the chance of finding something equivalent in the local used bike market is very low. I didn't get any argument at all from the insurance agent when I presented the price from a LBS for a new bike to replace my 12 year old one that had been wrecked.

tsl

Heal well. I too am amused that only days later, you're thinking about the bike.

+1 Same thing when I was hit back in 2009. The driver's insurance company treated the bike as a trivial expense. Never argued the LBS's repair estimate, even though it exceeded the value of the nine-year-old bike.

As for an aluminum bike in the $500 to $1000 range with rack and fender eyelets, I've been nothing but delighted with the Ribble Winter/Audax I bought just over a year ago. It's available as a complete bike starting at $756 or a bare frame at $143. (Plan on $80 for trans-Atlantic air freight.)

I bought the bare frame and the Deda Black Rain carbon fork with fender eyelets ($121), then moved components over from my old frame. Right out of the box, it fits 25mm Conti 4-Seasons under SKS P-35 fenders, or with Reacharounds Fender Brackets in the back (the front is fine without them) it fits 28mm Conti 4-Seasons under the P-35s. (This is on the wide Velocity A-23 rims, BTW.)

Audax is the term the British use for what Americans call brevet or randonneuring. In other words, a bike designed for comfort over the long haul--200 to 1200 km in a single ride. The difference between it and a touring bike is that the Winter/Audax doesn't fit tires wider than 25 or 28mm, and it prefers not to carry more than about 40 pounds on the rear rack.