First crash on my new bike
09-30-09, 04:24 PM
#1
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First crash on my new bike
I was going 25+ because the roads I was on were really nice compared to the country roads I was just on. I was just about home and on the last turn it happened. There are construction workers erecting a building so there was all kinds of dirt in the road, which I forgot about and was probably why I crashed. That and I'm not great at cornering yet. Didn't hurt much because I slid so much. A lady came over briefly to see if I was ok and I don't really remember what she said, something about road rash. I was too busy looking over the bike to see if it was ok, which for the most part it is. Nothing visibly wrong with the frame, bought the bike about a month and a half ago, but the handlebars are bent in and the tape is scrapped up. I don't have a mallet but when I crashed on my dad's steel road bike I would just hammer the bars back out. Can I do the same with aluminum bars?
09-30-09, 04:30 PM
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No Aluminum is more brittle than steel it will break and possibly cause another crash. Just buy a cheap set of used bars.
09-30-09, 04:41 PM
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+1 as they say. I wouldn't bend the bars back into shape, if it were my bike.
Unlucky though. I well remember crashing a once brand new bike on the first ride, upon hitting a viscious patch of ice over a bit of uneven road surface. Luckily that was just a bar tape problem (and some skin, but that's free
)
Unlucky though. I well remember crashing a once brand new bike on the first ride, upon hitting a viscious patch of ice over a bit of uneven road surface. Luckily that was just a bar tape problem (and some skin, but that's free
)
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09-30-09, 07:01 PM
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turns out out the bars aren't bent after all. the shift levers were just bent in and a guy from our club helped reposition them. i guess right when i saw it i immediately thought they were bent because it happened all the time on my steel bike but later i realized it was only the shift levers/hoods.
09-30-09, 07:09 PM
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I had a similar problem, about a month ago I got a new road bike. The 3rd day I had it I raced it as well. My right shifter was twisted inward, and it scared the heck outta me cuz I thought I busted my bars. Good to hear it was only that for you too.
09-30-09, 09:13 PM
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turns out out the bars aren't bent after all. the shift levers were just bent in and a guy from our club helped reposition them. i guess right when i saw it i immediately thought they were bent because it happened all the time on my steel bike but later i realized it was only the shift levers/hoods.
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Get a bicycle. You will certainly not regret it, if you live.
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09-30-09, 09:25 PM
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Always have to watch the road, especially the corners...sounds a lot like closing the door after the horses have run off eh?
09-30-09, 09:32 PM
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Yeah I definitely jumped the gun. I'm kind of glad to have had my first crash, now maybe I won't be as obsessive over making sure everything is ok. I also need to work on my cornering because I might be racing crits next year and it sounds like they're real tactical with a ton of crashing so I guess it's good to start figuring out my limits now.
09-30-09, 09:38 PM
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Glad you're ok. It's kinda like getting the first scratch on a new car, good to just get it over with. I did a minor tumble recently on my new Ti road bike and picked up a few scratches, after having only had the bike for a week, and having gone all summer w/o incident on my old bike. Guess I can't call it my "new" bike anymore... oh well.
