Noob here,

Last Friday I was cycling to work as usual and was riding out of saddle when something 'popped' and my left foot dropped at speed and, from the best deductions I can make, a chain slip caused the bike to seize up I ended up going over in a tangle at quite some speed.

Result = both right shoulder ligaments torn (will never heal), cracked rib, severe calf pull and numerous grazes and impact point bruises where I was in a spin (darn clips). Fortunately my helmet took the dent destined for my brain.

Now the bike's crank is still in tact, but it seems the chain popped off the rear freewheel to the wheel side. I suspect that at speed that caused a rear wheel jam that took me down. I'm still in too much pain still to give it much of a look over - but the chain is sat to the wheelside of the cog (though it still rotates).

My main question is why would this happen? The bike's new from the beginning of the year. I did have freewheel bearing issues so had it changed a few weeks back. Since then I felt the occassional 'slippage' but didn't think it was of major concern. That could be my lack of experience of course - could this be mechanical failure brought on by poor work? Or is such a jam not unheard of? How can I go about ensuring this'll never happen again ('cos after the 6-8 weeks this'll take to heal I am, frankly, a bit worried about getting back in the seat)?

Cheers,


Mike