Originally Posted by tgot

I wasn't there, but here is mine: A high-school friend was riding home from my house on his dad's brand new 10-speed. Quick releases were newish, lawyer lips non-existant, and when he went over a bump the front wheel dropped out, and the fork then drove through the spokes, halting the front of the bike.

The same thing had happened to me, 2 weeks earlier, on MY dad's bike with the giant wing-nuts that were tough to get properly tight. I went flying over the bars, destroyed my gloves, but not much else.

My buddy's hands were caught in the brake cable loops, preventing him from braking his fall. He landed smack on the side of his face, and got a serious road rash. Plastics work was good, but he still spent all that summer indoors to avoid sun on the new skin and scars.