episodic

Surly Cross Check 2011.

Riding about 12 mph with son. Miscommunication, and I 'turned' into him (thought he saw we were turning, probably my fault). Anyway I hit the ground drive side clipped in. The chain is physically bent in 2 places. I took it off. It may be my imagination, but the crank doesn't seem to turn as freely. I just can't tell if the derailleur hanger (which is part of the frame) is hurt any. The front wheel has a 'wop' in it, and I found a spoke with a small bend in it and a scratch on the rim.

I'm beside myself as I love this bike, lol. I won't be able to get it near a bike store for a little while. What is likely wrong when these things happen?

FastJake

Uhh... you crashed and broke stuff?

Are you sure the chain is bent? Does it have stiff links or something? You must've hit really hard to damage a chain. I'll clamp old chains in Vice Grips as makeshift chainwhips and have never actually bent one.

The crank is probably fine. They generally don't appear to spin as free as wheels do. If the chainrings are still straight and the arms aren't damaged I'd say it's good to go.

Does the RD still shift ok? If it does, no work is needed. If it doesn't, well then you have to figure out if you bent the derailer or the hanger.

Sounds like your front wheel needs a new spoke and a quick truing. File down the scratch if it hangs up on the brake pads. Otherwise leave it.

episodic

Yea, the link is physically torsioned (twisted) in two places. I had heck pulling it out even with a quick link. Looks like someone locked it in a vise grip and twisted it. I guess I can't tell if the RD is ok until I can get a new chain. I have no idea how you figure out what size spoke you need, they don't seem to publish the mm length on Surly's site anywhere, been looking. Can you call surly and order the correct spokes from them? Anyone know?

electrik

Take a spoke out from the side that is good, the shop if it's up to snuff will have a spoke-cutter there and make you a new one. As for that "wop" in your wheel... badda bing... you should probably just get the wheel true'd up again.

bradtx

"The chain is physically bent in 2 places. I took it off. It may be my imagination, but the crank doesn't seem to turn as freely."

-Item one is to replace the chain, item two is likely a non issue if you have a cartridge bottom bracket.

"I just can't tell if the derailleur hanger (which is part of the frame) is hurt any."

-The new chain will help diagnose the RD.

"The front wheel has a 'wop' in it, and I found a spoke with a small bend in it and a scratch on the rim."

-The spoke(s) need replacing and wheel retensioned and trued.

Brad

episodic

Part of the problem is I live in middle of nowhere. The nearest bike store can't stock much as they are so small I'm sure they don't have the cutter. I wish I knew as I'd like to order the right stuff rather than be fixed with pulls off of other stuff. I know there isn't much y'all can say for me now. I'm just bummed and venting. This is my transportation, and I'm stuck walking for maybe weeks now. To top it off my knee hurts bad now.

Thanks for thoughts the replies.

jediphobic

Even if they don't have the automatic machine, they'll still have a cheaper manual cutter. In fact, they're more likely to since they're small. We're tiny and don't have room for every spoke length, so we just keep the more common ones, and some uncut ones for everything else. If you have a spoke off the wheel, you can measure from the bend than hooks into the hub, to the end of the spoke in mm, and that's the size. They come in boxes of 30 to 60 spokes though, so it might be quite a bit cheaper to go to the shop.