85 distinct dings in two rims on the old step thru Peugeot Iseran that was recently donated...
this is counting parallel dings as one ding, and all the single side ones.
most were to both sides.
the bike has new tires and tubes, along with all new cables, and a lubed chain, from "a few years ago", according to the donor...
the hubs are nearly devoid of grease, what was there was Ancient and rock hard.... and all the bearing adjustments were too tight...
when the work was done, she was charged for "what he called "A full strip down and Rebuild". the Rer Der. cable was not in the guide under the BB, and was too tight to allow the derailleur to reach the small cog in back... the rear shift cable loop was so short it had bent the end cap at a 30* angle... the rear brake loop was 4" too long... on a plus side, the cables are/were SS and slick ground.
next up: headset and BB inspections.
it's a "spare time" project...

wow. 85 rim dings...upward of 140, if counted separately.
i have now laced up two VGC used 27" rims to the hubs, using SS spokes and fresh nips....
the bike is being converted to flat bar along the way...

what's the worst rim damage you've found on a "it still works ok ! " bike?

... uh, is there such a thing as cage fighting on bicycles?

hmmmm...... we used to play Bicycle Soccer on pavement.. it was a fairly bloody event at times.
we used those brown/red playground balls because they'd just mush and fly out of the way when you ran over one... using basketballs never worked out well..

does that count?

Was it ridden without tires? Can you post pictures maddog34 ?

Well, I've quite successfully ridden home (and finished races) with significantly dented sewup rims. Hit a puddle disguised deep pothole in mid-winter Michigan with LowRider panniers loaded with books. A full 1" deep indent. Bump bump bump home. Collapsed a GP4 with 17k lava dust miles and no remaining sidewall on a routine crack. Roughly the same indent and 15 miles home. (A newspaper could have been read through the missing sidewall with not a lot of difficulty. A clincher would have died violent death years before.)

The race incident was a lot less significant. A very fast 4 hour race that started two hours late. I'd kept my tires soft-ish to not hammer me on the poor roads of the late 12 mile stretch where the race was going to be won or lost. Two hours after I thought I'd be finished and showered, I simply did not have enough air to make it over the RR tracks 1 mile before the finish. Dented both rims significantly but being old-school 1970s aluminum, both not an issue except for the noticeable bump and easy to pull straight enough to finish the year as race wheels. And I placed in the finish. Those dents made no difference at all.

My training wheels had Arc en Ciel rims. Light for training but good for club races and good enough to be back-up wheels at races. New England roads took their toll. By fall they were so far from round and straight I automatically re-built them over winter with new rims. But all these wheels were for tubular tires. Never a rim to tire fit issue. Well glued tubulars simply didn't care how round or dented the rim was. I also rode cheap 400gm tubular rims on my fix gear that got year 'round service. Those rims were free-form polygons by March. (I loved the MAFAC Racer brakes that were so forgiving stopping on those totally trashed rims. Clinchers are different animals. Higher standards of operation ore required!

Yes. A badly dented tubular rim doesn't necessarily mean the end of the ride. I rode another 90 miles of gravel at Chino a couple years ago on this one:


Almost broke my heart though, a 40 hole Scheeren, replacement almost unobtainable.
Brent

There is bicycle polo, a rather rough contact sport. I played it two or three times and then realized how foolish it was for someone my age.