A pothole ate my bike!

Riding downtown, paying attention to the traffic, I didn't watch the road close enough... I look down and there's this humongous bike-eating pothole right in front of me! I yanked up on the handlebars and got the front wheel over it, but I NAILED it with the back... hard enough to throw one of my panniers into the street.

A bus was nice enough to stop and let me retrieve the pannier, but sure enough, when I got back on the bike.... thump..... thump.... thump.

That wheel is toast. Bent the rim pretty good. Looks like I'll be throwing the wheel off my old Azuki on there. *sighs* I'll be shopping for TWO wheels, now... one for the mountain bike and one for the road bike.

Bah, sucks man

Thought about contacting the city to fix the pothole? Would require serious persistence most likely though

You would have to b@#$% about it forever, but most cities will pay for your repairs caused by their pot hole.

Ugh Sorry dude. How bad is the wheel out of true? If it's <1 cm, laterally, I'd be willing it can be bent back and built up by someone who's good at that sort of thing.

With the number of potholes around Denver, they'd be in for a HUGE bill if they paid for all the damages.

On my commute I pass at least 20.

Emphasize that it's a safety issue, and you could have been injured. Cities loathe personal injury lawsuits. (My aunt once stepped on a loose manhole cover and compound-fractured her leg. Not a pretty story no matter how it's told )

It's got a huge flat spot, and both edges of the rim are dented. I'm surprised it actually held air and didn't explode the tube/tire as well. It's toast. I have an older steel wheel I can throw on there for now, till I can get a replacement. It's the back, so braking isn't THAT big a deal.

Ya no doubt but if you're persistent, go to the right meetings, etc it will get done
The squeaky wheel gets the oil in a bureaucratic system

It's not worth it. Would cost more in time than a new wheel. *crinkles his nose*

I hit a local pothole with force on time and flattened the tyre. Thankfully the wheel was still OK.

I reported the pothole and it was gone within a week.

I hit onw with my car (yeah I know, i said car) last year and trashed a brand new tire ($110) and a wheel ($150) there was no way to avoid it. I didn't try hard enough to get mine paid for but the pothole was fixed the next day when I went back to get a picture in case I needed it to prove my case. The important thing was the pothole getting fixed (in my case) and it gave me a reason to get rid of my larger rims and low-profile tires that some previous owner of my car thought were cool.
The important thing is that you are ok. I wish you luck in getting a new wheel paid for by the city. It sounds like you did what you could do to stay safe and you handled the situation well. So at there's something to be happy about

Don't jump to that conclusion two quickly. In the past, I've been involved in risk management and claims settlement for several municipalities. Policies vary, but about two-thirds of them paid claims like this routinely, just in response to a single phone call or letter. It won't take you all that long to make a few calls and find out.

That sucks. I've been having quite a few issues with potholes lately (as has everyone in the denver metro area). Fortunately I have been able to dodge quite a few and have only hit small ones.
The potholes combined with the ice, slush, or ice slush and water is making commuting unenjoyable for me. I am seriously thinking about getting a trainer and keeping the bike inside until this melts. It's too damn stressful. My arm and hip still hurt from last week's crash.
A trainer appears to be my safest and cheapest option. Must ponder....

Meh. They can have my bike when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers!

New wheels? Just buy some cheap rims. Your hub and spokes are fine.

To the OP, Sorry to hear that BMC. Gads that sounds like some nasty roadway.

Eh?
Who is trying to take your bike?

My bike club has a pothole reporting form. I tried sending it in once. Pothole was fixed in a couple of days. It can't hurt to report them.

Sorry to hear that. My worst pothole was on the way home at night, raining cats and dogs, shiny road, it was hiding in a puddle and I never saw it until I felt it. Flatted my tire instantly, but thankfully my wheel was still okay. Just had to walk home in the rain, for which I was already inadequately dressed and therefore soaking. Thankfully, it wasn't too cold (although not warm either), and I was only 1/2 mile from home.

Heck, fix the pothole yourself

I reported a giant one. It runs from near the curb to six feet (or so) from the curb. It's still there. I reported it in fall 2005. Even worse, downtown, the right lane is generall concrete (for the busses) and the left lane is pavement. On one several block stretch, there's a seam between the two that's half an inch to an inch thick for several blocks. And this is just before the intersection at which I turn left. I reported it a couple weeks go, but no action.


Reporting is important because some cities have a policy that they will pay for pothole damage only if they had notice of that specific pothole. I believe Columbus has that policy. Also, if the pothole damages your car, I think they pay only your deductable.

kind of what blickbolks said:

i did the same thing last year and was able to get he shop to put the rim from my matching front wheel on to the bakc wheel.

since they were both 36 spoke it then allowed me to put a lighter front wheel on there.

at utter most you should only need a new rim (provided you can find a similar replacement).

also really easy to rebuild yourself by just taping the new rim to the old wheel and just transfer the spokes over one at a time (a monkey can figure this one out ). get the shop to tension it for you if your not comfortable doing that.

The wheel itself came with my $50 bike. I rebuilt it myself once before. I can get a new wheel that's just as good for about $35, or a used one that was rebuilt by hand for about the same. It's not like it's a $100 rim or anything. I already threw on the wheel from the bike I parted out a few months ago. Steel rim, so the braking is gonna suck, but it's on the back, so not THAT big a deal. I'll look around and see what I can find, but I'll probably drop by my favorite bike shop in a couple weeks and pick one up.

As far as reporting it, it's not like the city doesn't know about the potholes... they've got crews out working full time filling them up! We have literally HUNDREDS of potholes, due to the weather we've had the past month and a half or so. *crinkles his nose*

I feel for ya bmclaughlin807!! Denver is going to have lots of pot holes in the near future. Is the cold and streets ever going to clear :-( Take care and keep your eyes open

Hundreds is an understatement. I think it is more in the 1000s range. Plus, old potholes reopen every day. Maybe not this week since it is colder.