dgrenthum

So i finished my road bike about 6 months ago (never got a chance to post it) Been riding it 100 miles a week and have lost 25lbs over the last 3 months, yay me. Under 300lbs for the first time in 10 years.

Well, on my usual 30mile sunday ride, my buddy and I had a green light heading through an intersection. He was about 15 ft ahead of me and made it through without an issue. I saw a car coming from the oppostie direction and he decided he need to take a left and the quickest route was through me. I watched his eyes as soon as i realized he was turning into me and he never gave recognition that i was even there. He was at least 90 years old, go figure.

I hit the brakes as hard as i could and turned away as fast as i could and thought that i was just going ot hit his side and bounce into the woods. No such luck, his front tire caught mine and sucked it under the pop sounded like a gun shot. As flew through the air and for some reason i remembered the olympian who broke his leg on taking off during long jump and how the crowd said it sounded like a gun shot. I thought "I hope that wasnt my leg". I came down on my left side pretty freaking hard.

The driver of the car went 20yards stopped for 10s and then took off. Fortunately, a vechile was waiting at the light and saw the whole thing came over asked us if we wanted him to chase the offender down. Uhhhh ya... He brought the guy back 15 mins later, thank god. Treated on the scene with no apparent broken stuff. Shoulder, neck and knee pain, Doc ordered Xrays and the shoulder while not broken has damage to the AC joint.

Assjuster from offending party comes by today and i tell him the frame is a 91 but it has ultegra rear derailur, 105 crank, on and on , no sora or 2200/2300 on the bike at all, i custom painted it with automostive paint I had left over from when i worked paint and body. His response well its a 91'.

Long story short I got a lawyer........ attached is of a picture in march before is was assembled

hairnet

Recover soon. Left turners are the ones I really worry about when I'm riding or driving

mthayer

Who is your insurance provider? I would talk with your agent, explain the situation and he can give you a better insight into what needs or is going to happen. The guy was clearly at fault, so they should replace your bike no questions asked. Also, do you have a police report stating what and how it happened? I had to use the police report to get a insurance company to pay for my pickup after a guy hit me and totaled my truck. Also, what company does the driver have his insurance through?
Sorry about your bike, and I am glad that your ok.

gitarzan

I always ride with a bike light flashing and pointed right oncoming left turners.

I'm glad you're not hurt too bad. Coulda been much worse.

Seattle Forrest

Sorry to read about your accident. Drivers making turns, especially left turns, are the ones who scare me most. I'm glad you didn't break anything - how are you recovering?

zoste

best thing that you could do under the circumstances. Remember that the insurance companies are NOT in business to pay claims; they are in business to collect premiums. Don't ever trust them, not even your own.

dgrenthum

I have talked to my insurance and his insurance and lawyers. The cager was cited for not yielding the right of way or something along those lines. My understanding is that my insurance company will take care of the first 10k of doctors bills but his will do property and pain and suffering.

Talking to that adjuster though it doesnt sound as if he wants to give up but a couple hundred dollars, he didnt say that but it is the impression i got. Also while the frame does not appear to bent, it is a 20 year old aluminum bike that was just hit by a car. I am not sure how safe it will be with a 300lb person doing 25mph on it. I will take it to a couple LBS and see if they will certify the frame safe. I dont know, i just put alot of time and money into that bike and its frustrating when it is alluded to that they dont want to buy me a new comparable bike or put the one i have back to the condition it was in prior to the accident, if that is even possible.

bassjones

They do however, have to operate in "good faith". Technically speaking, he's right. The frame's not worth to them what it is worth to you. Strip all the bits off and use the money for a new frame to build off.

indyfabz

And not leaving the scene of an accident?

BTW...It's amazing he can still play basketball at his age.

Wogster

The saleable value of the bicycle has no meaning here. The person who hit you is liable to put it right, so what you need are quotes for repairs, you need to get the bike to a couple of bike shops for written repair estimates, then once you have the estimates, go from there. You shouldn't have to settle for less then it being put right. Now here is where it gets interesting, if the estimate for repairs is $750, the cost of a new bicycle is $850 and the cost of a used bicycle in the same condition with the same components is $450 then the insurance company can pay out the $450. Not much you can do here, unless you have parts bills for parts you put on that bicycle, that argue it's worth more then it would otherwise be. They can't argue a bicycle is worth $450 if you have a bill for a $500 crank that was installed on it a month ago. Now there is another option here, and that is you want the $450 and your willing to buy back the wreckage from the insurance company for $25. So you get $425 plus your old bicycle, you strip off anything that can be used, and buy the parts to fix it, for probably under $425 and rebuild it yourself over the winter.

I don't think there is much leeway on property damage, but there is on pain and suffering, which is your lawyers department.

achoo

Every time you get crap from the adjuster, make a trip to your doc with some more medical complaints. He'll get the hint.

SCROUDS

A used bike without the same parts should not be used as a cost basis. Now if yours is a custom bike, I would send them the cost for a replacement frame of the same quality. If it cannot be found used, you'll have to use the price of a new frame of comparable quality. Then add up the costs of parts. Then add in shop labor. Deduct $20, or whatever you think you could get if you craigslist the broken hulk. (less salvage value)

When the adjuster balks, let him know that the insured collided with a vintage custom bike that's worth a lot more then the bikes you see in walmart. Offer to drop 5% for a quick settlement.

This isn't really about how much the bike is worth. Their game is to pay the least amount of cash. You have to fight that and negotiate with them into a fair settlement. He's probably pretty clueless about how much a custom bicycle really costs and is worth.

andrelam

I am sorry you are getting push back from the driver's insurance. What state are you in? What you are entited to depends on your state. Here in NY state an accident between a car and cyclist or pedestrian is considered no-fault. The drivers' ensurenace will pay 100%... very straight forward.

When I got hit 4 years ago I was lucky because the driver's agent was very pleasant and helpful. I mentioned the bike was old (20+ years), even so I got zero push back from buying a brand new bike (about $600 for a hybrid + another $400 for fenders, rack, bag, and some clothing). I bet they figured that $1000 was CHEAP. I bet it cost at least $3000 to $4000 to put the car right (I bounced off the hood).

Sadly it sounds like you will actually be needing your lawyer to get reasonable compensation. When it comes to frame damage, I would accept nothing but 100% replacement with a new frame. Wheels that took a hit may very well not be salvageable either. A replacement bike is small $$$ compared to what they would pay for even a single ER visit.

Best of luck,
André

socalrider

Was there a police report taken.. Fleeing the scene of an accident is almost always a crime in itself..

I have 3 significant crashes and in 2 out 3 of those the driver fled the scene.. It is a real issue when something like this happens.

The 1 time where the driver did not flee was when he took down about 6 riders and his car was surrounded by cyclists..

Wogster

One more thing:

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING THAT YOUR LAWYER HAS NOT GONE OVER WITH YOU.

You can trust an insurance company about as far as you can throw their Wall Street head office building. Make sure any and all dealings with the insurance company are in writing and reviewed by your lawyer.

indyfabz

That's pretty much what I did when I got hit by a cab. I delt with the cab's insurance company myself. The repair bill was less than $200. They still tried to dick me around. I finally told them that if they didn't have a check to me by the end week, I might suddenly devlop a soft tissue injury. They sent a bike messenger to deliver the check that day.

bassjones

That would be insurance fraud and you do not want to go down that road.

exile

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. It is like being hurt twice. First you were hit by a car. Now you have to deal with other people who belittle the experience. Unfortunately getting a lawyer is the best thing you can do.

Pinyon

I'm glad that you walked away from it. Scary stuff.

I agree with others, concerning the adjuster. You have to scare them to get what is actually "fair". I'm sure he has no idea what the bike was worth. They don't keep actuary tables on that sort of stuff.

skilsaw

Let me get this right... You haven't described evident damage to the bike, but you are worried that there may be some unseen problems that may lead to a catastrophic failure some time in the future. So you think they owe you a new bike. I must be missing something.

funrover 

Heal quick and good luck!

kabersch

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope you are feeling better and healing quickly.

Everybody here is discussing your bike and how to get it fixed/replaced. I am most worried about your sholder. An A/C seperation can be painful and could lead to future surgery if it is too bad. Make sure you get your doctor's opinion on whether or not it will heal well. Do this before you finalize any settlement.

dgrenthum

ok skil, evident damage
Front wheel bent in half with two cracks in it. (veulta, think i paid $240 for the set)
Front fork squished.
Handle bar bent
Rash to shifters and brake levers
rash to clipless pedals (shimano)
rash to crank (105)
rash to RD (ultegra)
rash to rear stays

So here is my thought i know people that have broken good frames. What about one that was hit by a car. Should I have to take that chance, will their insurance cover any additional injuries if the frame suffers a catastrophic failure?
I figure I have about $800 into the bike plus paint (two stage automotive, used to work in a body shop) and my time, figure 20 hours. The bike besides the frame is custom components of my choice you wont find another out there to do a direct comparison too.. I could try and rebuild IF the frame is good and could probably get costs in at the same. However, I shouldnt have to rebuild it, it wasnt my fault they should pay to have it rebuilt.

Talking to the bike shop, i was suprised to hear that they inspect for cracks and if it looks fine they will give it an ok. However on my bike because it is a respray the paint is quite a bit thicker and he doesnt think he can tell without stripping the frame. So here are my thoughts on what the estimate will look like with them using decent parts(labor included)

Strip, certify, paint and decal frame $200
New fork, Head set and bars $230
Front Wheel, Tire and Tube $175
Brake levers and shifters $150
Rear Derailur $100
Pedals $80
total....$935
So if the frame is cracked.... Throw in a frame and you are basically building a new bike using a few parts off the wrecked bike. Cheaper to get me a bike. While i know the lawyers are going to get me some sort of settlement for pain and suffering, they said it could be as quick as 6 months or as long as three years till that happens. However the property portion of it could be settled right away. I was riding 100 miles a week and I want to get back to that ASAP if my shoulder isnt bad, go to a orthopedic next weekFor the rest of my wounds i figure i will be good in about 6-8 weeks with some PT.

If you think i am way off base bring me to reality, obviously i can not bring myself out of the situation and look at it objectively. Let me know

socalrider

If you have to worry about the frame being damaged, you need to have the insured cover the cost of a new frame.. If there was enough stress to squish the fork as you say, the frame should not be ridden. If you have the ability to record your conversations with the adjuster that would be wise.. Most answering machines have that ability, you just need to tell them you are recording the conversation so you can make sure there are no mis-understandings about what is being talked about. If he refuses you know they are not looking out for you, which is the norm unfortunately.

Personally I would be pricing a new bike with 105 or ultegra if there is significant damage.. When he gives you grief over the bike being 19 years old, you can link to a Confente steel bike from the 80's being sold on ebay right now

https://cgi.ebay.com/Mario-Confente-C...item4cf3a4616d

The last Confente sold for over $7k

Just because it's old doesn't mean its worth nothing..

zoste

No! Once you settle with them, they are off the hook. You shouldn't have to take the chance of risking a catastrophic failure; you do, however, have the obligation of mitigating your damages.

Don't forget to ask them to pay for the loss of use. In order for you to ride, you would have to rent a bike. The insurance company should pay you 50 bucks a day or so.