a few months back, i was hit by a car and destroyed my favorite bike ever (my 85 pinarello pista), but i was mostly un-injured and the driver's insurance just came through with a check to cover a new bike, so i've got a new frame on the way, and as a keepsake, i've got this little keychain/bottle opener...

haha.
Very nice.

Oh, and what's the new frame?

a custom johnny coast! should be ready in april or may.

you have something to ride in the meantime?

here's more of the damage...

yeah, i've got my cross bike.

jesus christ, Ben! I didn't hear anything about your crash.

I'm glad you're ok and I am sad that your Pinarello is gone. I wanted that bike.

p.s. is that fork saveable? if it is and you want to get rid of it I'll take it.

That fork is in better shape than the one I ride on a regular basis. It definitely makes riding no-hands a chore. ;-)

sean, yeah - i was hit on november 4 at night by a driver who "didn't see me", even though it was a well-lit intersection and i had a blinky light on my bag. - look at my posting history and you'll see a thread in the advocacy and saftey forum about it.

anyway, the fork is pretty screwed. you might be able to bend it back to something rideable, i don't know much about that stuff. the blades look ok individually, and the steerer is straight - it's bent at the crown, and as you can see, it's offset pretty far.

if you want to paypal me over $10 or whatever, i'll send it to you next week.

I'm sure this has been asked by other people to other who have been in auto/bicycle wrecks...but did you get a check from insurance that was representative of the value of your bike? How did all that go down?

i got an estimate from a bike shop.

since the insurance company wants an estimate for "replacement value", the bike shop making the estimate has to approach it as:

"how much would it cost if a customer came to us and asked us to locate a 1985 pinarello with campy components and x and y other specifics?"

as you can imagine, it's not cheap when you think of it like that, but that's how it works.

the insurance company reviewed the police report, took statements from me, the driver and the witnesses, and determined that the driver was at fault. thus, they paid me the replacement value, as quoted by the bike shop.

they may have called the shop that prepared the estimate to verify the estimate, as well. the guy who did the estimate says he gets calls from insurers now and then who question a high price on an estimate. it's his job to let them know that the bike isn't just any old off-the-shelf bike, but a collectable, vintage bicycle which is worth money.

the procedure went quite smoothly in this case, not everyone gets it so easy, i gather.

That's awesome. Glad it worked out for you. That's good info. I'll remember it if I ever get tagged. Though I doubt my estimate for replacing a 1986 Schwinn Sierra would be as high as yours

benbenben ben!
glad to hear you are okay. i loved that bike

nice floors

totally *****in keychain! I wish I had done something like that with the Paramount I trashed.

What kind of pothole was that, anyway? At least you have the Gan Well Pro to console you...