car vs. bike: car wins every time.
notice the fork is backward in that pic so it was actually bent back toward the downtube.
i hit a car head-on and sustained a concussion, cheekbone fractures and some scrapes and bruises.
all in all i'm very thankful i'm not dead or paralyzed.
i am amazed at the damage to the bike.

more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanmawesome/

glad to hear you're not dead or paralyzed.
on a side note, my gf rides that exact frame as her lockup bike.

back to the story: so what happened? is the driver paying for everything?

thanks man, you can follow the story on phillyfixed - Dane vs. car thread. i dont want to type it all out in two places

...

could someone copy the story into this thread because i'm signed up at phillyfixed.

October 18, 2007

It's my road bike. Hopefully it still counts.

Damage: Hip contusion, completely torn MCL, frame, fork, saddle.

Sorry, didn't realise it was just for iros.

sorry i though they had changed phillyfixed back to not needing to sign up. here's the story:

"i had a small consussion so i don't remember the accident at all. i remember leaving the house, turning on my blinky at Dauphin then i vaguely remember my clothes being cut off, vaguely remember the EMTs saying something about how my gold chain was embedded in my neck and then i remember being in the CT scan machine and helping them take out my nostril studs and trying to tell them how to get my earrings out (they're seamless 8 and 10 gauge- not captive ball - and they didnt end up even getting them out but they bent the crap out of one of them)

i have fractures in my cheekbone and my knee's bruised and swollen and my back is super sore. but i don't have any activity restrictions beyond taking it at my own pace. so as soon as i feel up to being back on a bike i will.

i have an appt tuesday to see if my face looks jacked once the swelling goes down. if my cheek is all pushed in or anything we'll discuss what to do, if not we'll leave it be.

...

my roommate matt got right to the scene (two blocks from our house) in time to see them putting me in the ambulance and he said he thinks he saw the car i hit, so the driver must have called 911. the problem is i was going the wrong way down Amber St. and matt heard the cops arguing over fault and one said it was my fault. so i don't know what's going to happen. i'll try to track down the police report this week- if of course the driver doesn't come after me first for damages to their car... "

yea id say that is a problem. granted i dont know the area and it could be feasible to go the wrong way for a block or something. im glad you are ok though.

thank you. and is it me or does the front wheel look absolutely fine?

What's the prognosis for that torn ligament????

yeah it's mind boggling. it hasn't been on a truing stand yet, but from what we can tell, the front wheel is almost totally fine.

Apparently if you tear a ligament in your knee, that's the one to tear. It generally does not require surgery if that's the only one torn. It hurt like hell for the first month and I had to wear a full leg brace. After a month I was riding very cautiously on very short trips. Honestly the hip bothers me more than the knee at this point but all is generally much better. I'm still out of shape but I'm back on the bike doing longer rides and playing polo. So prognosis is very good. I'll probably be even stronger since all I have to ride right now is my fixed bike.

Edit: My front wheel is only slightly out of true as well. When the car and I had our unfortunate meeting, the wheel popped out of the dropouts. Thankfully the fork didn't have those stupid retention tabs for the people that don't know how to use a quick release.

OK, that's really good to hear you are on your way to recovery. I trust your hip will be fine, too. I was just worried that your ligament may not heal completely. Sounds like it doesn't matter that much if it's a MCL, then.

People should understand: wheels are generally very fscking strong! I have seen countless times, front wheel perfectly fine while the fork was done in. Heck, even downtube + toptube bent, while the front wheel was fine and peachy.

I have once destroyed the front fender of a jackass moped - the driver was the jacko, actually - and my front wheel was unscathed. Not even truing was necessary. I did fly over the handlebars, though.

yeah, but i've also known people to **** up their wheels in potholes. i guess it comes down to the type of impact.

Side impacts don't tend to go as well, of course.

I sold my group-buy frame to my housemate. He swerved to avoid a car (?? I wasn't there... I assume jack-assery on his part) and ran into a wall. Wheel was fine, for bent back about a centimeter. Which makes the bike REALLY hard to control. I keep telling him to buy a new fork, but he won't have it.

My friend who is too hip for brakes, but a non avid cyclist, was cruising down a parking garage with me. I was skidding, skipping, and going real slow to avoid problems(I also have a front brake), he couldn't slow down, and started going about 15-20KPH, he just missed a huge support beam, and ran into the parking garage wall, smashing his face up on a metal rain guard. His fork bent back like 4 inches, and I had to spend 20 minutes pulling it back to normal form.

This is where three famous quotes were made

"Just goes to show my bike is bulletproof, its perfectly fine now"
"I'm still going to ride no brakes" (keep in mind he can't skid either)
"I'm not going to get a new fork, it probably won't break"

Ryan, I think I live with his twin? Or perhaps he's in two parts of this continent at once...

that sucks, glad to hear you weren't injured any worse

I don't see the point in being an unexperienced cyclist without brakes. I mean, if you can kick it without brakes, then do it, but it takes months, and even years to be able to fully trust yourself without brakes. I find it more fun with a front brake because I can just rage as hard as I want, and if a car makes a mistake (I live in Niagara Falls, tourist heaven, it happens a lot), I can just brake. Makes it a whole lot more fun because I can ride to my full potential, instead of having to focus on not getting smoked. I haven't even seen him ride past 20kph because he doesn't want to get smoked. Its a shame people will overlook exorcise, fun, common sense, and speed, for hip value.

last saturday i was skidding and fell off my bike, hit my head on the concrete and broke a lot of bones in my face. =\

^^^ow fuuuuuuckkk....!!

Damn Dane! Thats ganked and one half. Glad you survived.