So the past week I have been going on like 5 hour bike rides in and arround boston. Today was no different, I was coming up on the end of my ride and decided that I wanted to hit up the Bukowski Tavern in Inman Square. I was riding down Broadway in Cambridge and traffic was pretty heavy but that was ok because I was in the bike lane and it was smooth sailing or so I thought. Traffic was at a stand still and out from between the cars ran this 13 year old little kid I swerved and skidded in order to avoid him so instead I slammed into the side of this car that was stopped at a stop sign. I slid/rolled over the hood and landed fine I was alright and kind of upset but then I went to pick up my bike only to realize that the frame was bent . Top and Bottom tubes about 4 inches from the head tube the top at about 25-30degree angle and the bottom at about a 20 and another bend on the top tube right after the seat post lug about a 5 degree angle. The wheel was fine and so was everything else but the wheel rubbed the bottom tube so I bent out so that it would just clear it and so that I could ride it home (home is in brighton about 7 miles away). then I just sat on the street corner while a bunch of people, including the car I hit and the pedestrian I just missed, asked if I was ok. but I just sat there with my head down ready to scream or cry. Then I asked one of them what time it was and It was 10 min 'till the nearest LBS closed so I grabbed my bike and proceded to ride there so see if anything could be done. NOPE nothing and on top of that my bike has like a negative rake on it now. I still had little bit of a ride home so now here I am alone in my apartment talking to the god damned computer. Fing ***** this really sucks. The frame was an electric blue '66 Libertas with Reynolds 531 tubing, Universal brake (the best before campy), no braze ons (the frame was made before they started putting them on bikes), and OLD TA cranks priced at arround $200 and with 6 bolt chain rings. Well I loved that frame and now it's useless. Don't know why i'm sharing this with you guys I guess I should go to the bar now where it's more appropriate to be in this sort of mood.

A few questions before I go,

First I have this friend selling a KHS aero frame, fork and BB with the sloping top tube for $350 is this too much for this bike? It's in pretty good condition I know the guy and he takes good care of his stuff. The only thing wrong is the paint job is a crappy home made job and flaking but he'll strip it before he gives it to me.

If that's not a good deal could anyone steer me in the direction of a good frame and fork. My max is arround high 300's. Preferably anything with a sloping top tube (i'm really digging those right now).

Any help at all would be really wonderful thanks for reading if you've read it all.
thanks

That totally sucks, your pretty much described my worst nightmare. You have my sympathies. Glad to see you aren't hurt though. At least you have all of the parts still, you should be able to build up a nice bike again, good luck.

Phil

On another note, I keep having a dream where I have a flat tire half way to work, which I fix. Then I get another flat tire, which I fix. Then for some reason some voice gets in my head and taunts me, telling me I will never fix the flat... I end up feeling helpless, just staring at my bike. Yeah it sucks, I wake in a cold sweat.

If you really love that frame you can get it repaired. Lugged steel, as far as I know, is relatively easy to repair. See how much it would cost to have a frame builder in your area to put in a new top and down tube. Is reynolds 531 even available anymore? It sounds like your frame was a lot nicer than my 531 frame but it still is a nice ride. I hate hearing about nice old frames going out like that, although it is better for them than slowly rusting away upside down in a garage somewhere.

I'm betting you could get it fixed. With brazed lug frames you can just unbraze it and insert new tubes. They don't have to be 531. It's not really as easy as I made it sound but it can be done. The biggest problem will be finding someone to do it and then paying for it. It wouldn't be cheap and you'd have to get it repainted. Sorry it happened but I'm glad you didn't hit the kid. You deposited a hole chunk in the karma bank.

Sounds like you had a really nice ride. Sorry to hear about it. I don't know s**t about that frame combo you mentioned but you know there's always ebay. And why not check out Craig's List. Post a request for a frame if there's nothing there that interests you.

What size frame do you ride? I'll keep my eye out.

had a similar experience recently and can symathize, had a crank snap at the pedal hole on my old fixie while sprinting HARD, hit the frame (also lugged and butted 531 like yours FWIW) so hard I bent it with my leg and cracked my helmet when I hit the ground. Was really bummed as I bought that frame/bike new 22 years ago and have a LOT of history with it, but eventually realized I was very lucky to not break any bones and to have a helmet on when it happened. As others have said, you could get it fixed, but in my case I used the crash as an excuse to buy a Soma Rush to replace the old frame and am very happy with it....

At least it's better than a car wreck, any day.

keep on pedaling,
bkr

Thanks for all of the replies. I thought about fixing but the kid selling me the khs just told me he'd give it to me for $300 with a headset (so that's frame, fork, BB, and headset) too i'm not sure if i'm going to take it but I think that's about all I can do. and I was considering buying it anyway as a second bike but I guess now I'm just going to make my only bike. I ride (or rode) a 56 but I can go anywhere from a 55 to a 58 and still feel comfortable. So if anyone finds anything post up or pm me. thanks again.

I have a Fuji generic thrift store frame (I believe it's 58 c-t) sans fork for dirt cheap. I make it sound appealing don't I? I have no idea what model it was as it was repainted when I bought it. I started working on removing the brazeons and realized the fork was cracked. I scrapped the project and built another so this frame is just sitting in my basement annoying my wife.


PJBAZ

"Look Mommy, Preacher says every time a bell rings, another bike has gone to heaven......."

Bummer on losing an old friend. Strip the frame and hang it up for posterity.

I had my bike stolen but was fortunate enough to recover it. Dropped it yesterday on the cement-- it fell over. Had this nasty gash in the rattlecan paintjob and im thinking about getting another frame or painting this one and then i think, why?

Screw it, ride it til it drops, breaks, or is stolen, then get another.

So the point is, get another frame. Have u looked at the surley steamroller? i believe u can get a frame/fork for about 350 bones if you look around.

I've got what I believe to be an 80's era 54cm Bianchi up for sale. PM me if interested or for pics. I also have an early 90's Miyata roughly about the same size. Not sure if I'm gonna sell that one or keep it as a spare bike for my taller firends and family when they visit.

damn, i had just thrown out an old road frame the other day too, not sure what size it was, although it was a decent size. i live up in mission hill, near brigham circle, and theres these kids up the street i met at garage de velo (kickass courier/fixed bike shop across from the bus terminal at south station) and he said they have like a bike shop in his apt. he built a whole fixie out of spare parts he had lying around, and it was a nice bike too. anyway, if you were interested i could check out what he has, or you should go check out garage de velo, they have a nice track frame on the wall, used, for like 175 or something, i forget, but they have alot of track frames in stock, so it couldnt hurt to check them out.