Would you trust it again, after bike hit by car

fizz

I got knocked off by a car on Wednesday. Car turned right across my path, I hit the wing / front bumper and then went over the bonnet. Landed on my head. I'm OK apart from bruising and being sore.

Now my recovery is underway I'm starting to think more about the bikes. I have it booked in with the LBS tomorrow for a check over and inspection. With a view to claiming for all the damage to it off of the drivers insurance that hit me.

Driver admited fault at the time to the police and police have told him they intend to prosecute him for driving without due care and attention.

I need a new wheel, bars, forks, saddle, chainset as these are alll either bent or scuffed / damaged. Bottom bracket is also think is damaged. As is the left STi lever.

Now I took the impact in the front wheel mainly, but the bikes gone from about 15mph to a standstill when it impacted the car and its been possibly up in the air and then flung along the road.

I'm not sure about the frame hence why I am having it checked out. But part of me feels uncertain about riding it again, even if the LBS gives it a clean bill of health.

The welds around the downtube meets headtube / top tube area dont look OK and the frame to my eye looks deformed slightly. But the paints not cracked. So not sure what to think. Guess I have to wait for the verdict from the LBS.

Just be interested in anybody else's thoughts / similar experiences.

Frame is a Van Nicholas Vardar, Aluminum seat, down & top tubes with carbon rear seat and chain stays.

markos1963

LbS should be able to check for alignment for you. Any hint of deviation and it should go in the bin in IMO. I would suspect given the list of carnage it would be knackered.

pawlo

I wouldn't trust it and for a proper opinion other than just looking at the weld joins and shape etc you need to get it X-rayed to really show up any fractures etc.
good thing your OK tho .

redvee

The LBS should put a straight edge along the downtube, toptube and steerertube to see if any are out of alignment. Might be worthwhile getting a second opinion from a different shop. Any expenses are going to be covered by the drivers insurance, keep any relevant receipts regardless of how trivial they might seem and make a note of any journeys you make in the meantime that you would normally use the bike for.

Valy

Ouch, good to see nothing major for you.

Personally I'm incredibly iffy about things like that. I would be constantly thinking if the frame is okay and so on. Even if it's only bent by a very small amount, the impact on its behaviour may be larger as the flexing may be uneven from side to side vs before impact as if for example it got bent to one side, it could possibly deflect more after the impact and not do so in the same way on both sides.

Good to know that the driver was at least admitting fault and did not try to wiggle out of it.

carl_p

With the amount of damage you are mentioning are we not talking about a write off situation? With all respect you had a used bike before the accident, now you have a damaged used bike. I would say to the insurance company that you want a new bike or at least a new frame plus all the other bits you mention. Just threaten to sue if you get injured because your frame has invisible stress fractures.

thel33ter

I'd bin it if it doesn't look right, after all, if you don't trust it, you are likely to not enjoy riding it much.

unixnerd

With the amount of damage you are mentioning are we not talking about a write off situation?

+1. It may cost more to buy the new bits and pay to have them fitted than to just buy a new bike.

fizz

Been to the LBS today and had a chat with one of the mechnic's. Told him of my concern and not trusting it anymore even if it is OK.

He had a quick look and I pointed out the things I'd noticed, he said with all the damage on it the frames dead and theres no point x-ray'ing it.

So its new bike time.

They are preparing a report so I can send it off to the drivers insurance company. Bit sad really as have had it 4 years and done many many miles on it. But also looking forward to the prospect of getting something to replace it with as I have had my eye on a Look 586 for some time now.

solsurf

As allready said it sounds like you need a new one, pleased you are ok and that the police are taking action.

c0ugars

You want me to look into use a cycling claims company they would be able to get in contact with the drivers insurance company and they will also have a better chance of claiming more for your bike and injuries. But do be aware that it does take quite a long time for everything to be sorted out.

piquet

fizz wrote:

I got knocked off by a car on Wednesday. Car turned right across my path, I hit the wing / front bumper and then went over the bonnet. Landed on my head. I'm OK apart from bruising and being sore.

s.

i had an almost identical smidsy in April last year*, and expected the bruises and soreness to heal quickly - i was off the bike till November. Biggest problem was what had appeared to be a minor knock and scratch to my knee. Three bouts of tendinitis in different bits of the knee each put me on a walking stick for a week. The flare up started each time i tried cycling again. In the end i gave up and spent time in the gym and with the physio building up the knee muscles

I asked my regular LBS to give the bike a once over - the stated they could not certify the frame as safe and gave me a letter to that effect. House insurance replaced the bike and are claiming the cost from the drivers insurance

* I scraped down the side rather than going over the bonnet - he needed new wing, bonnet and two doors!

c0ugars

the same happened to me and my local bike shop looked at the bike my forks snapped wheels bent handels bars etc and they took it all apart and inspected it all and found it not to be right or safe to ride. i would think theyll be able to sort it out and then you can start the happy long process of claiming

west green

Same thing happened to me 2 months ago, except it seemd fairly slow motion and I hit his door and slid down catching underside of chin on wing mirror. Apart from that no pain, drivere admitted his fault staright away and was profusely sorry. This disarmed me as I was getting ready for him denying it was his fault, the bike seemed alright, rode alright and I was fine. So I left it at that. In hindsight it was the wrong thing as a few weeks on I could see that the fork was slightlightly out of alignment wehere it met the lower race and the gap increased over the next few weeks. I took it out and looks like steerer tube is bent, put it back and rode it to LBS who looked it at visually and said doesn't look too good. It was a steel fork in an alu frame and frame is fine, just fork damage. Moral of story, no matter how nice the driver is and how good everything seems - swap details, you never know what's going to reveal itself a few days/ weeks later. I should have walked him and the bike round to the nearest bike shop - but at the time I was just glad to be ok. Not a pleasant experience to have, and hopefully the last time it happens.

fizz

Well I've got the drivers details who knocked me off. I've rung his insurance company and they've put my claim into the system, somebody is going to ring me back to get some more information.

Fingers crossed.

solsurf

what are the police doing now you have the drivers details? And have you recovered from the crash?

fizz

Not sure TBH.

Drivers details came through the post whislt I was at work today.

I had a visit from the offier who attended the scene when I was in A & E. He took a statement from me. He also took statements from two witness. He told me that all our statements matched up and that he was going to prosecute the driver for Driving without due care and attention, but I havent heard anything more than that.

Not quite recovered yet. Back, shoulders and ribs are sore still. The bump on my head is gone and there is a nice bruise coming out on the inside of my right leg at the knee joint.

solsurf

fizz wrote:

Not sure TBH.

Drivers details came through the post whislt I was at work today.

I had a visit from the offier who attended the scene when I was in A & E. He took a statement from me. He also took statements from two witness. He told me that all our statements matched up and that he was going to prosecute the driver for Driving without due care and attention, but I havent heard anything more than that.

Not quite recovered yet. Back, shoulders and ribs are sore still. The bump on my head is gone and there is a nice bruise coming out on the inside of my right leg at the knee joint.

Sounds like you need to take it easy for a while. take care