Recent crash... what to do?!

chilledoutdude
chilledoutdude Posts: 6
edited February 2013 in Road buying advice
Dear all,

I am fairly new at road cycling and bought my first road bike 1.5 years ago: A Cube Peloton (2011), Tiagra 9 Speed groupset, Easton EA30 Wheels, Deda Carbon Fork, Internal cabling etc, and I have almost completed 2000km on it so far. It's a great bike, smooth ride and couldn't have asked for anything more. However, yesterday I had a collision crash with a car meaning I snapped my carbon fork in half along with a bent wheel. The derailleur’s, shifters are out of place but still work.

Thankfully, I am ok (a little sore), but I am debating what I should do. First, I most definitely need a new fork and at least a new front wheel. Having done a little research a new set of wheels (Fulcrum 7/5 or Mavic Aksium's) along with a new fork (Easton EC70) it will cost me in the range of £300 - £380 to fix the bike in a ride-able state.

Although whilst I'm fixing my bike, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to upgrade the group set to a Shimano 105-5700 -- having tried it recently, the shifting is smooth, brakes/levers are extremely responsive and the shifters are ergonomically designed. The problem with this it will cost approximately £400!

In total, this complete fix & upgrade will cost almost £700-£800, almost as much as a new bike! Therefore, I am debating whether to:

A. Buy a new fork, wheelset and just keep riding it?
B. Buy a new fork, wheelset and upgrade to a 105 groupset and keep riding it?
C. Strip the bike of it's components, sell it and buy a new bike w/ a 105 groupset?

I would be grateful for any advice you guys may be able to provide! I'm desperate to get back out on the road as soon as possible, once my injuries are healed!

Thanks!

Comments

  • YIMan
    YIMan Posts: 576
    It would be daft to spend as much fixing an old bike as to buy an equivalent new one. Buy a new bike and sell what old bits you can.
  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    Is there any chance of the car driver's insurance paying for a new bike or the repairs? Was it the driver's fault?
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    You could repair the wheel ?
    A new wheel and fork won't be that much.
  • on-yer-bike
    on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
    Make sure the frame isnt damaged. Look very, very carefully all over especially the top tube.
    Pegoretti
    Colnago
    Cervelo
    Campagnolo
  • Unfortunately, it wasn't really the drivers fault (happened to be there at the wrong time), so I cannot claim from his insurance.

    The frame appears to be intact (should have mentioned it's a light aluminium frame), and the wheel rim is bent... I'm not sure if you can true it/bend it back, hence why I thought about getting a new wheel set.

    If I should just get a wheel and fork, what carbon fork would you recommend?
  • pkripper
    pkripper Posts: 652
    sounds like a pretty big impact if it managed to snap the forks - these things aren't weak!

    Personally I'd salvage what you can and sell it and buy new.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    You don't want to bend the rim back but you can buy separately. Might be worth replacing just the rim and saving the hub ? Ask in your LBS ?
  • navrig
    navrig Posts: 1,352
    You mised an option:

    1. Spend as little as possible on repairs, demote this bike to winter duties and spend the planned upgrade money plus a bit more on something shinier :D
  • trek_dan
    trek_dan Posts: 1,366
    You should be able to get a matching front wheel and fork off Ebay for under £100 to be honest.
    Sounds like your like for an excuse to buy a new steed, and if you are, forget the previous statement :)
  • djhermer
    djhermer Posts: 328
    Navrig wrote:
    You mised an option:

    1. Spend as little as possible on repairs, demote this bike to winter duties and spend the planned upgrade money plus a bit more on something shinier :D

    Definitely. It took a crash and subsequent write off of my (then) sole bike to realise I needed more than one. Bought a new complete bike, salvaged what I could from the damaged one and built a winter bike up fairly cheaply.... And have this morning bought my third.

    Really necessary? Probably not. Enjoyable? Yup.
  • Thank you all for your opinions.

    I think it's definitely not worth spending so much money just upgrading one bike, when I guess I should use that money to buy another! I'll just fix it up to a ride-able state and save up for a carbon bike, in which I do hope I would not crash/damage!
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Even with all the damage repaired , would you feel confident riding the bike again or as mentioned would you feel better getting a new bike and salvaging the old parts that work and either sell or fit onto a new frame and fork?