What sort of damage could occur

DefUnctUK

Hi, i’m looking for a little advice or info please. I have a new Wilier gravel bike with an alu frame with carbon fork (alu steerer). Was riding home last night and got caught out without proper lights, so was riding by streetlight along a darker cobbled section. Unfortunately due to shadows i missed a high raised curb that i rode straight into / over at speed. Didn’t come off the bike, no nasty sounds, just did a quick check to see if all looked ok and rode on.

It got me wondering, is there anything specific i should check? The headset is still tight, no looseness anywhere.

Would a wheel buckle / break before a fork would crack or frame / headtube bend or deform?

sloppyschleckonds

Probably check that the steering is still straight, but bikes are quite robust. Especially something built for off road

CiB

Have a good look at the rims to look for indents on the leading edges or damage in the form of dents on the braking surface. Also spin the wheel in the air and gently apply the brakes to see if it grabs on the same point. Hitting a kerb square on can easily do that sort of damage, and will curb your enjoyment of the bike.

veronese68

If it's a gravel bike it's probably disc braked so the rims aren't quite so critical as long as they hold air and the tyre stays on. What CiB says holds true for rim braked bikes.
The weakest point will dictate what fails and that will vary between bikes. On many bikes the wheel will be the first to be damaged. A friend's bike with some heavy deep rim ali rims and bladed ali forks bent the steerer tube and the wheel and fork legs remained straight and true. On other bikes you may bend or twist the fork legs. It's possible to bend the downtube if the impact is heavy enough and the forks are stronger than the frame. So I'd check all of the above but hopefully you got away with it.

keef66

Which reminds me I should cast an eye over my winter bike. I managed to hit a small but vicious pothole on it's last outing despite having lights on the bike and streetlamps on that particular stretch of road. Spent the next 10 minutes of the ride wondering if I'd broken my wrist and waiting for the front tyre to deflate. Luckily neither, but I should really check the rim / fork / frame before I need it again.

Happily on the summer bike in this current lovely weather 8)

Matthewfalle

i'd check my testicles were still ok first.

DefUnctUK

Thanks for the tips, will be giving the bike a wash this evening so will give it a careful look over. The fork legs are carbon so i hope they didnt flex too much. I assume any major damage should be visible.

Would be annoying if i had borked something on a new bike.

Strangely enough, i was fine (balls and wrists too) - maybe it seemed worse since it was dark and happend unexpectedly.

craker

keef66 wrote:

I managed to hit a small but vicious pothole

A guy I work with put a tooth through his lip and broke his hand in a nasty one with a pothole last week. Looked just look a puddle apparently (don't they all). Helmet is fine, no news on the bike (he doesn't want to look at it!) Now considering sueing the council to try and foot the bill for dental surgery.

Anyway, to the OP, I hit the back of a car many years back, no apparent damage but the bike felt a bit odd. When I got toe overlap with the front wheel for the first time I noticed the impact had bent the downtube (and top tube I suppose) changing the steering angle. That was the end of that one.

keef66

I had a damaged car tyre paid for by the local authority years ago. I think now you need to be able to prove they knew about it and failed to make it safe. How do you find out if a hole has already been reported and when??

lakesluddite

Matthewfalle wrote:

i'd check my testicles were still ok first.

Why would he need to check your testicles?

paul_the_pedaller

keef66 wrote:

I had a damaged car tyre paid for by the local authority years ago. I think now you need to be able to prove they knew about it and failed to make it safe. How do you find out if a hole has already been reported and when??

If there's paint around it they'll probably struggle to deny knowledge. From my experience they mark them and add the repair to a long list......

Matthewfalle

LakesLuddite wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

i'd check my testicles were still ok first.

Why would he need to check your testicles?

Good point well presented.

keef66

Matthewfalle wrote:

LakesLuddite wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

i'd check my testicles were still ok first.

Why would he need to check your testicles?

Good point well presented.

Easy tiger; I'm not going anywhere near anybody else's testicles :shock:

DefUnctUK

Thanks for all the horror stories...make me feel rather lucky Checked it all over yesterday, wheel does not appear to be damaged, just very slightly out of true in one part, headset is tight and no play, cant seem to see any damage to frame or forks. Presumably if a tube bent somewhere it would be very apparent?