Quoted message said:I was riding my '01 Lemond Buenos Aires today when I had a pretty good
crash going around a corner and hitting gravel. I landed on my right side
and tore the back of my hand up. I'm going to have to replace my handle bar
tape (big deal.)
It knocked the handlebars off center and scratched up the STI levers, but
they seem to be shifting OK now. I haven't checked the true on the front
wheel but I suspect it's alright. I have my concerns about the carbon
fiber fork's well being as it's not a material I've ridden a lot.
If you went sliding sideways, stayed with the bike and things didn't bounce
around, your fork probably didn't take much force in the crash. But you
really need to try and reconstruct things and make sure that's the case;
sometimes we don't remember everything that actually happened.
The problem with carbon forks is that damage is often very difficult to
find. Start by removing the front wheel; if you notice that the fork blades
either spring apart or are trying to squeeze the hub, it's toast. Look for
scratches that might indicate impact. Check for buzzing noises. Rotate the
bars and see if there's binding anywhere in the travel, which might indicate
a bent steer column. Trek (which produces LeMond) has a great deal of info
on taking care of carbon fiber, and telling you what to look for after a
crash, here-
http://www2.trekbikes.com/us/en/Inside_Trek/Misc/Safety_First_Carbon_Fiber_Crash_Replacement_and_Care_Information.php
Quoted message said:The rear rim is BENT. I can only assume it will have to be replaced. The
drive train components don't seem to have even gotten scratched, don't
know how...but I've got a lot more looking at it for tomorrow.
The drivetrain components didn't get scratched because something else took
the impact. You need to figure out how that happened, but sounds like
somehow it was the rear wheel that did more than just "slide." Did you stay
with the bike through the accident?
Quoted message said:At this point I'm thinking I'd like to switch to more conventional rims
and hubs. These are gorgeous mechanical works but I don't think they're
practical for a guy as big as me and for riding on rougher areas.
Not sure why... assuming you've had the bike for a while and the wheels have
served you well. A bent rim, even on a low-spoke-count wheel, indicates
forces at work that can only be resisted from something much heavier. It's
not spoke count that will save you, but a deep-dish rim will be stronger.
But, at the expense of weight (a fair amount of weight if you go to a
Velocity Deep-V, but the trade-off is that it will be exceptionally strong).
But again, if your present wheel served you well, it can be rebuilt;
contrary to popular opinion, the rims are available.
Quoted message said:So what should I look at as far as damage goes? I've crashed and burned on
bikes before but never on such a "thoroughbred" kind of bike. If that
makes sense.
Again, reconstruct the accident and try to figure out what actually took the
force. Sometimes that will expose things you weren't looking for originally.
But in general, there's nothing about a "thoroughbred" bike that inherently
makes it weaker in a crash. After you think you've got things figured out,
it would be a good idea to bring it into the bike shop, since they get the
opportunity to see *many* crashed bikes, and may find things you didn't.
I should also emphasize that, if your bars and shifters are mangled, you
should consider replacing the bar & perhaps even the stem, or at the very
least, the stem bolts. Failures of those components are as dangerous as any
on a bike (in general, you don't want a fork, bar or stem failure, if you
desire to stay among the living). Please don't replace a
scratched-but-functional STI lever and not replace a potentially-dangerous
but looks not-so-bad handlebar! Put your money where it counts, not so much
where it shows.
Quoted message said:I'm leaning towards replacing the beat up shifters with Ultegra gear,
using Ultegra hubs and...can I fit a 10 speed gear set back there? Some
form of Mavic rims...
No problem using 10-speed gear on your bike. Everything's standard. However,
by the time you're talking complete components set, plus rebulding the rear
wheel, plus perhaps a fork and bar... you're getting close to where an
entire new bike could make sense.
Quoted message said:Where/how do I go about making sure the frame is still true. I've got
everything down to all sorts of fancy measuring gear from an engineering
shop - I imagine a micrometer would be overkill though. I just don't want
to be up at night thinking I bent up my baby. 🙂
The shop should be able to check this out, although generally it's difficult
to mangle a frame, alignment wise, and not have it show when you put in a
known-good rear wheel and sight down everything from behind. Forks are easy;
if they're out of alignment, the bike will drift to one side or the other
when riding with no hands.
Quoted message said:Thanks!
PS: the road rash could have been a LOT worse, and I'm VERY, VERY glad I
was wearing a helmet.
Someone went down on a descent on our ride yesterday morning. He didn't
impact the helmet hard, but slid on it quite a ways. It didn't save his
life, but it sure was better losing the side of the helmet rather than a
bunch of skin!
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
