Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Well, I just had my first serious crash on my commute to work (first crash on the commute of any type in fact - certainly not my first crash though!). My beloved v Jag XJS Soveriegn. Any guesses which one came off best?





I will not bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that while I walked away with a bit of road rash and bruising the old girl is not good! Fortunately, it was on a section of my commute that I am always pretty careful on and I was only "rolling along" at about 10-15 kmh. The Jag was coming out of a petrol station and was also probably doing only about 5-7 kmh when it clipped my back wheel and seat stay. Still it was enought to flip my bike around and upend it. Wheels (Campag Lambda "V" Aero front and Velocity deep V back rim) are pretty bent up and the right hand side rear seat stay is bent, - b**ger! Handlebars are also bent and the seat is stuffed, but the rest of the components seem to be okay fortunately.

ouch time! has the driver offered to repair your ride?

I hope that you can repair your bike - and that your 'friendly' Jag driver is going to help out!
Did you manage to inflict any wounds on the Jag?

Imanewbie wrote:ouch time! has the driver offered to repair your ride?

Informally - but I am hoping to pin him down soon. Taking myself off to the Doc in the morning (just to be safe) and the bike down to the LBS to get a quote on a repair (maybe new frame) job.

Really very attached this frame as it has been my main bike for a long time and through a number of upgrades to the components. I had been thinking of stripping off the components and re-locating them onto an Aluminium frame and turning this into a fixed wheel commuter, but now that does not look like it is going to happen.

LuckyPierre wrote:I hope that you can repair your bike - and that your 'friendly' Jag driver is going to help out!
Did you manage to inflict any wounds on the Jag?

Unfortunately, nothing more than some scratched paint as far as I could see - still the paint on a new Jag must be prettty expensive to touch up!

Ouch!! Hope your doc gives you a clean bill of health. The guy should be paying for the damage, though you will never be able to replace your "loved one" with the money by the sounds of it.

You weren't around Northbridge were you, near the servo near the bike path start? I've nearly been done there, but managed to stop in time.

I don't know if this is relevant, but all accidents need to be reported to the plods if over $1000 damage. With his paint, it may just make up that figure. It would mean he couldn't get out of it anyway!!

Moo...

moosterbounce wrote:Ouch!! Hope your doc gives you a clean bill of health. The guy should be paying for the damage, though you will never be able to replace your "loved one" with the money by the sounds of it.

No but at least it might get me back on the road - if I can convince my wife that I am safe to be allowed back on the road that is!

moosterbounce wrote:You weren't around Northbridge were you, near the servo near the bike path start? I've nearly been done there, but managed to stop in time.

No, although I know the place you mean, I was near Curtin Uni on Manning road there is a Shell there which has some trees at the front - the reason I always go slow there. Not slow enough it seems.

moosterbounce wrote:I don't know if this is relevant, but all accidents need to be reported to the plods if over $1000 damage. With his paint, it may just make up that figure. It would mean he couldn't get out of it anyway!!

Moo...

Spot on! My next stop after the Doctor (and before the LBS) is the Police to report the accident. It may not cost $1000 to fix or replace my frame, but you never know and, as you said, at least it makes it official!

Hate to morbid, but do we get an after photo of the bike. Don't worry about you're injuries, we just want to see the messed up bike.

Just remember, any crash you walk away from is a good crash.

tuco wrote:Hate to morbid, but do we get an after photo of the bike. Don't worry about you're injuries, we just want to see the messed up bike.

Just remember, any crash you walk away from is a good crash.

After photos are a definate - you can look forward to them as soon as I get home and get out the digital camera!

uMP2k wrote:Spot on! My next stop after the Doctor (and before the LBS) is the Police to report the accident. It may not cost $1000 to fix or replace my frame, but you never know and, as you said, at least it makes it official!

Besides which, the Jag driver has committed an offence by failing to give way when exiting private property. He could be charged. Pigs might fly. Get the official report number anyway, makes it all nice a legal and neat, even if that just gives you a nice, warm glow.

Glad you're not badly hurt. Bummer about the bike. Even if bent, the frame might still be fixable. That's the nice thing about steel - carbon? It'd be splinters now and ally isn't a lot better, still, not many of us buy bikes with a view to tangling with Jags. At least you got taken out by a car with a bit of class, much better than a silver Magna or a white Commodore.

Get the new one running, then have a chat with your local frame builder and aim for that fixie.

Richard

It doesn't matter where you ride, there is always something to run into.

Know a guy who commutes daily and crosses the Causeway. Couple of weeks ago, while doing about 30kmh, he actually had a drunk stagger in front of him!! Luckily the bike wasn't damaged, but he got one helluva corky on the inside thigh where his bars got him!!

Doesn't sound like you are too shaken up if you are planning on commuting again when you have your bike back. Phew.

You've made us all super cautious now!!

Moo...

geez mate, you were lucky. Its not often you get off after a love tap from a car.



woof

Oh Mate
Having to see your best girl lying there all twisted in the gutter That's more than any rider should have to put up with, Glad to hear you're OK.

Try and get the idiot in question nailed, good luck.

OT question... Is the price/status of cars directly or inversely proportional to the skill of the "chief passenger"?

Well here are some photos of the result of the crash - it does not really look that bad in the photos but it is bad enough! The damage to the wheels in particular does not really show in the photos.

Looks like the other party is going to put up some cash to help me get back on the road so it looks like I am in the market for a new frame, etc -ebay here I come!





and

uMP2k wrote:.........so it looks like I am in the market for a new frame, etc -ebay here I come!





and

Glad to hear the motorist has agreed to come to the party uMP2k.
The frame on your girl, Steel?
If so, a good builder should be able to resurrect her IMO.

Good luck.

Shaun

(thats framebuilder, you cheeky types)

Lucky it wasn't carbon fibre.

It would have shattered and torn you a new one.

Apparently the carbon fibre is what did those Australian girls a lot of damage in Germany.

tuco wrote:Lucky it wasn't carbon fibre.

It would have shattered and torn you a new one.

Apparently the carbon fibre is what did those Australian girls a lot of damage in Germany.

You serious?

Got me rethinking the carbon fork and seatpost on the new girl now.

Wouldn't have a link by any chance, Tuco?

Shaun

most crashes wouldn't cause the kind of shatter effect that they experienced, and there was a lot of broken glass too, plus they were full carbon bikes.

I don't think you're taking that much of a risk in having a carbon fork and seatpost. If you get hit by a car at speed you're in all sorts of trouble regardless.

Frames! Of course. Stupid me

Thanks for the reality check Bnej, I'll shut up now.

Mulger bill wrote:

tuco wrote:Lucky it wasn't carbon fibre.

It would have shattered and torn you a new one.

Apparently the carbon fibre is what did those Australian girls a lot of damage in Germany.

You serious?

Got me rethinking the carbon fork and seatpost on the new girl now.

Wouldn't have a link by any chance, Tuco?

Shaun

No link Shaun, it was an ABC (or SBS) documentary show with interviews with the coach and girls. It was one of the girls who said the sharp, shattered carbon is what almost took her arm off. Check the ABC site. Some of their shows have the transcripts of the shows.

And Bnej is probably right. It'll take a bad accident to be really worried about shattered carbon fibre.

Mulger bill wrote:Glad to hear the motorist has agreed to come to the party uMP2k.
The frame on your girl, Steel?
If so, a good builder should be able to resurrect her IMO.

Good luck.

Shaun

Yep - good ol' fashioned Cro-Mo Steel. not the lightest bike around but it has served me well for a long time, and I just love the internal routing for all of the cables! The other thing that really hurt was getting the front Campag wheel messed up - another sentimental favourite!

tuco wrote: No link Shaun, it was an ABC (or SBS) documentary show with interviews with the coach and girls.

I watched it too - ones of the riders had an arm almost completely severed by the broken carbon frame.

Thanks Tuco and MJF, I'll search it later.

The new girl will be ready for pickup soon

Mulger bill wrote:Thanks Tuco and MJF, I'll search it later.

The new girl will be ready for pickup soon

The sort of carbon damage you are most likely to see is the fibres tearing away from the inside of the tube, as opposed to turning the thing into a shredder. The greater danger is the car parking on top of you or something solid on the side of the road trying to stop your flight. Your OCR2 is quite safe.

Richard

I agree. This anti-CF sentiment is getting out of hand. CF is strong and does its job very well. In a crash, anything may happen. If isn't the CF split, then a snapped CrMo tube fork may stick in the rider's chest (has happened). At the end of the day, collision with a motor vehicle is plain bad news for cyclists.

Steel/Aluminium have a wide range between elastic deformation and ultimate tensile (failure) strength. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic, unfortunately, has a narrow range. But in both cases, I'd be more worried about what was applying the stress to the frame (car, truck, solid immobile object) than the final outcome of the frame.

Michael.