bent chainring tooth Sram Red - advice please

[schroeds]

Had a rather unfortunate meeting with a traffic calming device the other day...which put me in hospital

Nothing broken, but lots of lost skin (including flattened out nose and chin) and suspect shoulder that the physio will have to deal with.

Anyway, among the carnage is a pretty severely bent chainring tooth. Has anybody any tips/experience with bending them back? Though I may as well give it a whirl before forking out for a new one which I can't afford.

PS kudos to Zipps, my old 404 hit this stupid concrete thing at about 30 km, plenty enough to piledrive me into the asphalt, but the wheel appears not to have been damaged at all

[Mulger bill]

Start with prayer to your deity or prophet of choice...

A shifting spanner makes a handy tool but hasten slowly, you won't get many chances to get it straight.

[schroeds]

ok so it's a highly technical process then

[Baalzamon]

Hasten too fast and thy teeth will break

[bychosis]

And there is no harm in trying to unbend most things that are broken. Worst that can happen is that you can't straighten it and needed a new one anyway.

[schroeds]

well ok then, pep talks over, here I go

[lump_a_charcoal]

Well?

[eeksll]

if its only one or a couple and my mtb is anything to go by, you should be riding fine without that tooth anyways.

[rustychisel]

main thing is that you're not broken. I was lead into a nest of those things by another rider at 45kmh a few years ago. Front wheel Ksyrium was undamaged but I got off the ground with a broken collar bone.

[jacks1071]

Had a rather unfortunate meeting with a traffic calming device the other day...which put me in hospital

Nothing broken, but lots of lost skin (including flattened out nose and chin) and suspect shoulder that the physio will have to deal with.

Anyway, among the carnage is a pretty severely bent chainring tooth. Has anybody any tips/experience with bending them back? Though I may as well give it a whirl before forking out for a new one which I can't afford.

PS kudos to Zipps, my old 404 hit this stupid concrete thing at about 30 km, plenty enough to piledrive me into the asphalt, but the wheel appears not to have been damaged at all

I straightened one out on the kids bikes a week ago. I zip tied a screw driver to the frame as a rough gauge and worked it with a shifter - it took about an hour but I got it surprisingly quite straight.

If you do the same you might need some small files to tidy up some of the mashed teeth but you might be able to salvage it. If you have a crack at it you'll soon know if a new ring is required..

[schroeds]

Well?

Still trying to open the tool box.

[schroeds]

Good news, I've managed to straighten the teeth..actually it was really easy, basic plier work 101

Thanks for the encouragement guys Now I just have to heal and get back on the bike.