If the only impact is with the ground...

Dermot Illogical

..would you still trust the bike?
Obviously if you collide with something and there's an impact to a wheel you would go get the bike thoroughly checked out. But people fall off bikes every day of the week, get back on and cycle off, with little or no damage.
So how hard does that sideways fall have to be before you need to be having the bike checked out?

Whitehawk

Road bike or MTB?

Ive taken some bad falls on my MTB on the road(which is worce as its hards ground) and never had it looked at bike was fine, few skratchs was all!

Dermot Illogical

Whitehawk wrote: »

Road bike or MTB?

Ive taken some bad falls on my MTB on the road(which is worce as its hards ground) and never had it looked at bike was fine, few skratchs was all!

I was thinking road bike. Though they probably aren't as delicate as they look... MTBs seem to be made of sterner stuff.

Whitehawk

Ya mine is carbon mind you so i try not to fall off but really bikes aren’t that soft, they can take a few falls
worst thing for what your talking about would be a directed impact to the side of the bike, best example i could think of is not on road bit gives you an idia would be a large pointed stone that the bike landed right on! that would not be so good, like a sign to a house estate or something has to be some sort of direct impact to do lots of damage!

DirkVoodoo

You can't just say mountain bikes are tougher than road bikes. Falling off is part and parcel of mountain biking, falls that just involve the rider and not say, a rock, tend to be at slower speeds than the equivalent road bike fall.

Judge the bike after each fall. There are too many variables and anyone who doesn't give their bike a thorough examination after a fall is taking a bit of a risk.

Hopefully you won't have too many of them to worry about frequent examinations.

drogdub

I came off my road bike about 18 months ago broke my collar bone, loads of road rash, was unconscious and sore ribs. The bike was fine not even a scratch, they are tough machines and well able to take a fall.

DirkVoodoo

drogdub wrote: »

I came off my road bike about 18 months ago broke my collar bone, loads of road rash, was unconscious and sore ribs. The bike was fine not even a scratch, they are tough machines and well able to take a fall.

Surely this just means you took the brunt of the fall and not the bike? Even a minor fall will result in some cosmetic scrapes if the bike takes some of the impact.

I came off and trashed a shifter, no marks that I could see anywhere else on the bike, not on the cranks, not on the rear mech. Just a broken shifter and some shredded bar tape.

However, closer inspection of the frame has revealed what *might* be a crack in the top tube. Gutted if it is.

xz

I highsided off my carbon PX a few months back and cracked 5 ribs, this was at speed on a slight descent, my bike faired better, although the rear wheel was buckled beyond repair as a result of locking up which caused the highside. The only other damage was the RH shifter being moved out of place. Lesson learned CF appears to be tougher than it looks and feels,and definitely tougher than my ribs;-)

drogdub

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Surely this just means you took the brunt of the fall and not the bike? Even a minor fall will result in some cosmetic scrapes if the bike takes some of the impact.

I came off and trashed a shifter, no marks that I could see anywhere else on the bike, not on the cranks, not on the rear mech. Just a broken shifter and some shredded bar tape.

However, closer inspection of the frame has revealed what *might* be a crack in the top tube. Gutted if it is.

True, but I suppose my point is that it is possible that you can crash them and cause very little damage.

Whitehawk

xz wrote: »

I highsided off my carbon PX a few months back and cracked 5 ribs, this was at speed on a slight descent, my bike faired better, although the rear wheel was buckled beyond repair as a result of locking up which caused the highside. The only other damage was the RH shifter being moved out of place. Lesson learned CF appears to be tougher than it looks and feels,and definitely tougher than my ribs;-)

Good to know! i better then stick to a strict diet of milk :P

MungoMan

drogdub wrote: »

I came off my road bike about 18 months ago broke my collar bone, loads of road rash, was unconscious and sore ribs. The bike was fine not even a scratch, they are tough machines and well able to take a fall.

Did you have a helmet on ?
If so, did it help ease the brunt of your crash ?

Dermot Illogical

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I came off and trashed a shifter, no marks that I could see anywhere else on the bike, not on the cranks, not on the rear mech. Just a broken shifter and some shredded bar tape.

However, closer inspection of the frame has revealed what *might* be a crack in the top tube. Gutted if it is.

Hopefully it will turn out not to be.

I seem to have scraped handlebar, gear lever, pedal and gear select. Aside from that it looks OK. At least on visual inspection I can't see anything else.

dave.obrien

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Surely this just means you took the brunt of the fall and not the bike? Even a minor fall will result in some cosmetic scrapes if the bike takes some of the impact.

I came off and trashed a shifter, no marks that I could see anywhere else on the bike, not on the cranks, not on the rear mech. Just a broken shifter and some shredded bar tape.

However, closer inspection of the frame has revealed what *might* be a crack in the top tube. Gutted if it is.

Recently?! Which bike?

As mentioned, check your bike properly and thoroughly. If there's anything questionable, bring it to a bike shop with a good mechanic, but bikes are designed to be pretty hardy machines. Most of the time, the bike will be fine, but the odd time... The frustrating thing is that even a slow fall can result in the frame being compromised, if the bike takes the hit in the wrong way.

I have just discovered a crack in my winter bike. Very frustrating!

DirkVoodoo

dave.obrien wrote: »

Recently?! Which bike?

Planet X. It was after my tumble in Kilkenny. At first I thought it was a nick in the paint, and it might very well be, but it almost looks like it is a crack as it is following the weave of the carbon.

Have to get it checked out.

jdt101

My smashed Bell Volt following an argument with a dog on a descent...

Icyseanfitz

well that saved you some pain :eek: i think id hate to have a carbon mtb tbh, i fall of so much id always be worrying about destroying it

Cerdito

I came off last Tuesday night in the rain, I think the main reason was that I hadn't cycled in rain for quite a while due to it being so dry in last couple of months!

Took a right-hand turn into my estate at around 25km, way too fast, and my wheels just flew out from under me to the left.

I was ok (other than a bruised hand and ripped waterproof trousers), but my front brake snapped due to the wheel twisting round and the gears were a bit noisy.

I would recommend checking the bike out yourself, or getting it checked out, but if it's riding ok after, should be nothing to worry about!

Whitehawk

jdt101 wrote: »

My smashed Bell Volt following an argument with a dog on a descent...

That did its job allright!

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

....i think id hate to have a carbon mtb tbh, i fall of so much id always be worrying about destroying it

Well i have not broken mine yet! and from what i have read and was told they dont break that easy! But after all its there to have fun on :P

Lemag

dave.obrien wrote: »

As mentioned, check your bike properly and thoroughly. If there's anything questionable, bring it to a bike shop with a good mechanic,

Unless they've got ultrasound what are a bike shop going to tell DirkVoodoo that he doesn't already know. If unsure, stick it up on adverts/gumtree

Sr. Assumpta

Lemag wrote: »

Unless they've got ultrasound what are a bike shop going to tell DirkVoodoo that he doesn't already know. If unsure, stick it up on adverts/gumtree

You could actually be onto something here Lemag. Ultrasound would work, it is used in industry to detect hairline cracks in pipes (I'm reliably told; others will know more). However, an X-ray could be even more functional in determining if an apparent crack is actually "full thickness". Perhaps the Superhero who is DirkVoodoo is equipped with X-ray vision???

DirkVoodoo

Sr. Assumpta wrote: »

You could actually be onto something here Lemag. Ultrasound would work, it is used in industry to detect hairline cracks in pipes (I'm reliably told; others will know more). However, an X-ray could be even more functional in determining if an apparent crack is actually "full thickness". Perhaps the Superhero who is DirkVoodoo is equipped with X-ray vision???

Unfortunately, all my superpowers are below the waist.

DirkVoodoo

Seriously though, I believe they already use a method of thermal imaging to detect cracks. Heating the frame and then seeing where the points of thermal resistance are (broken fibers).

Sr. Assumpta

^^^^^^ Are we still talking about "below your waist"? Sounds uncomfortable......

drogdub

MungoMan wrote: »

Did you have a helmet on ?
If so, did it help ease the brunt of your crash ?

I had a helmet on and it was fairly bashed up

Lemag

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Seriously though, I believe they already use a method of thermal imaging to detect cracks. Heating the frame and then seeing where the points of thermal resistance are (broken fibers).

Have you heard of any service centres in Dublin or Ireland that will do this or is it upon return to the manufacture that this is undertaken? Would the frame be heated to such a temperature as to weaken its integrity? I presume not as it would seem fairly pointless if so.

Sr. Assumpta wrote: »

^^^^^^ Are we still talking about "below your waist"? Sounds uncomfortable......

You have no idea :eek:

dave.obrien

Lemag wrote: »

Unless they've got ultrasound what are a bike shop going to tell DirkVoodoo that he doesn't already know. If unsure, stick it up on adverts/gumtree

I was talking about aluminium bikes, and it was directed at the op, not DirkVoodoo... But you are dead right, it can be very, very difficult to tell if carbon's finished cause of its structure, if not impossible. Still, it can be handy to have a good set of second eyes to make sure it's no deeper, or likely to be no deeper, than the paint if all it is is a chip, and most places wouldn't charge you for that.

@DirkVoodoo, were you wearing those arm-warmers when you tumbled? Did they distract you?!

dave.obrien

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Unfortunately, all my superpowers are below the waist.

That's why you drink that pink aphrodisiac thing, isn't it? Superpowers, sure we could all have them with enough chemicals, just ask Di Luca...