[lenkearney]

decided to by a new bike for my birthday, been doing test rides at various stores for a couple weeks,

Saturday went to the LBS in next town - crashed on the second bike i tried - can't figure out what i did.

was in a fairly empty parking lot- repeated same pattern as earlier test ride. swerving back and forth to measure balance, had just downshifted and was executing a short sprint and WHAM, I did an end over end. i have slid out before, this happened much faster and was in forward direction, helmet totaled, broken collarbone, lots of RR- cant figure out what happened.

dry empty parking lot, no gravel or cracks, did notice chain was off chainring. was like i hit something invisible, what could have caused this?


Len

 

[WaynefromOrlando]

Sounds to me like the drive train stopped abruptly and the momentum of you pedal action propelled you over the front wheel. Something like Andy Schleck's rear tire coming off the ground when he shifted to the small gear from the 13 ring. In your case, you may have inadvertently squeezed the front brake as you realized your momentum was shifting, which ensured that the momentum would continue over the axis of the front wheel.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/over-the-bars.html

 

[tpgrole]

Wow, your story sounds all too familiar to me. My bike was stolen and I test rode a lot of bikes while trying to decide on a replacement. Feeling slightly confused after ridding so many bikes, I went back to test ride the same model that was stolen for comparison. After an easy mile or so, I decided to do a short little sprint. As soon as I got off the saddle and started pushing....BAM...over the bars I went and slid along the pavement. I was still my work clothes so I wasn't really pushing all that hard. Well, several spots of road rash and an AC separation later, I look down and see that the front wheel had pulled out of the forks. The front quick release wasn't tightened by the bike shop. Needless to say, I bought a bike elsewhere.

 

[asciibaron]

Andy S, is that you?

 

[wim]

Another possibility.

If you test-sprinted the bike out-of-the-saddle with platform pedals and street shoes, it's possible that your foot slipped off the pedal just as you were exerting a huge amount of force downwards while leaning forward. When that happens, you can throw yourself on the ground vehemently. Riders who have used clipless pedals for a long time are sometimes prone to this because they're neural pathways have "forgotten" how to stabilize an unclipped foot on a platform pedal.

If you sprinted on clipless pedals, ignore this post. Unintentionally coming out of a clipless pedal at the moment of greatest out-of-the-saddle downward force while leaning forward will have the same effect as described above, but it's a fairly rare occurence.

/w

 

[tpgrole]

wim... I considered everything after the crash. I thought I may have locked up the drive train from a shift, thought that maybe my pant leg got caught since I was wearing khakis (rolled up the pant leg), thought that maybe my foot slipped, etc. but none of that seemed to make sense. It really wasn't a true sprint, more of test as to how it felt when accelerating. I was really trying to notice how the bike fit and no so much the performance because I had been riding the exact model for about a year. After I picked myself and the bike up to walk back to the shop, the front wheel wouldn't turn. I thought I bent it in the crash but I was able to push it back into the forks without loosening the quick release and the wheel was still straight. I was blaming myself or lack of skills until I noticed that.

 

[wim]

I was blaming myself or lack of skills until I noticed that.

I wasn't implying lack of skills—coming off a pedal in a sprint situation can happen to anyone. One of my worst crashes happened that way. I was out of the saddle, pulling up hard on the back stroke to get just a little more power into the sprint. On one of the pull-ups, I apparently twisted my heel forcefully away from the frame and unclipped. Next thing I knew there were people standing around me.....

It's unlikely that a drivetrain lockup can put you into the "end-to-end" crash you described. And just for curiosity's sake: Were you pedaling out of the saddle? Were you on platform test pedals or clipped in?

 

[tpgrole]

I was blaming a lack of skills. I really thought I did something wrong until I was able to slide the wheel around with the skewer closed. I had just gotten out of the saddle to put some weight on the pedals. The test bike had platforms on it, no clipless. It certainly is possible that I slipped, but I don't recall slipping. What I can recall was riding along then sliding along. My city commuter is a single speed with some Shimano PDM545 knock offs, big platform around a clipless. I ride this quite a bit in regular sneakers so I'm somewhat used to pedaling with and without clipless. You have me second quessing myself!

 

[Mr. Versatile]

I've seen crashes like these that occurred because one of the wheels pulled out of the drop outs.

 

[terry b]

The key is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

 

[Mr. Versatile]

The key is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

I don't think he fell. He just thought the ground looked like it needed a hug.

 

[Opus51569]

The key is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

Nah...I think we all know the key is to be distracted just before you hit the ground... R.I.P. Douglas Adams.

 

[Fantino]

Len, nothing to add to the theories of what happened but sorry to hear about your injuries. Depending on how it broke can be pretty painful the first couple of weeks. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

[nightfend]

So how did the bike store handle it when you brought the broken bike back from the test ride?

 

[tpgrole]

The bike wasn't too bad, some small scratches on the shifters, needed new bar tape, and a small scuff on the saddle. The owner/salesperson who took the bike out of the rack and gave it to me to ride was very concerned and apologetic. The mechanic who was asked to come look at the bike didn't say anything, he was very quiet. The pain was starting to set in, and the blood was starting to drip so I wasn't interested in hanging out too much longer. I felt bad for the shop but at the same time I encouraged them to have their mechanic give all test ride bikes a quick once over to make sure they are fit to ride.

 

[lenkearney]

If you sprinted on clipless pedals, ignore this post.

/w

had my shoes and, thank god and my wife, my helmet- thanks for responding.

len

 

[lenkearney]

Len, nothing to add to the theories of what happened but sorry to hear about your injuries. Depending on how it broke can be pretty painful the first couple of weeks. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

incredible how painful this is. thanks for responding.