dekindy
06-16-2014, 05:06 PM
I heard that a riding buddy had been in an accident. I thought he had been ran off the road by a car but saw him at the LBS today when he was having his bike evaluated and learned that he had been hit by a car going 45 mph. He was coming to an intersection with his right foot unclipped, saw the car coming and was able to pedal one revolution to get partially out of the way. The car hit the back of the bike and knocked him into a sideways skid and he was mostly unhurt. The chain and seat stays were cracked but the frame and wheels were intact. In fact, a glance at the bike from a normal distance and you really would not notice there was anything wrong with the bike. Based on the description I would have expected the bike to have been broken in half. Frame absorbed all the impact and the wheels were only cracked; no tacoing or deforming of the wheels. Since his body was not hit he had no visual wounds but does have sore arms and shoulder but not sure if anything is injured that will not heal naturally. Maybe these carbon frames are tougher than I realized. Frame was a 2007 Giant TCR Composite.