Squirrel ran into my friend's wheel while bombing a hill...

[eogie]

This is the only photo at the moment. He was concussed and still managed a blurry shot. Separated shoulder, bruised ribs, 11 stitches in his ear and some serious road rash. He was bombing Bean Creek in Santa Cruz. Unbelievable.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/17/36c689a46ebc019db2ed61eaa86f11d5.jpg


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[Louis]

Looks like Mr Squirrel took a bite out of the frame. Wouldn't have happened if he'd been riding steel or Ti.

Glad to hear that he'll pull through with what sounds like not terribly serious injuries. Could have been way worse.

[bcgav]

Scary, but glad to hear he wasn't seriously injured.

[eogie]

It might have been much worse had he been riding steel or ti. I imagine he could have been propelled much further/with more force had the fork not taken the brunt of the impact...?


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[Louis]

It might have been much worse had he been riding steel or ti. I imagine he could have been propelled much further/with more force had the fork not taken the brunt of the impact...?

I was joking.

More seriously, I have no idea what's better at absorbing energy gracefully, CF that tends to deflect then fail completely, or metals that deflect elastically then plastically, with no complete shear failure, but bending then yielding.

[eogie]

I was joking.



More seriously, I have no idea what's better at absorbing energy gracefully, CF that tends to deflect then fail completely, or metals that deflect elastically then plastically, with no complete shear failure, but bending then yielding.


I knew you were joking but it got me wondering.


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[Louis]

it got me wondering.

It would be interesting to get several CF, Ti and/or Fe bikes, put a "crash test dummy" on the saddle, send them down a test track. For some you could put a stick through the spokes, for others just ram them into a wall or the rear end of a car, and see what happens to the dummy (which could be instrumented with accelerometers and other stuff). I wonder if any of the big bike manufacturers have ever done this? It would be expensive, but not massively so.

I'm sure the fork blade to steerer tube connection would have a big effect on the end results.

[eogie]

I'd love/hate to watch that.


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[Jgrooms]

It might have been much worse had he been riding steel or ti. I imagine he could have been propelled much further/with more force had the fork not taken the brunt of the impact...?


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Sure, ride steel whilst waiting for the inevitable squirrel strike.

[moose8]

It's amazing how many things completely outside our control are lurking out there for us. I'm glad it wasn't worse for your friend.

[oldpotatoe]

I knew you were joking but it got me wondering.


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Did the squirrel make it? Methinks not.

[eogie]

Did the squirrel make it? Methinks not.


You can see the squirrel in the wheel there. Maybe it was also concussed....


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[marciero]

Oh man. I've often imagined this happening.

[Satellite]

It would be interesting to get several CF, Ti and/or Fe bikes, put a "crash test dummy" on the saddle, send them down a test track. For some you could put a stick through the spokes, for others just ram them into a wall or the rear end of a car, and see what happens to the dummy (which could be instrumented with accelerometers and other stuff). I wonder if any of the big bike manufacturers have ever done this? It would be expensive, but not massively so.

I'm sure the fork blade to steerer tube connection would have a big effect on the end results.

Louis,

I am pretty sure most manufactures do this kind of testing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjId0-K-Ts


Eogie,

Hopefully your friend will make a full recovery including mentally/emotionally. It may prove to be very difficult to bomb down hill without concern this will happen again for him. Had a buddy that went over the bars mountain biking, the emergency room had to bring in a plastic surgeon to stich up his face. It took a long time before he could tackle even the easiest slightly technical downhill's.

Best regards,

Satellite

[zap]

Hope your friend recovers quickly. Deer and squirrels……..:eek:

In this case I wonder if bladed spokes would have helped any.

[thwart]

Hope your friend recovers quickly. Deer and squirrels……..:eek:

In this case I wonder if bladed spokes would have helped any.

Ha! Reminds me I should go out right now and sharpen my spokes.

Glad to hear your friend wasn't more seriously hurt.

Last year had a squirrel run between my front and rear wheels at ~ 15 mph. It happened so fast I realized that the squirrel in the wheel thing is something that probably can't be avoided, no matter how quick your reflexes… you have to count on your good luck.

[eogie]

Louis,

It may prove to be very difficult to bomb down hill without concern this will happen again for him.

Yeah, I would imagine this being a major confidence killer. I can't help but think about how vulnerable I am when flying downhill. I've never crashed at a very high speed, but even minor crashes on pavement are awful in my experience.

He's in good spirits but I can't imagine he's feeling too great right now.

[wildboar]

Are 36 spoke wheels squirrel-proof then?

[kramnnim]

WTB, disc wheels, front and rear.

[William]

I have my doubts that we would be lucky enough to have that be "the" Mr. Squirrel.:p

Wishing your bud a speedy recovery.








William

[AngryScientist]

bladed spokes people. sharp, sharp bladed spokes.

seriously though, that sucks. reinforces the "cant plan for everything" fact of life.

[Mr_Gimby]

topically related, I'm sure we've all seen this, its been making the rounds on the MTB forums for years, but it is related:
http://fcdn.mtbr.com/attachments/california-norcal/543424d1273900986-anyone-ever-run-over-squirrel-trail-squirreldisc%5B1%5D.jpg

Hope your friend makes a fast recovery, sounds like a nasty crash! Maybe time to adapt the quote from Casablanca, "Of all the front wheels in all da world, and you had to jump into mine...":eek:

[JAllen]

Wow squirrel suicide is hard to avoid! Not to be crass, but the first thing that popped in my head was that old video game "Road Rash" where a similar effect would happen upon applying a pool cue to a competitors spokes...

In all seriousness, I hope your friend makes a speedy recovery and gets back on the two-wheeled horse!

[CSKeller]

Ouch! Hope your friend has a speedy recovery! He needs to get back on the bike soon and work on gaining confidence again for the descents.

I had a off-road motorcycle accident in October where I broke my fibula...took me off of any two wheeled vehicle for awhile....I know it will take some time for me to build back my confidence on the motorcycle.

[numbskull]

Obviously he should keep the tail and attach it to his seat post.

[Grinta13]

It would be interesting to get several CF, Ti and/or Fe bikes, put a "crash test dummy" on the saddle, send them down a test track. For some you could put a stick through the spokes, for others just ram them into a wall or the rear end of a car, and see what happens to the dummy (which could be instrumented with accelerometers and other stuff). I wonder if any of the big bike manufacturers have ever done this? It would be expensive, but not massively so.

I'm sure the fork blade to steerer tube connection would have a big effect on the end results.

Your underlying goal is good - determine which materials absorb energy better - but your approach isn't really the best. As someone with 20+ years experience designing and testing crash dummies (I tell everyone that I am a dummy engineer), I can safely say that the data from the dummies wouldn't be very meaningful. What we're really interested in here is how the bike frame manages energy, so you would really want to instrument the bike to see what loads and accelerations it experiences. The dummy's subsequent dynamics after an impact like you've described will be somewhat variable and thus it's loading/acceleration would also be relatively variable. Unless you wanted to conduct a large sample size of tests to develop some statistically reliability, I'd guess that the data wouldn't be very repeatable. Just my $0.02.

[cua90]

Are 36 spoke wheels squirrel-proof then?

I've had two very close calls with squirrels, to the point that they hit the front spokes and bounced out. I don't know what would have happened with fewer spokes, but I was glad to have 36 on those occasions.

Best wishes to the OP

[54ny77]

that mtb picture is brutal! it slices! it dices!

will never forget spinning thru central park in nyc years ago with some buddies when a squirrel ran across the road, somehow jumped into the wheel of the guy riding next to me, it did a couple of loop-dee-loops, then flew out. we all were laughing hysterically.

it helped that the guy riding was an ex-pro and didn't flinch. and it was sheer luck that nothing bad came of it.

was just one of those had-to-be-there moments to believe it.

[SlackMan]

Mmmm. Squirrel stew.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/14/article-2086571-0F71BFE900000578-437_468x310.jpg

[54ny77]

^^ok, that's nasty. :eek:

[Mr. Squirrel]

victory at all costs,
victory in spite of terror,
victory no matter how long and hard the road may be;
for without victory,
there will be no wheels for me.

nuk nuk nuk,
mr. squirrel

[CMiller]

In all honesty, with a fall like that, I'm glad your friend is walking away alive.

I lived in SC for two years, and spent every day riding to class worrying about this same thing happening. I wish your friend a quick and full recovery!

[rePhil]

Had a squirrel try to make it through my rear wheel while riding in a Paceline.
I was riding a set of Ambrosio Excellence, 32 spoke built by the Old Potatoe.
Other than the squirrels demise,the worst was for the person following me who got "splashed". That and having to wash the bike when i got home.

[DerekB]

Wow hope your friend is ok.
Just shared that pic with my riding buddies.

[nrs5000]

I had a squirrel run out in the road on me once when I was trucking down a false flat. Poor little fellow darted out, saw me, did a 180, started overthinking the situation, and did another 180 just in time for my front wheel to bisect its spine. I barely felt the bump.

I am surprised a squirrel could get in among the spokes at speed. Hope your friend heels fast.

[tylerbick]

Daaa-yum! Hopefully your buddy is resting comfortably in a well-medicated state. ;)

What kind of insurance covers this kind of incident?

[Louis]

What kind of insurance covers this kind of incident?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40kPEjZpM8M

[tylerbick]

that mtb picture is brutal! it slices! it dices!




Thank you. I almost lost bladder control when I read this... Good ole Ronco.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/19046