Post crash questions

[rickbb]

In late September, I had a bad (aren't they all?) crash, from which I've recovered, due to a fork failure, CL bike, so my fault, see self-description, below.
The front wheel, an Ambrosia Excellight bought on this forum, here (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=74348&highlight=excellight), was tacoed. First question: anyone have any interest in the wheel or hub for shipping cost? I can provide photos.
The crash was a perfect endo, with my hands, face and helmet taking most of the impact. There are just a couple of small marks on the points of the shifter bodies (shifters are fine, otherwise) and one of the shifter clamps rotated 45 degrees on the bar, without any visible damage. Bar is not bent and even the tape wasn't affected, anywhere. So, second question (from a parsimonious fixed-income retiree): Could I reuse the handlebars (FSA Wing alloy) or is that just high-risk stupid?

[William]

They "might" be fine. But that isn't a chance I would want to take. One face plant is enough.

I'm glad you are recovering to ride again.



William

[FlashUNC]

I would unwrap the bar and give it a look see, see if you could spot any signs of damage to the bar itself around the areas it might have been stressed in the crash, but I'd imagine it would be alright from what you describe.

One of the perks of having your body absorb most of the damage, I suppose.

FWIW, I washed out in a corner in a crit about 9 years ago, took out the guy next to me, who landed on top of me and my bike. Those bars (alloy) got slammed to hell and back. Still using them today with no signs of breaking yet.

[AngryScientist]

i'd default to Williams advice.

that said, if they were MY bars, i'd give them a thorough inspection with, untaping them and checking them out, and re-use them if they looked OK with no creases or cracks, if they were carbon, i'd chuck them.

good luck, and glad to hear you're back.

what was the root cause for the crash?

[rickbb]

Thanks. My new teeth look better than the old ones!
I was out of the saddle at around 20mph. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. It's remotely possible a shoe unclipped but I've been told that would likely have resulted in a different kind of (less symmetrical) fall. Fork was a Look HSC-1 and failed at the left dropout.
The unwrapped bar shows no damage but I'm inclined to take the conservative advice.

[rdparadise]

Alloy bars can take a lot of pounding in my opinion. If they were carbon I'd use William's recommendation. Being alloy, I would unwrap and inspect. If all looks okay then keep using them.

Happy cycling and glad you recovered.

Bob

[Pete Serotta]

and agree with William. :help: :beer:


They "might" be fine. But that isn't a chance I would want to take. One face plant is enough.

I'm glad you are recovering to ride again.



William

[rickbb]

Thank you, Pete.
One face plant is enough.
Any interest in the wheel?

[Pete Serotta]

The wheel might have to be rebuilt, based on pretzel. If someone needs to try a wheel rebuild or truing this could be the inexpensive way to go...


Or just give it as a Christmas present to Aneida :D :D

[AngryScientist]

pm'd on the hub, i wanted to try my hand at wheelbuilding over the winter anyway:)

[taz-t]

The handlebar may be fine, but your 'trust' in the handlebar is always going to be less than if you go with a new one.

Retire the bar or if it looks okay after inspecting, demote it to a short errand bike and get a new bar for your regular bike.

- taz

[Bob Loblaw]

A close inspection would probably reveal any damage to an alloy bar. If it's bent, it might be cracked or weakened, but if it's not bent it's most likely fine.

I'd unwrap it and measure it center to center between the ends of the bars and again between the middle of the bends. If it's symmetrical, that's a good sign.

Look it over for gouges. Cuts can become points of failure over time. No cuts or deep scratches, another good sign.

After that I'd stand over the bike and flex it mightily while an assistant looked it over for cracks or distortions.

If it passes all these inspections, I'd ride it for a while and then reinspect next time you retape the bars.

OTOH, decent bars aren't that expensive.

BL

[aoe]

OTOH, decent bars aren't that expensive.

BL[/QUOTE].
...and peace of mind is priceless.

[stephenmarklay]

Really pretty easy. Keep them.

Oh wait, did that crash hurt? Well if your bars let go it will happen again and you may not be lucky enough to post on the forum.

It stinks but not at all worth the risk.

I crash in a race last year on brand new 3T Carbon bars. They had a small scrape on the drops on one side. I tossed them didn't east for two weeks and bought new bars :)

[spartacus]

Cut those bars in half and make a wind chime out of 'em :beer: