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You have crashed - ouch! You have picked yourself up and feel like you
can continue - what should you check on your bike before continuing?
Some of the items listed below are obviously things which cannot be
fixed whilst on the road, but are things which should be checked
before continuing to ride so that you have an understanding of the
condition of your bicycle.
- Tyres:
Did both wheels survive the crash with the tyres
inflated? If so, are the tyres still on the rims (clincher beads
seated correctly, tubular tyre still firmly glued)?
- Bars:
Almost certainly, these will have been
knocked to the side to some extent. Straighten the bars as best
as possible - this may be possible without loosening the stem
using the "clamp the wheel between the knees" technique.
- Levers:
If a lever has been knocked aside, a firm push
with the hands is usually all that is required to straighten the
thing again. It is likely to have been scraped by the pavement -
if necessary, smooth the rough edges with a fine file.
- Wheels:
Do the wheels still run true? If not, some
judicious twiddling of nipples may be required to make the wheel
ridable again. See here for some
good advice on how to go about building wheels - truing them is a
subset of the skills required to build them - see the section on
tensioning and truing.
Did the chain meet the spokes? If so, there will
be nicks in the spokes and those spokes will need to be replaced
as, in time, they *will* break at the nicks.
- Derailleur hanger:
If the bike landed on its right
side, it is possible that the derailleur hit the ground which
will result in scratches on the mechanism and can also lead to
the hanger being bent. The quickest test is to see whether the
derailleur is still clear of the sopkes with the chain in the big
cog (do this while not riding the bike!). Next, does the indexing
of the gears still work OK? If in doubt, take the bike to a shop
where they can check the alignment.
- Saddle:
Depending on the acrobatics performed in the crash,
the saddle can get knocked askew. Straighten as required.
- Frame:
If the crash involved a collision, then also
check the frame alignment. Head-on collisions are the ones which
cause most problems and there are 3 easy things to check:
- Fork: If the blades are the curled type, then ensure that
the blades continue in a straight line out of the crown which is
parallel to the head tube before they begin curl.
- Down tube: Check for wrinkles, lifted paint or cracks on the
down tube, especially on the underside at the junction with the
head tube.
- Top tube: Check for wrinkles, lifted paint or cracks on the
top tube, especially on the underside at the junction with the
head tube.
If in doubt, a bike shop can do a more thorough check for you
ensuring that the dropouts are correctly aligned and checking the
trueness of the rear triangle.
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