Crashing

It turns out that locking your bike in a public place doesn’t just open you up to the chance of having it stolen, but also to serious damage.

In a story that FMFT came across recently, a colleague had the quick release on his front wheel loosened as the bike was left securely locked. Perhaps someone had tried to steal the wheel, or perhaps it was just malicious, but either way it was something that escaped attention when the bike was taken to ride home. This meant that a pretty big accident was almost inevitable.

By “almost inevitable” I mean “guaranteed” and it wasn’t long before the wheel dropped out and a big crash followed. From what I understand the fork must have hit the ground and it doesn’t take an expert in physics to work out the rest.

The rider was thrown over the bars, cutting his hand quite badly on the road. He was lucky to do no more damage as he landed on the tarmac. The forks were bent and destroyed and in many ways only luck stopped the frame being damaged as well as the force went through the headtube. All in all it was a good £90 worth of damage at a bike shop as the bike was borrowed and needed a fix from someone who they would trust.

In many ways this was a lucky outcome as it could have been a whole lot worse. But there are lessons to be learned. The key one would be to check your bike over if it’s been left locked in public. You never know who might have done what to it.

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