[thebornotaku]

It sucks.

I was riding home from school today, enjoying some music, etc, right? no biggie, right?

I was in the attack stance (weight inbetween handlebars and seat). Usually I'm sitting, and I pull the front brake first, then back.

Didn't stop to think about the weight distribution and pulled the front brake. I had that odd sensation where your back wheel is off the ground and suddnely I notice that the only thing I can see is the pavement. I get up and look around and somebody's running over to me to see if I'm okay. I tell them I'm fine, thanks for the concern, and hop back on my bike, only to find that my shifter is messed up.

Now my bike's stuck in gear 2-8 and I have to take it to the shop to get it fixed because I can't get an allen wrench up under it to get the thing off. Fun.

At least I don't have to pay for repairs (huzzah free labor for a year).


Share some of your crash stories here.

 

[jonKranked]

Back brake first, then front.

Sounds like your derailler is borker, or the hangar is bent.


Either way, crashing sucks! but its part of the game.

 

[stoney]

Sprinting across the street to avoid a long line of traffic lead by a bus, about 2/3 the way across the street my chain snaps sending me otb. I end up rolling, still clipped in and pulling my bike vertical up against a parked car. Bus was about 10ft behind me, and when he passed, he was within 1ft. Driver never even slowed down...

 

[douglas]

do you keep you shifters just loose enough so they can move on the bars?

 

[Zark]

Grip came off my handlebar while in an out of the saddle sprint on my townie in college.....ouch.

I'm busted up right now from a nasty crash this weekend. endoed coming into a chicane that drops away. bruised knee and hip.

 

[moff_quigley]

I've had two OTB's that have resulted in 1) cracked ribs and 2)broken helmet.

1) Somehow did a nose wheelie down a little incline (I swear I didn't hit the brake) and totally launched off the bike just missing a tree. I did a nice roll but slammed hard enough on my left side that I had to be helped out of bed for a month.

2) Just started a ride and both hands came off the grips right as I was coming up on a little tree across the trail. Instant stoppage that pile drived me instantly to the ground face first. First wreck other than the time I broke my tib/fib where I actually took inventory of body parts being able to move before I attempted to get up.

 

[jonKranked]

the other night i was riding my 20" and practicing bunny hop 180's. well on one, when i was mid hop and spinning, my left foot shifted slightly, so that the ball of my foot was BEHIND the pedal axle. When I landed with all my weight, my foot rolled back off the pedal and the crank zipped around slammed my shin... bruised the hell outta my lower patella tendon. And because I was landing fakie I naturally rolled back and landed on my ass.

 

[HAB]

Just be glad you're not this guy:


http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=_Z7vGiUg8bE&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http://s4.ytimg.com/vi/_Z7vGiUg8bE/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLY6AW21YmpOkaMc5hNkPIt&hl=en

 

[vtjim]

Last pain I had was attempting two logs, one in front of the other at about 2 ft off the ground. I was too tired ( on the way out) and shouldn't have attempted it, but I kind had too. You have to hit with speed so I did, made it over but over balanced too much; rode a nose wheelie for a minute then crushed my left nad on the top bar as I came back down. I was on the ground for a few minutes breathing through the pain.

 

[vtjim]

Just be glad you're not this guy:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Z7vGiUg8bE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Z7vGiUg8bE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Yeah, I would totally hate to be all those characters. Poor bastard.

 

[HAB]

the other night i was riding my 20" and practicing bunny hop 180's. well on one, when i was mid hop and spinning, my left foot shifted slightly, so that the ball of my foot was BEHIND the pedal axle. When I landed with all my weight, my foot rolled back off the pedal and the crank zipped around slammed my shin... bruised the hell outta my lower patella tendon. And because I was landing fakie I naturally rolled back and landed on my ass.

Bet that looked smooth.



I love you new custom title.

 

[stoney]

Just be glad you're not this guy:


http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=_Z7vGiUg8bE&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http://s4.ytimg.com/vi/_Z7vGiUg8bE/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLY6AW21YmpOkaMc5hNkPIt&hl=en

I"ve done that before. it's no fun...lthumbsdown:

 

[HAB]

Yeah, I would totally hate to be all those characters. Poor bastard.

Fvck you. I fail at teh video imbed.

 

[moff_quigley]

Fvck you. I fail at teh video imbed.

"{youtube]insert vid tag here[/youtube}"

"{youtube]_Z7vGiUg8bE[/youtube}"

replace {} with [] =

 

[vtjim]

Fvck you. I fail at teh video imbed.

Hahahah... yeah I actually suck at it too.

 

[thebornotaku]

Back brake first, then front.

Sounds like your derailler is borker, or the hangar is bent.

Either way, crashing sucks! but its part of the game.

Not the derailleur, the shifting mechanism on the handlebars. I checked before I got back on -- rims, axles, brakes, derailleurs, all of that was fine. Cranks to. One of the pedals got a little scuffed but whatever.

do you keep you shifters just loose enough so they can move on the bars?

No, sadly. I haven't changed anything about the bike since I bought it.





Another crashing story, cause of mechanical failure with my cranks...

Was riding home, came to a crosswalk, waited to cross and all. Got about a quarter of the way through the crosswalk and suddenly the left side crank arm came off, for no reason. The bolt went flying, the arm dropped and it was right as I was pushing down on it, so I turned hard left and ended up hitting a car. Fell off my bike, got up and looked at the driver, who had since gotten out of his car and was asking me if I was alright. I was like "I'm fine, sorry for hitting your car dude." He wasn't too worried (thankfully). Ran over and grabbed the bolt and the crank arm and finished crossing the street.

Had to find a 5/16ths allen wrench to put the damned thing back on. got it back on and lo and behold, it came loose again (but this time near the bike shop) so I rode in to the shop, they tightened it, and off I went.

I now carry a 5/16ths allen wrench with me to make sure I can tighten it if need be. I've had to do it like 5 or 6 times.

 

[stoney]

What kind of bike? Should be 8mm allen.

 

[HAB]

5/16"=7.93mm

It probably was an 8mm, but the 5/16" fit.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Grabbing front brake first =

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Last time I went OTB I was riding down a grass hill on my 20". At the bottom of this hill was a concrete sidewalk, which happened to be about 6" higher than the ground that led up to it, however the grass was tall enough to conceal this difference in height and I ended up running into it at a fairly good clip. Consequently it sent me flying over the sidewalk, and into the parking lot it was bordering.

 

[thebornotaku]

What kind of bike? Should be 8mm allen.

'08 Giant Rincon.

5/16"=7.93mm

It probably was an 8mm, but the 5/16" fit.

Probably. I don't have metric sets, so.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Last time I went OTB I was riding down a grass hill on my 20". At the bottom of this hill was a concrete sidewalk, which happened to be about 6" higher than the ground that led up to it, however the grass was tall enough to conceal this difference in height and I ended up running into it at a fairly good clip. Consequently it sent me flying over the sidewalk, and into the parking lot it was bordering.

Did your wheel die? That sound nasty.

 

[OGRipper]

Nothing wrong with grabbing front brake first but, uh, just don't pull it hard enough to lock your friggin' wheel and flip over.

And Joker, I did something similar only it was breaking a carbon crankset sprinting from a light - I literally ripped the ring mounting tabs right off the arm. Sent me flying OTB across a busy intersection. I felt pretty lucky to not get squished.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Nothing wrong with grabbing front brake first but, uh, just don't pull it hard enough to lock your friggin' wheel and flip over.

Yeah - I'm guessing he might not be a good candidate.

 

[stoney]

One of my fun ones was doing a super low speed manual across an intersection from sidewalk to sidewalk, I was going to drop my front wheel right at the beginning of the curb and use it to hop my rear wheel up. Unfortunately I dropped it right into the gutter. OTB, slayed out all over the curb.
Same type of thing when I tried to bunnyhop a chain on my DH bike on campus. Rear wheel hung up and sent me to the pavement. I was riding next to this group of 3-4 girls from the sorority I worked at, which made it that much better...

 

[SkaredShtles]

One of my fun ones was doing a super low speed manual across an intersection from sidewalk to sidewalk, I was going to drop my front wheel right at the beginning of the curb and use it to hop my rear wheel up. Unfortunately I dropped it right into the gutter. OTB, slayed out all over the curb.
Same type of thing when I tried to bunnyhop a chain on my DH bike on campus. Rear wheel hung up and sent me to the pavement. I was riding next to this group of 3-4 girls from the sorority I worked at, which made it that much better...

This sounds like the kind of crap stoney would pull.

 

[stoney]

This sounds like the kind of crap stoney would pull.

Yep, total jackass moves.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Did your wheel die? That sound nasty.

Surprisingly my wheel didn't really sustain much damage. I usually run fairly high pressure in my tires (50-60psi) so that may have helped prevent more serious damage. I was just glad I was wearing gloves that day, or my hands would have been done..

 

[TN]

Tuck & roll. That is the key.

 

[thebornotaku]

Tuck & roll. That is the key.

true facts

I broke my two front teeth on a BMX bike because I couldn't roll, and I scuffed up my chin pretty rightly after I fell off of my old longboard.

Luckily the worst that happened today is I got winded from hitting the ground and I scuffed my right hand lightly

 

[SkaredShtles]

Tuck & roll. That is the key.

I don't trust the tuck & roll. Whenever I go OTB I attempt to get my feet up and land on 'em.

It doesn't ALWAYS work.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

I don't trust the tuck & roll. Whenever I go OTB I attempt to get my feet up and land on 'em.

It doesn't ALWAYS work.

I try this as well, although one time I nose dove on a dirtjump and tried to hop over my bars. My feet ended up snagging the bars and I couldn't recover from it and went down anyways oster_oops:.

 

[TN]

Suck it up princess!

.....I got winded from hitting the ground and I scuffed my right hand lightly

It must be the inner ninja in me.

I don't trust the tuck & roll. Whenever I go OTB I attempt to get my feet up and land on 'em.

It doesn't ALWAYS work.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

RM's server is not big enough to list 18 years of crashing on a mountain bike and 4 years of BMX.

The worst crash I had was very similar to Hab's video, only I hit the tree with the back of my head first. I pretty much quit racing DH after that.

My all time best save was in the mid 90's during a XC race. For you South East Monkeys it was the Camp Carolina series. The course was very steep in sections. That year they had cut a new section of trail for the race course. This section was so loamy and new that you could practically hear them cutting it head of you. I came into a steep right hander in super loose dirt. The front end started to wash out sending me over the bars. As this was happening I casually stepped over the front end of the bike and reached around behind me and grabbed the seat with my right hand. When I planted a foot I threw the bike in front of me and hopped back on and started pedaling. It would have been perfect if my chain hadn't of dropped off.

 

[ire]

When I used to drink I was coming home from the corner store with an 18 pack (it was about three blocks away)....I'm completely drunk, carrying the 18 pack under one arm and holding on to the bars with the other hand. I start pedaling hard, slip the pedals and proceed to flip over the handlebars. Luckily I didn't land on the 18 pack, but I still tore up my hands and legs. The worse part was that this happened right in front of a home that cares for mentally disabled people and they all started laughing really loud at me

 

[glass]

Two Saturday's ago I had just finished cutting my lawn and was sitting in my garage admiring my new bike. (Bought it used- S Works Enduro) Hadn't even gotten it on a trail yet and was supposed to hook up with some friends on Sunday. Decided to get on the bike and try a few bunnyhops, well I lifted the front end up to much but still tried to save it. At the last second I realized it wasn't going to make it and tried to bail. Got off the bike and landed on my feet but my right knee buckled sideways to the inside. Felt and heard a "POP"

Long story short got a small fracture and some cartelige damage. When the fracture heals the Doc will have to scope it and clean up the damage. At least it wasn't my ACL or MCL. What really sucks is after smoking for 24 years and quitting, my lungs had finally surpassed my legs as far as my riding and now I'll have to start over once I heal.

 

[stinkyboy]

Tuck & roll. That is the key.

Agreed.

 

[skinny mike]

came into this decent sized gap jump for the first time in a while. hit a rock in the run in just the wrong way which made me get all squirrelly so i tried to hit the brakes, but they didn't really work. ended up going partially up the jump on the logs sticking out to the side and proceeded to bail by jumping off my bike, combat rolling in midair onto a boulder while taking out a beer bottle on it(luckily it didn't break), and landing upside down on the other side of the rock with my bike following right behind me.

it was by far one of the most epic/hilarious crashes i have ever had. i'm pretty sure everyone who witnessed it thought i was rather weird for bursting out in laughter once i stopped tumbling.

 

[stinkyboy]

Remember, front to back refers to women wiping.

Depends on the situation. Some trials skills have helped me not get clipped while commuting a few times. While not at considerable speed, jamming the front brake, and letting the rear end come up has worked out better than hoping my rear won't skid me into a hit.

I practice it everyday. If I'm headed west and cross the street needing to go south, I hit the front and bring the rear up and around. I'm better at left to right, and it usually helps a few drivers take notice.

 

[thebornotaku]

That's the kind of stuff I've decided to start practicing, too. Like, I was going to go home and then go to the park and practice on the grass. messed up my shifter though, so no practicing for me until the week at least. =/