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Today I crashed. I had to slam the brakes hard downhill as to avoid a worse crash. Split second decision, it's the way I explain it. As a consequence I went over the handlebars. Landed not too poorly, my body will be over it in a few days. I am now trying to assess how is the bike. The front hit the ground which was rough pavements with some stones sticking out. I have spotted:

  • two (new) dents on one side of the brake track of my front wheel,
  • superficial scratch on the hook of my carbon fork. I did the coin tap test and it sounded the same as the other side.

Beyond that, the front wheel needs truing, its spokes show no damage, and the stem needs a new alignment.

Here are some additional pictures to make your own judgment: https://i.stack.imgur.com/Lzp20.jpg

I had to cycle 30km home after the crash and the bike felt trustworthy. I made it slow and sage as I could see the wobbliness from the out of true wheel. But I prefer to err on the cautious side. Should I not descend on this fork? Should I take the bike to a workshop of an advised inspect?

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Criggie
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Learning is a mess
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    Does this answer your question? What do I do when I am unsure if a carbon fiber component is safe to use or needs replacing or repairing? – mattnz May 31 '21 at 21:58
  • @mattnz at most partially, as it only discusses how to judge the carbon fork, not my wheels. Nice read though! – Learning is a mess May 31 '21 at 22:03
  • I see nothing that's concerning. – Daniel R Hicks May 31 '21 at 22:15
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    I believe that by “hook”, you mean the dropout - the u-shaped formation that you put the wheel’s axle into. – Weiwen Ng May 31 '21 at 23:32
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    Just based off the pictures, the fork is perfectly good. That area sees virtually zero stress. Heck, on metal forks, some people even file off those little protrusions to make wheel changes faster. – MaplePanda Jun 01 '21 at 07:29
  • @WeiwenNg Yeah dropout is the term, I named by its shape! Thanks. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 09:36
  • @MaplePanda Good to know, I am not aware of the forces going at this place, as are these necessary to prevent the wheel from coming off when you hit a pothole etc... – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 09:36
  • The dropouts are usually aluminium. I’d compare with the other side to make sure it’s still the same shape and not bent in any way. – Michael Jun 01 '21 at 10:49
  • Just a piece of advice: Are you used to hard braking? Going over the handlebars really shouldn’t happen, maybe train emergency stops specifically to get the muscle memory dialed in. – Michael Jun 01 '21 at 10:50
  • @Michael I have trained some hard braking in the past, in the drops and the hoods. This is my first crash of this sort in years of riding. I checked my GPS and it happened in a -10% slope, on a road that has gravel on which forced me into braking as hard as possible. On the way back home, I had to do another hard brake because of a mini van racing through a round about and cutting in front of me, it went fine (otherwise I would not be here...). When I am back on the saddle I plan on training hard braking again, to build skill and confidence. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 11:01
  • @Michael it all happened so quickly, my memory is blurry now and I do not remember if I was on the drops or not. I think I could have done better shifting body weight to the rear. My tyres are also too slick now, I will change them for larger and grippier ones asap. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 11:03
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    Oh, so with gravel on the ground it was probably just “normal” loss of traction? Maybe caused by locking up the (front) wheel (in which case shifting weight to the rear would actually be bad). Are your tyres Vittoria Zaffiro Pro? They are not too bad as far as I’m aware. Lower pressure helps a bit with gravel or rough ground and doesn’t increase rolling resistance too much (if at all). – Michael Jun 01 '21 at 11:45
  • @Michael Tyres are rubino pro, so close to. I am riding high pressures on them, otherwise they lose puncture resistance I have experienced. Do not remember if I locked the front totally, there was some sliding. I could have braked harder on the tail maybe. I tend to avoid roads with gravel, I much prefer nice tarmac, even if climbing. Here I was following the GPS mapping on a new route. Lesson learned. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 11:48
  • @Michael one thing I've seen, though thankfully avoided myself at least to full OTB severity, is maximal braking then the front wheel catches on a small pothole or other bit of bad road. These can be masked by gravel. I'm more concerned by "gravel making me brake as hard as I could". Max braking on gravel is a recipe for a skid, but max braking on seeing gravel/to avoid it suggests going a bit too quick. I've had a few scares like that and I'm fairly cautious. – Chris H Jun 01 '21 at 19:16
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    @Learningisamess No, the tabs are not necessary if your QR is secured properly. They will help in the event that it isn't though. – MaplePanda Jun 03 '21 at 02:19

2 Answers2

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I can't see the marks on the fork to which you are referring. They may not show up well in photos.

The rim brake track appears to have some road-rash damage. I would remove the tyre/tube, and gently stone or file the rim to remove high spots without removing any more metal than absolutely necessary. Then true the wheel before reinstalling.

This may wear out your brake pad on this side slightly faster, but its mostly above where the brake pad would touch. I would still ride that wheel.

Criggie
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    I will look into the wheel after removing the tyre+tube. The dent has a rough edge, and it does look like it could use a filling. I only have sandpaper at disposal for this job atm though. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 09:41
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    @Learningisamess sandpaper probably won't be accurate enough - it will tend to take metal off around the high spots too. Consider buying a small set of cheap needle files to add to your tool kit. Sharpening stones would be overkill unless you already had some. – Criggie Jun 01 '21 at 11:36
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The wheel may well be ok and is not too expensive to replace in any case.

The fork could be ok, but it's asking alot of this format to get a good answer. if the steerer tube is carbon, i would be cautious and consider replacement. If the steerer tube is alu, i would carefully check for cracks in the paint finish at stress points in the fork blades but may never feel so comfortable using it as before. A very bad crash can also damage the head tube of the frame, so check that too.

Noise
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  • I cannot find the information on the fork, is it full carbon or hybrid. The bike was sold in 2015 for £800, could that give a hint? I have never removed the fork for service, might be about time. – Learning is a mess Jun 01 '21 at 09:40
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    If you remove the stem, hopefully it will be obvious whether it is carbon or alu. That should be straightforward! – Noise Jun 01 '21 at 16:39
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    Had a look today. The fork is full carbon and there are no signs of any cracks. I ended up doing a service of the head tube, cleanup and re-grease. I also removed the tyre and tube for an inside inspect of the wheel. I do not have pictures to share but the dents are really superficial. There is a lot of material on the wheel rim, almost all of it, so I will keep this one. Only thing left to do is truing, I am postponing for a day with more free time. Cheers! – Learning is a mess Jun 02 '21 at 21:38