Eric,

Sorry to hear of your accident; broken clavicle ≈ six weeks off the bike, I would miss riding.
Here are my thoughts in response to your questions:

1. Was I too big of a guy for this bike?
    I do not think so, I ride a touring bike with similar wheels for my commute and the bike carries similar weight, including me and all the items I have in my panniers, 5K miles I have not had any problem with the wheels.  Also the rear wheel usually takes the most weight load so I would expect the rear wheel to be the first to fail due to weight issues.

2. Could the wheel have been defective?
    Possible but, without physical evidence of a defect, hard to prove in a court; the wheel being bent could be a direct result of the crash. Your description of the rim makes me think the rim was exposed to extreme lateral stress; probably by having the wheel turned perpendicular to the line of travel or the bike landing on the side of the  front wheel after flying through the air.

3. Do wheels sometimes just collapse without warning?
     I would expect there to be some symptom of a wheel defect like not staying in true, uneven spoke tension, cyclic noises, spoke breakage and the like.  I presume there were no rim cracks since you did not mention any cracks. I suppose it is possible for a wheel to fail without warning but I suspect that the chance of such a failure is extremely remote.

4. Is this perhaps a poor quality bike in the first place?
    It looks OK from the websites I looked at, but I have no experience with Diamondback except the BMX bikes my kids had and they were decent quality bikes.

5. Is there any recourse with the manufacturer?
     Is it worth the trouble?  Your homeowners, renters or medical insurance (if you have any of them) will probably cover most of your damages. Without proof of negligence or an avoidable defect I do not see how you can collect damages from the manufacturer but if you really have a need to sue someone contact an accident attorney.  There are some Lawyers who specialize in bicycle injury litigation; try asking your local bike clubs or local bike shops if they know of any of these.

Assuming you make a claim against your insurance, they will probably attempt to get their money back from the other parties involved.  After I crashed my bike and ended up in the ER for a C-Spine, a CAT scan and stitches in my head (yes I was wearing a helmet, which is probably why I am still here) the medical insurance company sent me forms asking details of the accident and who owned/maintained the property where the accident occurred so they could seek reimbursement for the medical costs.

Safety note: Get your fork checked before you ride the bike again, it may have been damaged in the accident, the last thing is for your fork to fail.

   __o          Rich
 _`\(,_ 
(_)/ (_)
=============================================================

--- In bikepaths@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Griffith" <ehgriffith@...> wrote:
>
> I realize that this message is not an exact match for the purpose of
> this group, but since it is a group I have followed for a while, and
> have contributed to, I would appreciate the advice of fellow members.
>
> I have been riding casually for a couple of years, mainly for fitness
> to get into shape. Mostly neighborhood rides and trails close to the
> inland empire. I am a 43 year old male, about 6'2 275.
>
> Last year, as I was enjoying cycling very much, I decided to buy a new
> bike. I purchased a Diamondback Edgewood 19" from Sport Chalet. Apx
> $300, this was a hybrid bike that should have been well suited for the
> type of riding I was doing. In speaking to the salesman, he assured me
> that this was a properly sized bike for me. I had the pre-delivery
> checkout of the bike and started riding it last summer and fall. I
> have put about 500 miles on it.
>
> A couple of weeks ago, as the weather was warming up and getting nice,
> I decided to take a ride. I checked the bike, put air in the tires,
> made sure all was well and set out. I rode about 10 miles, and then
> headed about a mile up a moderate hill, and turned around to come
> down. On the way down, at about 22 mph, I suddenly lost control and
> went flying over the handlebars. Ended up with lots of road rash,
> cuts, scrapes, and a broken clavicle (one of the few that required an
> operation). I am recovering and will be okay and want to ride again.
>
> My problem is that I don't know what happened. My front wheel is bent
> about 30% in a smooth curve for 1/2 of the wheel, with the spokes all
> mangled. I don't think I hit anything like debris or a pothole. I am
> thinking that the wheel collapsed and that is what caused the accident
> (as opposed to the accident causing the wheel to collapse). But I am
> really not sure. The people in the car behind me saw me, and said that
> I just suddenly went flying...nothing else was observed.
>
> The questions that are in my head:
>
> 1. Was I too big of a guy for this bike?
> 2. Could the wheel have been defective?
> 3. Do wheels sometimes just collapse without warning?
> 4. Is this perhaps a poor quality bike in the first place?
> 5. Is there any recourse with the manufacturer?
>
> I know I am lucky I wasn't hurt worse, but it is important for me to
> understand why/how this happened (if not for any other reason, to
> avoid recurrence).
>
> I would really appreciate any advice or comments from other members.
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Eric
>