There are 5 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. Re: Request for help and advice regarding accident
From: Wendell Sexson
2. RE: Request for help and advice regarding accident
From: "Haroon Said"
3. Re: Digest Number 272
From: Monty
4. Re: Request for help and advice regarding accident
From: Craig Cramer
5. Improvements
From: Tom Kravitz


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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 20:54:14 -0800
From: Wendell Sexson
Subject: Re: Request for help and advice regarding accident

On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 01:19 +0000, Eric Griffith wrote:
> 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?

Eric,

A hybrid wheel should be strong enough for someone your size (I am 6'4"
and 250lbs, BTW). A 19" frame sounds small to me for someone your size,
but I don't know what the geometry of your bike is and this shouldn't
have anything to do with your accident anyway. I had a similar accident
some 20 odd years ago when I was a teenager. The wheel just "tacoed"
while riding straight on level ground on a neighborhood street. I went
over the handlebars and scraped up my hands pretty good, but I was
otherwise not injured. So yes, this type of accident can happen without
warning. The spokes of your front wheel were probably not tensioned
properly. The wheel was probably not 'defective' exactly. All of the
parts of the wheel were probably just fine, but were assembled badly. I
don't think that you will have any recourse with Diamondback considering
when you bought the bike and you rode it for 500 miles. If you haven't
done it yet, I think that you should call Sport Chalet and ask if they
will replace or repair your wheel. My guess is that your hybrid is not
of the greatest quality, but a $300 hybrid should not have that kind of
a failure after only 500 miles (it isn't a $80 Walmart bike, after all).
Much of what I have written is just speculation, so take it as friendly
advice and nothing more. I am glad to hear that you were not injured
very badly, and I hope that your collarbone heals well. I am glad to
hear that you want to keep riding. Just be sure that you are always
riding on good wheels, as you now know how important they can be for
your safety.





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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:00:26 -0800
From: "Haroon Said"
Subject: RE: Request for help and advice regarding accident

Hi Eric:



I can relate to your accident; I have been riding a road bike for 6 years.
About 4 weeks ago I was riding with friends on a group ride with local club
(Pasadena tri club http://www.pasadenatriclub.com
) we were going on San Dimas Blvd which
has a downhill grade when suddenly the front wheel just washed out from
under the bike, I lost control went down hard at 27mph and broke my clavicle
& 3 ribs. I guess my point is sometimes accidents happen, was your caused
defective equipment? maybe or maybe not.



You are a pretty big guy at 6'4" at 275lb so it is possible the frame or
some other component may have stressed over time causing it to fail when
weight stress was high.



Get well soon.



Haroon

_____

From: bikepaths@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bikepaths@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Eric Griffith
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 5:19 PM
To: bikepaths@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bikepaths] Request for help and advice regarding accident



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








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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:30:50 -0800 (PST)
From: Monty
Subject: Re: Digest Number 272

Hi:

Will it be all Class I? Is there a map (freehand or otherwise)?

Monty

Herb Meyerowitz wrote:
Burbank/Chandler bike trail to Orange Line extension is underway...
I rode by this last week....there is cement from the end of the Bur/Chandler trail to just before Cahuenga...this will be very nice when its done. Just not sure how they will handle the alignment at Vineland...but it has to better than it is now!

Megan..glad to hear you found your way around the SGRT...is is really nice once you are familar with it!

herb

bikepaths@yahoogroups.com wrote:
There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. after riding SGRT thoughts
From: "bike_with_us"


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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:57:26 -0000
From: "bike_with_us"
Subject: after riding SGRT thoughts

Hi all:

I am happy to report to you that I've ridden the SGRT last Monday
while visiting my parents. Also I am no longer part of team Wrong Way
on SGRT :)

It was an interesting ride. I was determined to explore this trail,
so told my poor cycling friend that with or without him, I am going.
Poor man, he had other plan but scrapped it to come out to meet and
ride with me. Saying that it'd be impossible for me to navigate the
trail. He was right. That trail is convolute, tough to avoid
becoming part of Team Wrong Way.

We met and started in Monrovia. From here to the path is easy, it's
from the path to the Santa Fe dam which is little hard, for the
uninitiated person such as I. As you need to make a left turn on the
path at the park bathroom, go a short distance, turn right to pick up
the path rather than straight. Ride to top of dam, then descend it,
go across a street to pick up the path. Stay on it, until the path
mile marker is around 22.50(??? I might be off here), get to the
four-corner intersection, thank you to the folks who have pointed this
out, you know who you are.

Take the left artery of the four-corner. Ride on it for a little
while, beware of the path is split to straight and left. Take the
left, stay on the path. It takes to around and to the right. Stay on
this path, not too long, it ends, dumps you on a street (the street
must be Beverly??). Go right on this street and make a U-turn to get
to the other side of the street to pick up the path.

This is confusing and of course, the wonderful ppl who built this path
trusts that we, cyclists have embedded navigation system and need no
signs for direction.

This trail seems to need signs at least at four locations. One set at
the Duarte area in the park area to point out that you need to turn
left at bathroom to pick up the trail to the dam. Second set at the
four-corner intersection, third set at that strange area where you
need to ride left and descend down a small hill to pick up the path,
and the fourth to point out that you need to do an U-turn on the
street to get to the other side.

The mile posts on SGRT seems to work well (knock on wood that
vandalizers would not read this), so these signs may be stenciled on
the ground at the intersection, when the cyclists would need to decide
where to turn.

All in all, the trail is great, just not in good shape as the LA River
path. The narrow tunnels are pretty scary riding in them as you could
not see broken glasses or whatever to avoid them.

In retrospect, I think it was a good thing that I was lost and
stumbled on the LA river trail ;) since now I have options to ride
either to LgBch or SealBch. It was a great exploration after all.

Thanks for reading my verbose message, and tailwind to you all,
Megan








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[This message contained attachments]



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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:35:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Craig Cramer
Subject: Re: Request for help and advice regarding accident

Eric,

I've broken my clavicle three times so I share that
pain and I hope have a quick recovery. Considering
your questions; I'm 6'4" 185 and I ride several types
of bicycles-- one for the commute, a crusier for the
beach & w/the kids, and a road for touring. I bend
rims but usually the back rim; I'm on my third set due
to accidnets, curbs, holes, or whatever. My commuter
is a Trek 7200 (retail $375) any bicycle retailing
below $500 is well a cheap bicycle which maybe poorly
assembled back in China. I bought a Performance
Mountain Bike 1999 which did not have enough greese on
the crankarm that caused and awful squeak after about
200 miles. So considering your discription of the
accident and your mentioning that you inflated the
tires, did you over inflate them? Check the rim for
cracks because if the rim is only bent the compination
your weight (at 275lbs you need to get back out on
that bike!)the inflation of the tire, and a small bump
or even a road reflector mark could have caused the
rim to buckle. The manufacture will fall back on this
and the idea use of a bicycle is an assumtion of the
risk because it is; you will need to prove a
manufacture defect in the product; these are tough,
expensive cases to win.

--- Eric Griffith 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:33:09 -0800
From: Tom Kravitz
Subject: Improvements

I now have a very good contact at LADOT that is willing to coordinate
efforts with the other bike path coordinators to make repairs and
improvements to the various paths. What she needs is EXACT locations
of problems. Bad ruts, missing pavement, etc that could cause
accidents. Let's not nit-pick on blemishes but the real stuff. Maybe
take a picture with a digital camera or phone.

Please send then directly to me and I will forward them. I want to
make sure that they get accurate information so they can get it
repaired. This is our chance and they have the money to do it right now.

Tom





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