Originally Posted by
Litespud
I "carported" my roof-mounted Ti frame/CF fork ~7 years ago. Roof rack was a fork-clamp model, so the saddle was the highest part of the structure. Fortunately I wasn't traveling fast into the carport - probably travelled a further 6"-1 ft after hearing the "crunch". Saddle was twisted to one side and ripped a bit, the bike tray was twisted and shoved back, and a couple of the pillars for the factory roof rails (and one the rails itself) were cracked. I repaired the rails by various means, and manually untwisted the tray, so the front and rear were largely parallel. The Ti frame looked OK - straight and no visible damage - my main concern was the fork, on which the force pulling the rack off the car had operated. It
looked OK, but who knew? Given to it was ~13 years old (Reynolds Ouzo Pro), I figured that replacing it as a cautionary measure probably wasn't a bad idea (probably would've done it even if the fork had been newer, but the age of the fork made the decision easier). I found an NOS uncut Ouzo Pro on eBay (Independent Fabrication clearing out their old stock) for a relative bargain. Frame, saddle (with strategically located duct tape) and seat post still on the go - original fork cut up and consigned to the trash, replaced for way less than the cost of one dentists visit. My one regret is that I forgot to retrieve a perfectly good Chris King crown race before I trashed the old fork
.
That's how I got back into biking. I had an old Paramount (drunk hit me when riding, it was a custom frame, Schwinn on strike when I asked them to repair it, they sent me a standard frame which was too big, didn't ride for a long time). I was in the Philly airport garage. Someone had driven their BMW with a CAAD 3 or some such under a concrete beam. Frame bent, fork bent, saddle trashed, handlebars bent. They left it next to the trash can, still affixed to the car-top carrier. I was getting home, walked past the wreckage, threw my stuff into the car and thought "I wonder what kind of bike that is". Ended up taking the wreckage home. Took me a bit to figure out those new-fangled brifters. Anyway, sparked my interest and a trip to the Bike shop. "You rode a Paramount, eh? Try this Domane, you'll like it!". I did, but I couldn't afford the 3K at the time. And I'm really snooty about stuff so I wanted the highest series (6) at the time, and Dura Ace. Found one on eBay. A former Trek team guy was selling his Trek kit. Bought a 2014 Series 6 Domane, all Dura Ace. It's the bike I ride most. I also got rid of the poorly sized Paramount and got an LeMond Zurich frame (853, carbon fork) that I spread, aligned, and installed Ultegra R8000. They both ride really nicely.
The shifting cables are getting a little fidgety on the Domane, and experience indicates that they need replacing (and that its a rough row to hoe to replace those things after they've broken). So today I plan on taking a 4th of July ride on the Lemond. One reason I got the Lemond was my skepticism about the durability of CF. It may be that in 100 years there are still viable CF frames from today around. But my LeMond frame will still be around if I don't crash it. BTW, I do intend to replace the front fork with a Ritchey at some point soon. And since its a 1" steer tube, I've been vultching (watching like a vulure) eBay for a 2001 or so Maillot Jaune or Zurich - 853 frames with a 1-1/8 inch steer tube. Anyway, I need to put red, white and blue crepe paper in the spokes for my ride so I've got to get cracking.
