Bald Paul

Led a short ride this evening. Four riders, only 20 miles, but it was 90 degrees out. Came back into the parking lot, made the turn around my vehicle, hit something slippery on the pavement. I had my left foot unclipped, but the bike decided to lean to the right. Yup, over I went. Suddenly, I hear the incident alarm on my phone (linked to my Garmin) and scrambled to shut that off before it notified my emergency contacts. (First time that's happened. Good to know it really works!)

Small bruise on my right elbow and shin, no biggie. But, the rear derailleur hanger got badly bent, and it turns out I can't get one locally. Onto the internet I go, punch in the hanger number into Google, and find it on eBay. Ordered two, just in case, and they won't get here until the first week of August. Oh, the Sram eTap AXS derailleur got mangled, too (found that out when I inspected things at home), so that makes it a $280 (plus the hanger) parking lot fall.

Looks like I'll be riding the trainer bike on the virtual roads in Zwift for a while. Meh, it's too hot out anyway (at least I'll tell myself that.)

GeezyRider 

Ouch! Glad your injuries were minor. Any chance you can straighten the derailleur hanger enough to allow decent shifting until your replacements arrive? I've had pretty good luck straightening them as long as they weren't cracked.

Peruano

Heat can mess you up. I (not a competitive rider) trailed a guy 8 years younger who was training in 90 degree weather. I hung with him until the end but when we stopped, I had the feeling that I couldn-t get my foot out of the spd pedal. Only when I explained my dilemma to my buddy did he tell me that my foot was on the ground. I was overheated and not totally in control of my balance and perception. Watch the heat and don't let the big boys drag you where you don't belong.

Russ Roth

That sucks. Some hangers can handle a little one time straightening, since they tend to be made of softer aluminum. Did recently find that the newer trek hanger, if it isn't straight out of the box will snap just trying to straighten it, but otherwise I've always had no problem with once as long as you don't see stress lines in the metal when you're done.

BTinNYC 

BP, that sucks.
I'm like Peruano , my brain stops working before my body does.

Bald Paul

I'm going to keep the old hanger as a backup to my backup. I'll try to straighten it, but it's a pretty bad bend, and I have a feeling it will crack when I do so. For now, I want to keep it semi-intact so I can compare the new one to it (you never know about eBay sellers and their descriptions.) I was lucky in that the part number of the hanger was stamped/cast into it, so I could find one.

I can't believe how many different hangers they make! SRAM offers a 'Universal Hanger', which simplifies things, but they only fit bikes designed for them. Maybe framemakers will have to start making frames with those hangers in mind. Certainly would simplify things.

The RD won't be here for a week. Gives me a good excuse to give the rest of the driveline a thorough cleaning. Between the rain and heat, riding indoors in my house with central air and a good fan may not be such a bad idea anyway. You know, when life gives you lemons....

andrewclaus

I've had decent luck straightening badly bent hangers in a bench vise or on its anvil, tapping with a hammer, rather than bending on the bike. Get visually close, then fine tune it on the bike with the right tool.

I had a backwards fall over a month ago on a volunteer job site, banged my elbow pretty good, but saved my head. After the swelling went down, it feels like a bone chip in there, which will I'll just live with. I didn't expect to finish this race in the same condition I started.

And I led a century ride a few days ago in 90+ heat. I started feeling and acting a little weird after mile 80 (telling stupid jokes, worse than usual), so I called a snack break. The four others appreciated it.

Bald Paul

The funny thing is that I always (well, except for this time) unclip my right foot. I do that because my left knee, which was pieced back together in 1976, to this day does not like twisting motion. Plus, with my right foot down, if I do fall over, it would be to the left - the non-drive side of the bike. Why I unclipped my left foot this time is beyond me. Heat? Brain fade?
The ride included two e-bikes. You would think we would be chasing them, right? Nope. In fact, we had to slow down several times to allow one of them to catch up (I lead a true "no drop" ride, not a "drop and stop") after the two of us '100% human powered' bikes spent a few miles at 20+ MPH. That, and one killer hill (10-12% for half a mile, then eases up to 6% for another full mile) brought our overall average to 14.6 MPH.

andrewclaus

I had this same experience with the first ebike in our group. It was a class 1 bike with a timid rider, so her descents were slow. And she wouldn't ride a pace line.

bikeleo

Thanks for the full report on the bike! Un bending hangers have been hit or miss for me, mostly miss. I usually put them on the anvil part of the bench vice and give them a few taps.
Check you handle bars for cracks, and the crank for a bend.

Glad your injuries were minor, heal quick.

Enjoy the Ride!

CAT7RDR

Truth Disclaimer: Been There, Done That!!!

Everything happens for a reason.
I'm going to give early morning riding a try to avoid the heat in SoCal.

John E

I envy you guys with the replaceable derailleur hangers. I have old school bolt-on claw hangers on the lowly Peugeot OU-8 and on the much nicer Carlton Franco-Suisse, but all of my other bikes have derailleur tabs that are integral to the dropout.

Bald Paul

This particular rider is on a Class 2 e-bike, something he cobbled together himself from a kit. It has a hub motor that is either ON or OFF with a switch. No torque sensor from the pedals. He turns the motor on going up hills and flys past us, but then he has to shut it off on the flats or risk running out of battery. With the motor off, he's pedaling an almost 50lb bike. The other e-bike rider is on a Class 3 with varying assist levels. He still has to pedal, and usually keeps the assist level on the first step. You really wouldn't know he was on an e-bike.

Random11

Sorry to hear about the accident and bike damage. While I'm recovering from a recent fall, fortunately the damage to my bike appears purely cosmetic. Here's wishing both you and your bike a speedy recovery.