Nasty Silvio crash tonight!

C

cycleguy

Active Member
Hi All,

I was on my regular Monday night ride out of Goodales Bike shop in Nashua, NH tonight. I was coasting down a hill and accelerating when I started to pedal again towards the bottom. I was on the right hand shoulder going around a right hand bend in the road. When I started to pedal, the chain came off the rear cog and got wedged. This locked up the cranks and the pressure on the pedal caused the front end to jerk violently to the left. I went down hard on my left side and skidded a good 25 feet across the traffic lane, across the double yellow line and halfway into the oncoming traffic lane. As I skidded their was a car coming towards me in the other lane that had to swirve a bit and I passed just behind it. When I stopped, I got up quick and got off the road. According to my GPS data, i was going 26 mph when I hit the pavement.

The bike was fine, but I had a major road rash all over my left forearm and on my left hip... my shorts were shredded on the left side. oddly though I felt no pain... I gathered myself together and continued with the group. When I got back to the bike shop and got off the bike, the pain started setting in. Just mainly stings a lot now, but not too bad considering I could have easily have gotten squashed by a car in either direction.

One thing that was clear is that dropping hard on a Silvio is lot less painful Ithink then dropping from a height of a DF bike. I did not hurt my shoulder or head. A bit scary when i think how lucky I was.

Harold
 
Mark B

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
OUCH!!!! Glad you're OK, Harold! That's two Silvio crashes recently. I sure don't want to be the third!!

Mark
 
trapdoor2

trapdoor2

Zen MBB Master
Wow, definitely a near miss. Glad you're up and still with us!

One word for road-rash: "Tegaderm". Also, get some sterile saline to wash the abrasions with...sure takes the sting out quickly. Buy the Tegaderm down at your local pharmacy, ours carries it in 3 X 3 sheets but even the smaller stuff can be layered to cover large areas. This stuff acts like a second skin, breathes, allows you to bathe with the dressing in place, etc.

When I rolled my Catrike, I had road-rash on my left arm from elbow to wrist. We layered the Tegaderm like laying shingles. I was amazed at how quickly the pain went away and how fast the skin repaired itself under the Tegaderm. Only the really deep stuff on my elbow ever scabbed over.

There is always going to be an issue with having the driveline on the wheel that steers the bike. More moving parts = higher likelihood of problems. When the potiential problem areas are directly associated with steering, it simply increases the likelihood for disaster.

I don't think FWD bikes are less safe than RWD bikes, I think they have inherently different safety issues that we need to be aware of as riders.
 
admin

admin

Administrator
Staff member
Harold, thanks for this post and glad you are generally ok.
I wonder if you would mind telling me:
chainwheel and cluster teeth?
exact number of links in your chain?
any shifting issue or chain damage before this accident?
Cheers.
 
C

cycleguy

Active Member
cruzadmin wrote: Harold, thanks for this post and glad you are generally ok.
I wonder if you would mind telling me:
chainwheel and cluster teeth?
exact number of links in your chain?
any shifting issue or chain damage before this accident?
Cheers.
Click to expand...

One of the mechanics from the bike shop adjusted the rear deraillur after the accident... it was going a bit beyond the small cog... there was no shifting issue or chain damage prior.

I have 48/34 chainrings and from 11 to 34 cluster. I went with the 34 due to the extreme hills around here.Didn't count the links yet.

While this type of incident may be unique to FWD bikes, DF's certainly have their issues as well but at least with the Silvio, the lower height I feel made a huge positive difference.

Harold
 
Mark B

Mark B

Zen MBB Master
I've never had my chain come off on the back, but I've thrown my chain off the big ring a couple times. What gets you is whey you go to move the pedal forward, the chain catches, so instead of turning the crank, you push the wheel. Push it too far and at high speed and there's no recovery. It's kind of like rolling your car. You can get the same sort of feeling when you first start riding and you're going down a hill, if you have spun out and you push the pedal too hard against no resistance, it gets a little squirrely...

Mark
 
admin

admin

Administrator
Staff member
cycleguy wrote: One of the mechanics from the bike shop adjusted the rear deraillur after the accident... it was going a bit beyond the small cog... there was no shifting issue or chain damage prior.

I have 48/34 chainrings and from 11 to 34 cluster. I went with the 34 due to the extreme hills around here.Didn't count the links yet.

While this type of incident may be unique to FWD bikes, DF's certainly have their issues as well but at least with the Silvio, the lower height I feel made a huge positive difference.

Harold
Click to expand...
The number of chain links is important Harold, and also, what rear deraileur are you running?
John
 
teacherbill

teacherbill

Well-Known Member
Mark B wrote: if you have spun out and you push the pedal too hard against no resistance, it gets a little squirrely...

Mark
Click to expand...


I call that "harmonic imbalance" :D Now I have the correct word....
 
C

cycleguy

Active Member
cruzadmin wrote:
The number of chain links is important Harold, and also, what rear deraileur are you running?
John
Click to expand...

Hi John,

I counted 56 links. The rear deraileur is a Shimano Deore XT.

Thanks
harold
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
visit our website visit our website
Top