This afternoon one of my neighbors ran into me with his SUV. I don’t care about my body, it’s my bike I’m worried about! Anyway, the left shifter and Zipp rim hit his car. The shifter is all scratched up, but works. Dura Ace of course. The Zipp wheel has a gouge and scratch on the side where I hit the car. I rode the bike home-about 1 mile-and noticed a slight wobble in the wheel. One of my friends thinks I should get rid of this wheel at the insurance company’s expense. I’m thinking this wheel is probably fine, except for the probable cosmetic blemish.
Anyone have any similar problems and/suggestions regarding how I might check the integrity of the wheel without waiting for it to fail going downhill at 60 mph?
Thanks,
Robert, with whiplash and sure to get a million dollar verdict because trial lawyers are out of control and jurors are just dumb Americans who need strict supervision.
He, he. Nice, Tom, but those guys (who jump) have a screw loose. Not for me. I like terra firma.
Anyway, hypothetically speaking, of course not.
But, how do I know the wheel is bad? Is this sort of a universal known among wrenches that once crashed a carbon wheel should be trashed? I mean, the insurance company is going to have their people look at it I’m sure. I’d hate to have my local LBS wrench tortured by some adjustor trying to nickle and dime me to death. Good grief I hate this hassle.
See if you can send the wheel to Zipp and have them certify whether it is safe or not. If not, give that info to the insurance company. They might be less inclined to argue with the manufacturer…
Ask Zipp if it has a crash replacement policy. HED does. I broke a HED hub on my deep carbon wheel, likely attributable to a pothole. They are sedning me a brand new wheel for $150. Tough to beat in my opinion.
Actually, I know they do! I’m taking it in to my LBS to look at today and then will call on Zipp on Monday. I believe I have to mail the rim to them first, however. Bummer that with Gulf Coast coming up and me doing long rides at Van Fleet. I’d hate to have to do my long rides on my 7 speed Cannondale training bike. :), (It is set up on my CT, anyway)
This morning my neck is just a little sore and my right hamstring a little tight. Other than that no physical injuries, thank God!
I felt badly for the driver, who got a ticket. He’s an ex-NORBA bike racer too. He was fumbling for his garage door opener and didn’t see me.
I should have started off first by saying sorry to hear about he accident and hope you are fine. As for the wheel, the turn-around for my HED was 3 week. Yes, that’s cutting Gulf Coast close. I told my LBS that I need my wheel for St. A’s, and they sent it out immediately to HED letting them know of my race schedule. I am sure you can be accomodated if they know of your schedule. You can always ask for overnight shipment rather than UPS.
Good luck at Gulf Coast. I really enjoyed that race even with the blistering hear. VanFleet is fantastic training for that race. Thanks for turning me on to that trail.
Robert: This year for Gulf Coast may be the coolest year ever if this trend continues. I’m a Yankee and much prefer really cold weather. Furthermore, it is flat thank God! Those hills in Clermont kill me.
Do not count on any sort of trend. January/February of 2002 was significantly colder than usual. I darn near lost my young orange tree that winter from nighttime temps below 30 for 2 weeks. March and early April also seemed a little bit cooler than the norm. Then we hit a freakish warm spot in early May that shot the temperatures up to normal early July levels.
This year’s actually been warmer so far, the orange tree seems very happy, and even if you don’t get the freakish summer weather in mid-May again, don’t be surprised at 85F and high humidity. And rain. 2003 has been extremely rainy so far. (good because we’ve had persistent drought the last couple)