By John Allen

If you or someone you are riding with suffers a bicycle crash, the bike needs to be checked out, and the rider too.

Step 1. Assess and care for the rider

I have a story about this, just for reference.1983 -- I was riding in Harvard Square, Cambridge, when a wrong-way cyclist headed toward me.  I slalomed, trying to get him to move aside. Bad move, I lost control of my bicycle and fell on top of it.

I got up.  A quick check showed no obvious damage to the bike. It was my Raleigh Twenty city bike, which is pretty much bombproof. As I rode the mile home to Somerville, I could feel bone grinding against bone in my groin, but I felt no pain whatsoever until I was 100 feet from my front door. I was in shock. A primitive nesting instinct had overridden rational thought and my ability to feel pain.

X-rays the next day showed that I had broken my pelvis. Fortunately, the pelvis has three rami (loops, no relation to the former CRW president!) on each side. Only two on the right side were broken. The third one held everything in place. I was off crutches after three weeks.

Had my injury been a bit different, I could have worsened it by riding. The prudent course of action when I crashed would have been to call 911 (this is much easier now that everyone has cell phones).

I am no medical expert, so my primary advice here is to recognize that you or your companion who crashed may not be in a normal state of mind following a crash and not necessarily one involving an impact to the head – my crash did not. Err on the side of caution and call for medical assistance.

And if the crash happens on a CRW ride, work with the ride leader to report the accident to the VP of Rides.

Step 2. Assess the bicycle

Damage rendering a bicycle unsafe to ride can occur in a crash, or even without crashing. Even following a trivial crash or if the bicycle just fell over, checking for damage is advisable.

Here’s a comprehensive article on the topic.  It covers the traditional ABC Quick check, but also how to check for a bent frame or fork and other crash damage. Something as simple and easy to overlook as a bent derailleur hanger can lead to big problems if the derailleur goes into the spokes.

Some damage will reveal itself through noises. Things may rattle because they are loose, or creak, or clunk. Here’s an article about how to check for the source of noises. Just as an example, I recently rescued a pair of cranks which had begun to creak as they were seating themselves on a new bottom bracket spindle. They would have been ruined if I let the problem go.

Sometimes there is no workable choice with a damaged bicycle other than to limp home, or to the nearest bike shop. Traditional bicycle design often makes it possible for a cyclist who is reasonably skilled as a mechanic to get a warped wheel true enough to ride. Here is an article which describes wheel-rescue tricks. It may also be possible to straighten a steel frame or fork. But the tricks are less likely to work with newer bikes which emphasize light weight, and then the tool of choice is the cell phone (as it is for any crash when you can’t be reasonably sure that you can safely continue).

After a significant crash, it good practice to have a reputable bike shop assess your frame for damage and overall safety before you head out on the road again.

Further reading

See MassBike’s list of steps you should follow post-crash, including crashes involving a motor vehicle.

Best though is not to crash, and we have had lots of advice on that in this column!