Collision with a car - need a new frame

yer_averagejoe

yer_averagejoe

yer_averagejoe

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Joined
23 May 2005
Posts
2,964
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
So last week I was out on a very rainy cycle on Arran, coming down a narrow country road when a woman pulled out of a junction without looking and we collided head on - I went over the handlebars and her bonnet and straight into the windscreen. Besides a few bumps and bruises, and a very tender shoulder joint, I'm ok. My GPS clocked me at 32kph but I think i probably managed to slow down to 20-25. I had slicks on and the wet meant almost no stopping power!

She admitted full fault and gave me a lift back and told me she'd pay for any damage.

I had a look at the bike and from what I could tell, just the frame was damaged - the top and bottom tube was folded. I put it in a shop (I'd normally repair it myself but I don't have time right now and it'd be good to be able to send her an actual bill). Amazingly the shop got back to me and reported there was no damage to anything else! I'm amazed the wheel and the forks didn't take any damage!

So, TLDR: I need a new frame. Problem is, it's a Cube LTD Race from 2009 - a 26 inch Alu hardtail with 100m travel forks. I've been looking about and I can't really find anything - everything seems to be made for 29ers these days!

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm not looking to profit from this - the frame when new was probably only worth a couple of hundred quid at most and at the end of the day, I still want her to pay - not to be scared off! The best I've found so far is this - designed for 120mm travel but should be ok?

Pics of fold in the frame and full bike below for reference!

CU4z9VW.jpg
GzwmnMC.jpg
 
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something fundamental, but why not get a complete 29er?

Her insurance will 'play ball' much better if they can see a retail product readily available from various places to compare prices. Same with her if she's preferring to keep things private, especially as it's not proving to be easy to source a like for like/direct replacement.
 
Yea, to be fair, I'd plump for a full bike. That's a might hit and she broke your bike. In any normal circumstances, it's a write off. It would cost more to buy a frame and get someone to swap everything over than it would a new bike.
 
I'm not sure if I'm impressed by the strength of you front wheel or worried by the lack of strength in the frame. For the wheel to be fine but the frame to be a write off is pretty impressive unless you hit her at a very strange angle.
 
tom_e said:
I'm not sure if I'm impressed by the strength of you front wheel or worried by the lack of strength in the frame. For the wheel to be fine but the frame to be a write off is pretty impressive unless you hit her at a very strange angle.
Click to expand...

I assume he turned handle bars to try and avoid collision and wheel was hit or partially hit on its broad side? - if so likely has internal fracturing/stress that might not be visible but could cause problems later.
 
Nope, I hit the car with the wheel dead on, so I guess the energy was transferred to the frame.

I see what you're all saying re the new bike but she didn't want to go through insurance and if she did change her mind, it's two weeks later now and I'm sure the insurance company wouldn't budge without a police report (I know, I know).

Tbh even though she seems very genuine and answers calls etc, at this point I'm worried that if she sees a bill for £900 new bike, she'll do a runner and I'll be out of pocket.

Also I really like my bike. :(

Edit: I'm also 5' 7" on a good day so looking for a smallish frame. (my height puts me off 29ers)
 
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yer_averagejoe said:
I'm sure the insurance company wouldn't budge without a police report (I know, I know).

Tbh even though she seems very genuine and answers calls etc, at this point I'm worried that if she sees a bill for £900 new bike, she'll do a runner and I'll be out of pocket.
Click to expand...

Report it, you've then covered yourself whatever happens! :eek:
 
Just wanted to give an update on this:

The LBS basically couldn't find a frame from their three suppliers and suggested I try to find one myself - I had a look around but there wasn't anything that seemed quite right or was super expensive etc. so I phoned up the person that hit me and told her it's probably have to be a new bike and warned her it'd likely be £700 - £900 for the same spec. She was still super nice and said she'd be happy to pay for it all etc so I started looking for a new bike..

The next day the LBS phoned and said they'd had a guy come in with a cube bike with a similar frame to mine - the bike was a wreck but the frame was fine and asked if I'd be interested. So I went in to have a look and while it might have worked, it was pretty old and scratched and a shockingly horrid yellow so I told them she'd offered a new bike and declined the frame and took my bike home (LBS didn't charge me anything :cool:).

My bike is a Cube LTD race 2009 and i absolutely love it so i pretty much didn't look past cubes - last years models are still about so I figured I'd be able to get one on a discount. The LTD Race 2016 is £900 but so is the LTD SL - the next model up basically so I phoned her up again, told her it'd be £900 but offered to pay £200 myself, since I'm getting a new bike out of it (and I'm also a nice guy ;)). She said she'd pay for the whole thing and yesterday I got the bank transfer for £900 and put the order in on CRC for the 2016 Cube LTD SL:

https://www.cube.eu/uk/products/mtb-hardtail/ltd/cube-ltd-sl-2x-blackline-2016/

Hopefully I'll get it by the end of the week and I'll be back out cycling!

I feel like I couldn't have been hit by a nicer person - I'm not a penny out of pocket and I'm getting a new bike. She's learnt her lesson and I'm physically ok. Meanwhile there's a guy over in GD who was knocked off his bike and the driver did a runner!
 
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