I thought this might be of interest.

One of my friends rode into the back of a stationary car at a speed of about 30km/h. He flew off the bike, cracked the rear window with his helmet and broke his right collar bone. He is going to recover fully, but his bike, a 1 month of Time RXR Ulteam, is most likely unfixable.

After some talks with Time on the phone, they advised to send the frame to the factory, since if only the head tube, the fork, the diagonal tube and the horizontal tube are damaged, but the rear of the bike is intact, they will be able to replace the broken parts and fix it up to be as good as new.

However, due to the production process, if the horizontal tube joint with the seat tube is damaged, then there is nothing left to do with the frame.

Here are some pictures of the broken bike. Some of the close-ups have been photoshopped to highlight the texture of the fibers and give a better view of the broken surface.

How did he end up hitting the car?

I wish a speedy recovery to your friend.

A short version... He thought the car was continuing to drive down the street --> the car braked down to park at the side of the road simultaneously as Erik looked to to the side --> Erik turns back his head and sees the car too late. --> Impact with wheel straight into the car, not even time to try to avoid it or brake. --> Over the handlebars and into the back window of the Peugeot 407. --> Back window shatters and he slides off the back of the car onto the pavement.

He is recovering well. Since Lance was back on the bike after 9 days, he thought he would be back on 8.

interesting... i always thought that in a situation like this the frame would crack at the junction of the head tube and the down/top tube but this frame cracked the head tube in pieces...

I guess they really optimized the frame for normal bike racing conditions where head on collisions are rare.

Any damage to the Mavic wheels?

_________________
CLICK HERE to see my weenie

Click THIS to hear what happens when I see your and my weenie.

I´m impressed that Time offers to rebuild that. I would rather pay for a crash replacement frame.

Number one is that rider came out of it relatively unscathed

_________________
The unbearable wallet lightness of being a weightweenie

I don't know what to say other than I hope your friend gets back on the horse ASAP. Hope his injuries are smaller than the bike's

It was heart stopping to see the pictures as I just got this same bike about a month or so ago, but in red.

Best of luck to him.

Unfortunately, it was his fault so there will be no car insurance replacement. Regardless of what Time could do, I would not be happy riding a repaired bike after this kind of accident. I would simply replace (hopefully) with crash replacement if available.

My Cervelo R3 looked OK after my crash into this car that cut me off while riding around 30kph. Yet, the new 3T fork and seat stays were cracked on closer inspection. Luckily the insurance of the driver who was at fault is buying my new bike.

My injuries took 2.5 months to recover from, although I was cycling within the week on my singlespeed as it was easier than walking.

Slightly difficult to see exactly, but it looks like the top and downtubes are actually undamaged in that it is the headtube lugs that have sheared and not the tubes themselves. Looks a simple repair for Time if the tubes are un-damaged. They won;t really know until the paint is removed and/or they run some tests on it.

_________________
Adalta Cycling Club

Is that a Mavic SLR 2009? I'm thinking of getting the wheel, although heavy....should be a undestructible aero wheel.

Seems that the Mavic SLR in Perfect shape!!!

looks like regular SL's to me

_________________
This board would be MUCH nicer if everybody would just chill out.

I had a similar accident in a TT two years ago. I looked up around a turn leading into a long uphill straightaway... no car. Put my head down to get some speed for the rise in terrain, and BAM. The car was stationary, I wasn't! I rolled up the trunk, blew out the rear window with my head (helmet cracked in two), and fell off onto the pavement. Ambulance, back-board, cat scan, MRI, and overnight hospital stay for evaluation later, I managed to escape with a broken nose and severe hip and bicep contusions. My bike however, an alum Cannondale at the time, buckled in the same spot your friends bike cracked. All I can figure is the car was cruising along the coast (Hawaii), missed the turnoff for the beach parking, and spun a U-turn at the same instant I put my head down. I revisited the spot time and time again, and the distance from where I put my head down to where I impacted the auto was tiny. Bad timing!

Point is... I was fully reimbursed for my bike, helmet, jersey and bibs (cut off by the paramedics) by my insurance company under our renter's insurance. Perhaps if your friend has home-owner's insurance, or renter's like I did, he can get some $. It's worth a shot. My insurance company was amazing. I had a check in a matter of days.

I wish him a speedy recovery!

_________________
"Deserve's got nothing to do with it." William Munny

Reminds me of Davis Phinney's accident in 1988. He crashed into the back window of a team car sponsored by Isoglass, I think in Liege Bastogne Liege. 150 stitches later...

_________________
"It never gets easier, you just go faster..." - Greg Lemond

"Because technology alone is a poor substitute for experience." - Richard Sachs

that is also how the lightweight front wheel cracked when touching the dog