I drove out to a spot for a ride. The ride went well. After, I loaded the bike onto my car’s rack. I locked my bike to the bike-rack so I could go inside a business to eat and not worry.
It was dark when I came back out, but I walked past the back of the car and everything looked fine to me. (I have a simple hitch rack where you could place the top tube on the grooved bar and use two simple straps to keep it tight. I have driven 50+ trips with no issues or worries in the past.)
I got in the car and started driving home. Note: On the highway, you can see the bike in the rear view mirror during the daylight but not quite as clear at night. I was listening to the music but suddenly I heard noises and freaked out —
Now, because I was so stunned and scared, my recall is unfortunately a bit of a blur. For example: I honestly can’t recall if I heard noises first or decided I couldn’t see it like normal but I absolutely panicked. (I have OCD so I’m also constantly rechecking and worried. my anxiety shot off the charts as I decided I needed to pull over immediately on the highway to investigate the bike.) —-
I got out and went to the back. The chain had exploded off and the small chain ring is bent backwards. The back tire was flat and otherwise mangled. There’s other damage and I’ll just share photos.
I am having trouble understanding what I possibly did wrong. I feel so stupid that I can’t seem to piece together how this could have happened or recall the traumatic moment (I was also scared I caused the car or rack damage in that moment and it was not my own car.) I blame myself and I’m devastated, but what’s worse than anything is I don’t know what I did wrong. And with OCD, that’s going to be miserable. I’m not sure if I will trust using the rack (if I can even afford to replace my bike any time soon.)
Does anyone have idea what caused this? If I can feel like I know how to avoid it in the future it will make me feel significantly better even if I made an embarrassing mistake. Please help me!
by Mammoth-Ordinary-344
19 Comments
Are you sure you did not hit something with your car while reversing?
I can’t say what happened. The good news is, your bike is not totaled. Everything that happened to it can be fixed (provided there is no frame damage), that I can see.
Maybe someone messed with your bike while you were away from it. Maybe some backed into it, and took off. Maybe one of your rack straps came loose and did something. 🤷♂️
**EDIT** Do **NOT** beat yourself up over this. You are not stupid. Sometimes shit happens. Sometimes it’s the fault of a person, or sometimes it’s the fault of the universe.
Get your bike fixed (new parts, heck yeah!), and get back out there.
I’m really sorry about your bike. Don’t worry, it’s all repairable. I don’t see how this would’ve been caused by the rack.
I think someone backed into you. Bummer.
That really sucks, and I can definitely relate to the main frustration being not understanding what I may or may not have done wrong.
What others have said about not jumping to conclusions is big. I know it’s hard to resist the urge to beat yourself up in a situation like this, but unless you can collect more facts this stays in the ‘shit happens’ category.
If the frame is still good, you can probably replace the gruppo for a lot less than the replacement cost of the bike. Still a pain, but a silver lining maybe.
Looks like the bike has been dragged. Does the hitch rack have a function to swing down to open the rear car door?
So sorry this happened to you! It can be very unsettling and you need a reasonable explanation for what happened to your bike.
Looking at your photo, it seems possible that someone backed into your bike pushing it into part of your rack causing the damage. But I agree, take it to a bike mechanic and have them assess it and give a written estimate. You might have coverage through home owners or rental insurance policy and make a claim if it is above the deductible. The noise on the highway may have been when the chain slipped off since wind from driving can rotate wheels, the crank, etc.
The back wheel was dragging on the ground, probably just enough to cause it to spin while it was draggin. the chain probably jammed and when the wheel continued to try to spin that broke the chain. How that happened is unclear, the bike could have slipped etc
Which way around did you have the rack on the day in question? If it was as shown, surely that chain/chain ring was pulled to create that chain ring damage. I’m struggling to picture that unless something snagged it. Sounds slim but not impossible.
Or did you load it with the group set pointing outwards? If so, the group set being pushed plays to the theory of you being hit.
Either way, there are enough forces acting on the bike while you drive to explain such damage. At most, my front wheel might spin a little without being cable tied. Therefore, nothing you could have done.
Do check the frame thoroughly.
Either you or someone else in the parking lot snagged your rear wheel. It turned backwards and dragged against the brake pad until the pedals caught on the rack, then the chainring and derailer eventually gave way.
It’s going to be hard to know for sure if you did it or someone else did.
That is pretty bizarre and I can’t think of a good explanation. Agree with others the wheel/tire damage is from dragging and I can’t see would be caused by someone backing into you. I had similar damage years ago when using a hitch rack and the bike wasn’t secured properly and broke free of the rack at 70mph and landed on the road and slid for about 50 metres. obviously that’s not what happened here but to me it looks like the same high speed dragging damage.
I can’t understand the inner chainring damage, if it’s impact damage something must have it in a weird way to only damage it and not the other chainrings. Possibly though the chain came under a lot of tension before snapping and, assuming it was on the inner chainring at the time, bent the chainring before it failed
What do we know for sure?
* the rear rim has scraping damage on the right hand side of the brake track
* the rear tyre looks to have similar scraping damage in the same areas on the same right-hand side.
So the bike scraped or was dragged along the ground. The rear rim and tyre are writeoffs.
* the chain has parted, a pin is completely missing
* the grannie gear has been yanked sideways.
I guess the chain parted because it was under load, and the same force is what pulled the chainring over.
**Questions for OP:**
Did the bike get dragged behind the car? When you stopped the car, was the bike still on the rack or not?
Is there scraping damage (aka road-rash) on the frame, saddle, pedals anywhere? If yes, those edges/corners also hit the road. If no, then the bike was dragged at an angle.
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This rack seems to have a fairly narrow top-bar so may not be very stable. I’d put two velcro cable-tie like straps around each side of the upright, and I’d also use a bungee cord around the lowest pedal and down under the bottom of the hitch.
I might also carry the front wheel inside the car and shuffle the frame to the left a bit, and strap around the seattube and the rack’s upright member.
Assumptions – none of this visible damage was there beforehand, and that no parts have been swapped by a third party.
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Does the bike rack or the towhitch/ball/tongue etc have any function to fold or turn on a hinge or pivot? Are all the pins still there securely?
I can imagine the vertical post being pushed by wind, leaning back toward camera, rear wheel touches road surface sideways at 100+ km/h, and gets yeeted backward also forcing the rear wheel to spin backward, which forces the chain to move and that yanks on the chainring until a pedal or crankarm hits something immovable, when the chainring bends and the chain itself lets go.
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**Fixing** For you, check the frame for damage. If there are scrapes and scratches, or any part is bent or out of line, or if there are odd ripples anywhere, then take it to a bike shop for a second opinion.
If the frame seems fine, you need a new rear rim, tyre, probably tube too. The wheel might be rebuilt onto a new rim, saving the cost of spokes and hub but look for damage first.
A replacement grannie ring might be needed but I’d be tempted to try straightening it first if it is steel. You absolutely need a new chain, and at this point a new cassette makes sense. The RD might be okay or it might be bent.
Also replace the inner gear cable, its cheap.
If you’re committed to this bike, it may be a good time to upgrade to 10 speed, because the only additional cost would be the right-hand shifter. Its a thought.
Good luck!
Sounds like your bike fell off, I personally dont trust this rack style
no idea what happened but so sorry. i wonder if road debris somehow hit your bike and caused the damage? a few years ago i was riding a hot pink 1999 extra small georgena terry mixte called a “terry trixie” which were limited in production and are super hard to find. i hit a chunky tree root bump on the bike path and went flying into a concrete lamp post with the front tire hitting the post. bike and i hit hard, bounced back, ended up on the ground. tire was FINE. mixte tubes were bent, pinched in about a 3″ section. unrideable. found a bike builder to repair it. $900 and 3 months later, the frame was better than before the accident. with the help of a lawyer, i ended up getting reimbursed for the repair by the property owner …. so i got lucky. bikes can be fixed, even some really gnarly frame damage might be fixable. have your bike checked out by a pro for frame cracks/breaks. please try not to worry.
So my rack has a pin that lets the rack lower itself in order to allow access to the trunk.. Its not meant to be done with a bike on it. Only thing I can imagine is that mechanism failed (if this rack can do this) or was not set properly, which would have lowered your bike to the asphalt and causing it to drag. While pulling over, some how popped it up back into place so it looks like that didn’t happen. Sounds kinda crazy but that’s the only thing I can think of.
Wheel was spinning while driving? Chain got caught and broke? Hit the brake pad and caused the pad to be loose and wore down the tire wall while spinning?
That tyre hit the ground, probably the bike fell out of the mountinga
I had my tire explode once when it was too close to the exhaust
Is this the bike rack you have? [https://welchwelding.com/products/draw-tite-2-place-bike-rack](https://welchwelding.com/products/draw-tite-2-place-bike-rack) From the picture of the Honda fit it looks like you’re putting the bike in between the two bike holders instead of securely on one.
If so I can imagine it being wobbly when driving which can lead to the velcro fasteners loosening or failing over time, which can then cause the bike to slide to one side and then the rear wheel making contact with the road. Even if the velcro didn’t fail, it could have shifted because of the improper mounting and the velcro wouldn’t be able to hold the bike down when it’s not balanced.