Hello bike wrenchers!
I fell off today on a mini roundabout which turned out to be pretty slippy! Managed to take a chunk out of the rear derailleur and brake leaver, only had the bike a month or so, can it be repaired or should I stop being a princess and leave it?
TLDR; fell off, couple of scuffs what do I do?
by IllNewspaper2533
25 Comments
battle scars, ride on, you’ll earn more
Tools not jewels.
Check the alignment of both your lever and the derailleur (and hangar)… then if that’s fine… just continue on with life.
Does it work the same mechanically, i.e shifts ok? You don’t have to do anything, but you could cover the scuffs with nail polish in as similar colour as you can find.
If it’s still shifting well, you’re fine. If the shifting is off, check for a bent hanger.
EDIT: sorry should have added, shifting all good just cosmetic damage
Main thing to check is did you bend the derailleur or hanger.
If all works mechanically just touch it up with a black sharpie.
My shifters on my bike look like hammered shit. I touched them up a little with black marker but they work perfectly . A bent hangar is really your only concern.
Brush off your knees and get back on that baby!
Seriously, don’t be precious. Dario said bikes were meant to be ridden, not looked at.
Also, it’s shimano.
Whip out the good ol sharpie
Ride more, ride harder. That’s the only penance thst you need.
Just touch them up. The annoying thing about Ultegra is that it’s a grey that’s difficult to match.
Get up, adjust your tiara and ride on
What did you buy it for?
Hanging on the wall or ride it?
Stopp falling off
Spit on it, wipe it off with your shirt and keep on keeping the rubber side down.
I’d just lightly sand the affected areas, won’t hide the damage but getting a smooth finish will make it look more appealing. You could touch them up, but Ultegra is tricky to match, and it’ll always look a little off.
Scuffs is scuffs. Move on
As long as nothing is bent or cracked, you should be good. First scratch on a new bike hurts the most so probably good you got it out of the way.
Give a look that the derailleur hanger is intact. It’s designed to break away. It is low probability that it’s cracked but inspected is a good way to go.
Look for a Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black Metal Touch-Up Pen… it does an ok job for touching up….sadly I know from experience
First check if everything is mechanically OK such as the derailleur and hanger are not damaged. Replace hanger if needed. If all is mechanically sound then curl up and cry about the scratches for a while but keep riding and avoid accidents like you had.
Go into full blown mourning of course
Don’t fall off tomorrow