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Velothon Wales 2016 fixie crash (video still via Shane Dennis Pearson on Facebook).JPGVideo: Fixie rider crashes hard at Velothon Wales
A cyclist who took part in yesterday’s Velothon Wales on a fixed gear bike has posted a video to Facebook showing the moment he crashed heavily when his chain came off as he was pedalling hard to get up a climb.
Shane Dennis Pearson from Port Talbot managed to complete the 140 kilometre ride, which includes 1,826 metres of ascending, on his recently purchased bike after his crash, which happened towards the end of the event.
According to the Velothon Wales website, fixed gear bikes are banned as are singlespeed bikes unless they have two independent brakes and a free hub.
He wrote: “Yesterday was a mix of blood sweat and gears hahaha the hills was brutal but I killed it on the straights.
“A massive thank you to Stuart and Hannah for helping get past the last 10k after the crash I truly don't think I would have been able to finish without you gets dragging me alone I'm blessed with an amazing group of people also known as cycle cafe.
“Even with the crash I don't think I would change any part of that day yesterday but I definitely learnt that a fixie is probably not the best bike for a sportive like the velothon anyone willing to lend me there bike next year I promise I won't crash haha.”
Asked by a friend on the social network whether he was okay, Mr Pearson said: “Yeah I'm good just cuts and bruises ... my chain came off the bike as I was pushing hard up hill and I went straight down to the deck.”
Another friend commented: “Mate this is both hilarious and eye watering at the same time,” to which Mr Pearson replied: “I'm glad more and more people are finding this funny haha.”
Crashes involving one or more riders are part and parcel of a mass participation event such as Velothon Wales and most, like Mr Pearson, escape with cuts and bruises – although as we reported earlier today, there was a more serious crash at the event when two cyclists collided, with one knocked unconscious and later taken to hospital by ambulance.
> Rider knocked unconscious after Velothon Wales crash with fellow cyclist
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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20 comments
I see he had a go pro on his helmet - I guess he wasn't filming that particular bit though.
And Caerphilly Mountain claims another victim.
That's gonna hurt in the morning son...Ouch!
Maybe it's the quality of the video - but he seemed to be freewheeling at the start of the clip ? So it couldn't be fixed wheel ?
Never had the chain come off on my fixed in years of using it - but I am keen on making sure the chain is at the right tension.
It looks like the poor quality of the video that makes it seem like he was freewheeling, but as he was climbing, that is very unlikely anyway.
I would put a pound to a penny on it that he just had let the chain get too slack, and in fact, he does admit it was a lash up affair. A correctly adjusted chain CANNOT come off unless it snaps or the wheel slides forward, or the chainring collapses. I've had all of those and now take great care to make sure the first two cannot happen. A collapsed chainring is just happenstance.
A chain tug on (at least) the cog side of the horizontal dropouts adds another level of security as well as helping to make the adjustment correct.
I learnt my lesson over 50 years ago when mine came off on the way to school. The chain dropped between cog and spokes, snapped both itself and some spokes and jammed in so tight that I could not remove it. With black hands I had to walk/scoot/freewheel the 3 miles home and catch the bus to school with a note from mum explaining why i was late!
A painful lesson for our friend, I managed to stay upright when mine went.
Roadies lol
on "road.cc" ? Grow up.
Nope - he just thought he was a bus !
That bloke is torn between ringing his cowbell and helping the rider out.
No contest.
He was on the drops and sprinting on a sportive.
Cow bell it is lol.
A few weeks back my single speed commuter starting making a funny noise, which I foolishly ignored. The next Monday morning, riding to work, it failed spectacularly. I'm not sure whether the chain broke and caused it to drop, or the chain dropped which caused it to break, but either way it ended up stuck between the chainring and seat tube at the front and between the sprocket and the hub at the back. It ruined the paint on the chainstay and bottom bracket shell and it broke a load of the spokes on the wheel where the chain got stuck.
A high price to pay for ignoring a funny noise. It could be the chain had stretched or the wheel was badly seated. Not good.
MIkeOnABike ... I do believe they were quoting directly. In which case a '(sic)' would suffice. I would very much like to meet someone who describes their profession as 'website proof reader'. I have yet so to do.
You should fire your proof reader.
"the hills was brutal" - were brutal
"finish without you gets dragging me alone" - gits and along
"anyone willing to lend me there bike" - their not there.
Whereas I can't fail to agree with you that this is terrible, terrible English I suspect it was taken straight from the social medium and quoted verbatim. It would seem churlish and harsh to attribute it to Road.cc.
glad he was ok but kudos to the spectators for their reaction
Are fixies more prone to chain's slipping? I thought they'd be the most robust.
Mine was a frankenmash and had vertical drops outs with a DMR tensioner of a jump bike to take up the slack. As recipe for disaster really but I liked the spare frame I had. Ideally you'd use get something with horizontal dropouts to maintain proper chain tension.
Brutal. Glad he was ok.
I had similar happen to me on my fixie at full speed. Chain off, rear locked, massive skid all the way through tyre and inner tube.
Swapped the wheel round and rode it single speed from them on. Don't really use it any more since my knees starting telling me they don't like grinding.
Odd that it happened at the change in road surface - can't be a coincidence surely?
Well, it can. That's what coincidences are.