Your new bike and store of purchase may be to blame for your bike crash, not your bike skills.
We’ve unfortunately seen this happen before. Someone buys a new bike to exercise or commute to school or work. They visit Big Box Store with racks of bikes and find a bike they love. The customer trusts Big Box Store sells safe bicycles. Customer buys the bike and is excited about the fun the new bike will bring.
Instead of fun, the first bike ride takes a tragic turn when the bike rider suddenly loses control and crashes. The bicycle and rider hit the pavement. The bike rider suffers more than a bruised ego. They suffer cuts, broken bones, and a head injury. The bike rider, bloodied and battered, wonders if the crash was their fault.
It may not be poor bike riding skills that caused the cyclist to lose control and crash their new bicycle. Bicycles are complex machines that must be assembled according to the manufacturer’s specifications to be safely ridden. There are many bicycle components that if not correctly installed may result in component failure and a cyclist to crash and suffer serious injury or death. Almost all the components on a bicycle must be installed to a specific tightness. The measure of correct tightness is known as the specified torque value. Torque is the measure of the amount of force applied to reach the specified tightness. Fasteners such as nuts, bolts, screws, and other bike parts require a specific tightness to hold securely for safe operation. If the fastener or other part is under tightened, the bicycle part may not hold securely and loosen. If over tightened, the part may stretch, deform, strip threads, lose structural integrity, crack, or break. Any of this damage may not visible or otherwise apparent. Common bike parts with fasteners or require tightening include the handlebar stem and headset, gear shifters/brake levers (hoods), brake calipers, brake disc rotors, seat and seat post, crank arms and spindle, pedals, drivetrain and derailleurs, and wheel centerlocks and thru axel or quick release skewer. If any of these bicycle components loosen, break, detach, fails, or malfunctions while riding, the bicycle rider could lose control, fall, and crash resulting in serious injury or death.
In this example, the Big Box Store assembled the bicycle but did not correctly tighten the bolts for the handlebar stem and headset causing the handlebar, stem, and headset to unexpectedly loosen during the ride and the bicycle rider to lose control and crash. Big Box Store failed to properly train and supervise its employees to correctly assemble and inspect bicycles sold in its store. It’s well known in the bicycle industry that failure to properly assemble a bicycle can lead to serious injury or death. There are industry and manufacturer standards, and typically internal store policies and procedures designed to protect against the sale of dangerous bicycles to the public. Despite this known danger, Big Box Store, put profits over safety by not supervising its employees to ensure they were following the required standards, policies, and procedures designed to prevent the sale of dangerous bicycles to the public, and this bike rider suffered serious injuries that were preventable.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a bicycle crash involving a new bike, where a part failed such as a pedal falling off, seat failing, wheel or handlebars detached, or another bike part failed, and you have questions if the store may be responsible, please contact us for a free consultation. We have experience with cases against large companies selling improperly and negligently assembled bicycles and can assist you with your case.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our legal services and how our focus in brain injury and bicycle injury cases matters, please get in touch with us via our contact page at Contact Us.
If you found this post helpful, you might also like to explore the other topics listed below and the many other topics in our comprehensive Safety & Prevention Guide, Brain Injury Guide, and Bike Injury Guide.
