# Moots vs. Toyota pickup - a cautionary tale



## neil0502 (Feb 11, 2005)

I'm just going to post a copy of what I posted to rec.bicycles.misc yesterday. BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!!
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Three weeks into Moots ownership. Maybe 300 miles on the odometer. 
Riding south in Chula Vista with Bill Sornson (Sorni). 


I'm out front in the right lane (of a North-South street with two 
lanes going each way and a left turn lane), in the Dreaded Door Zone. 
This is not a heavily cycled part of town. I felt like everybody was 
better off with me not taking the lane. In retrospect, that was a big 
mistake. 


I've learned (from decades of motorcycling) to be very vigilant in 
watching parked cars for drivers who might unthinkingly open their 
doors in your path, but between the early afternoon sun, the 
sunglasses, and the deeply tinted rear window on the burgundy Toyota 
pickup truck, I didn't see a head in this particular car. And he 
didn't bother to look for me. 


FLING! The door bursts wide open at the exact moment I enter its 
radius . . . at about 18mph. CRASH! I'm down. The front wheel is 
tacoed, my helmet is cracked, the right hand brifter is a tweaked, 
scraped mess, and my clavicle area has taken the brunt of the edge of 
his door. 


Police are called. Ambulance is summoned. X-rays and CT's are taken. 
All is relatively well. 


But the Moots, I'm afraid, is now *far* from new. I've always known 
that *things are just things*, but the novelty of this bike had 
anything but worn off. It was too young. Our time together too 
limited. Our journey not yet begun. 


I don't know much about titanium welds and carbon fiber vis-a-vis how 
they hold up to accidents. Neither do I know how much the force 
sustained by the various bike parts was. All I know is my beautiful 
new bike got all banged up today, and me with it. I also know that 
Bill Sornson got to watch, and is a darned good guy to have along when 
the worst happens. 


Be careful out there, kids. Zoot has a lot of very apt epithets for 
those car people. They don't think like we do, if at all.


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## idris icabod (Feb 7, 2005)

*Bugger!*

Man, I'm sorry to hear about that, I know how jazzed you were to get the bike. I know how you feel, I laid down my Colnago C-50 the first week I had it. The worst of it was taken by me luckily (skin heals), but the saddle was pretty ripped up. I replaced it, it was pretty uncomfortable anyway.
Have you surveyed the damage to the frame? I think it will be fine but I wouldn't spare any expense getting it checked out. After all you are the innocent party here, the other party should absorb any of your costs. I would remove the fork and check the steerer tube. 
Personally if I knocked over a cyclist I would expect to pay for all damage and perhaps be happy I wasn't getting my arse sued. I would ask for the cost to replace anything that was scratched to be replaced, I would replace the bars if carbon. Cycling clothes ain't cheap as well.
I got my Moots, like you loving it. The C-50 has a 4 mile errand run on it since I got the Moots. I have been meaning to post pics on the Moots site.
Anyway, at least you are okay. Again, sorry to hear about the ride.


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## harvey (Feb 27, 2005)

*Ouch*

Wow, that's scary Neil! Have you called Moots? I also hope you have a good lawyer - so many careless motorists don't give a #@$% about cyclists. They just think we're either wierdos or someone to force off the road.

I hope you heal up OK - bikes can be fixed or replaced but we can't.


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## neil0502 (Feb 11, 2005)

*So far . . . so good*

*Harvey*: Thanks much. I really wound up ok, physically. It's good to stay in good shape. What the body can recover from is amazing. There's a big ol' contusion near my right clavicle (the one I broke last May on a hairy mtb ride), but it looks worse than it feels. 

The police officer told me that the driver was clearly at fault, and that he was insured. In about a week, I'll have a copy of the police report and take the issue up with the driver's insurance company. He may have gotten cited under a California law that someone told me about making it a ticketable offense not to look before opening your door. That would help, but I think it's unnecessary. I've been giving thought to whether a cycling injury lawyer is worthwhile at this time. I think I'll at least call one tomorrow to chat.

Took the Moots in to the LBS yesterday. It looks like there are signs of damage to both Eurus wheels, right hand brifter, the fork, a pedal and crank, and the saddle. Because of the impact and visible fork damage, I'm going to get new bars, too.

All I can do is work with the LBS and the insurance company. I had a three week old bike. Maybe the frame took no damage at all, but if I can't know that for sure (and I can't), I'll push to "scrap" the whole thing and do it all over again. I don't want to be riding hard in a year on the same frame and have something snap because of a microscopic crack in one of those beautiful welds! The owner of Habanero Cycles (Ti frames) said both that titanium is _really_ resilient, and that a "string test" would tell me if it was straight . . . but that's not quite enough for my comfort and peace of mind.

*Idris Icabod* : You've definitely been there. Having a C-50 that becomes your errand bike is both hilarious and perhaps the best ad for Moots I could imagine  I also agree about the carbon parts. I'm going to take no chances. With the torque on the brifter and the scrapes on the lever, I'd just assume the bars are toast, too. Neither bars nor a fork are things I want giving out on me over a slight pothole in six months. Doing it the way I did was bad enough. Over the bars . . . or no bars at all is worse!

Thanks for the well-wishes, all. I've still got my Cannondale T2000 to keep me going in the meantime, but . . . wow! That's gonna' be a big step backwards


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## blurry (Mar 4, 2004)

damn bud that sucks, i was just joking about not seeing another moots in san diego.... seriously though i'm glad your doing ok and i'm sure you'll get the moots squared away soon. i recognize the name sorni from sdtrailriders, i went on a few of their mountain bike rides. when you fell up to it maybe we could set up a road ride-


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## johnny99 (Apr 2, 2004)

I'm glad the cop wrote up the police report in your favor. I have heard of cyclists being seriously injured, but the cop blamed them saying that a cyclist should never ever ride in the door zone. Police attitudes probably vary from town to town.


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## harvey (Feb 27, 2005)

neil0502 said:


> I had a three week old bike. Maybe the frame took no damage at all, but if I can't know that for sure (and I can't), I'll push to "scrap" the whole thing and do it all over again. I don't want to be riding hard in a year on the same frame and have something snap because of a microscopic crack in one of those beautiful welds! The owner of Habanero Cycles (Ti frames) said both that titanium is _really_ resilient, and that a "string test" would tell me if it was straight . . . but that's not quite enough for my comfort and peace of mind.


Keep us posted how this turns out, Neil. I agree - with a three week old bike there's no reason why it should not be restored to its original condition - no scratches and no questions.

I guess there'll be one upside -- riding that Cannondale for a few weeks will make you appreciate the Moots even more. I got to take mine out for its second ride today - a 20 miler on a very Easter-dinner full stomach. It hit 50 degrees - felt like summer.  The bike is sweet!


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Oh jeez. This makes me sick. What an unfortunate turn of events. Their insurance better PAY!

francois


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