Shit Happens

Today was not a bad day, my second race of the season.

However, it did not start very smoothly.

More on the race later, but I thought I would share the non-smooth part of my day.

After a decent swim, I came out of T1 and mounted my bike with wet feet. I ran just past the mount line put one foot on my left pedal and swung my right leg over (still moving at this point). Just before my foot hit the shoe my wet, left foot shot off and I did a cartwheel to my left side. I landed on the asphalt and my bike did the same about ten feet forward from me.

I shook it off, got it together and went on.

I now have a bruised heel, ankle, hip, left butt cheek,right hand and right knee. Plus road rash on my left hand and knee.

I heal, to me this is not as upsetting as the other damage.

My front wheel is either out of true of bent.(actually, not to bad in this view, but I could see some movement when I was riding). I am hoping out of true as that is easier to fix.

My shifter is very askew. All the plastic on both of them is shattered as well. I am hoping it is just rotated and not bent.

I think my front derailleur is also bent. After I ??crashed?? I had a hard time shifting. I dropped my chain twice and had to stop to put it back on.






Lastly, my rear break is screaming like a banshee.

This.Is.Aggrevating.

The good news is I still have half of the SRAM rival set I put together at Christmas, however I still need the crankset and cassette. That wont be cheap.

The bad news is that I contacted my local Specialized dealer and if the wheel is bent, Specialized does not offer the ability to purchase replacements.

If I have to buy new wheels, does anyone have a suggestion? I asked about upgrading wheels a few weeks back and I got a number of "don't do its". When I asked that I was looking for a lightweight set of race wheels, not the deep dish carbon types like Zipp or HED. I like the Bontrager Aero lites as an example. Any Suggestions?

Also, if I replace one should I replaced the rear so they match?

Lastly, can anyone tell me how to repair paint nicks? I googled it and came up with nothing.