Hit by a car: wheel disaligned

[crazytraveler]

I was riding in a little Italian village when a parked car decided to open its door. We were side to side and she just pushed me on the right front pannier.

After the crash the front wheel is slightly disbalanced. What should I check? It touches one of the sides of the break. Just playing with the spokes should be ok?

I feel the bike tends to go to the left, like if I have to hold the handlebar to avoid it.

[jags]

was it the wheel she hit or the frame,take the wheel out and check the fork is running in line with the rear triangle.hopefull the bike frame is still in line.
if the wheel is hitting one side then try tighted spokes on opposite side, that will pull wheel back in line ,
but check first that the wheel is sitting  well into the drop outs.
sure hope its nothing serious.

jags.

[crazytraveler]

I am not 100% sure where and how she hit. As I saw it and felt it it hit the right front pannier (which it is attached to the front rack and this one to the fork...). And maybe the handle bar.

I don't think it hit the frame.

[jags]

yeah just check that the frame is in line ,take the panniers and stand the bike up as straight as you can get it ,its really hard to know from here to be honest,
but check the line of the frame ,
check wheel off the bike if it buckeled its going to rub anyway.

[crazytraveler]

While cycling tonight after the crash I was looking constantly trying to find something "different".

Front my riding position, looking down, I would notice that the fork that holds the right pannier opened up on the outer side slightly more than the left (meaning the tube that holds the pannier was farther from the wheel in the right rack than in the left, the left felt straight from the wheel and the right felt like opening a bit of angle), but may be I was being paranoid.

In the morning I will check the bike carefully, I am staying in a little farm tonight.

[jags]

just hope the frame is ok ah it should be dont worry to much.
i reckon its the wheel,as i said check its sitting in the fork properly and  you QR is tight.

jags.

[crazytraveler]

I am trying not to worry, yet.

After the crash I unscrew the front wheel to make sure was in place and screw it back.

By the way, any good manual or tip about aligning the wheel? (spokes I mean)

PS: What do you mean with QR?

[jags]

QR=quick release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP3uAy1YQpQ....
sorry i cant be of any more help.let me know how you get on .as of now i'm off to bed.

jags.

[mickeg]

This might not be the best time to try to learn how to true up a wheel.  But if you really want to try, Sheldon Brown website is a good go-to site for most bicycle mechanical things.  It sounds to me like your wheel is useable, so carefully weigh the chance that you might make things worse before you try it.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/truing.html

I suggest you only try to turn the spokes maybe a quarter turn at a time.  Your rim is probably damaged enough that it will need replacement, so you should not try to get it perfect, instead just get it good enough until you get to a place where you can get a new wheel or new rim. 

Each time you adjust a spoke, that pulls the rim to one side at the location of the spoke nipple, but it also pulls the rim to the other side on the other side of the wheel, so minute adjustments are best because you may need to compensate on the other side of the wheel.

From your description, I have no idea if your rack is bent or if your fork blade is out of alignment, or both.

[crazytraveler]

Check the video, took notes, and I am going to check the bike now... wish me luck. I have only ridden 9k Km with the bike, I hope I can make it work and I don't need a new wheel :S

[geocycle]

Personally, I'd get the bike into a rideable condition and then head to the nearest bike shop.  Potential fork damage can be serious.  A bike shop should be able to check the frame and true the wheel very quickly.

[crazytraveler]

I took am gonna upload pictures now...

I have the feeling there is something wrong with the fork. Could be the rim as well.

Problem is only bike shop around is a Decathlon. Would you go there? No much decent bike shops around in rural Italy.

[crazytraveler]

Some pictures.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1w3vgrc81me8scf/2014-08-19%2011.27.05.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iwfl3i06b5hotu/2014-08-19%2011.27.24.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lqb8idmnzpa9lvu/2014-08-19%2011.28.22.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f7it5pa83obubgd/2014-08-19%2011.35.15.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xf0s5g5vj4hrx00/2014-08-19%2011.35.26.jpg

[crazytraveler]

Some more pictures...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/183d32981cg3pvx/2014-08-19%2013.14.46.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ptxhed5dx1cwv9h/2014-08-19%2013.14.48.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2826j4sndue1q1/2014-08-19%2013.15.02.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn1lv1jnm17dlaq/2014-08-19%2013.15.18.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/veaih8tjtdkcucn/2014-08-19%2013.15.09.jpg

[jags]

for the life of me i cant see any fault with taht fork or wheel and i spent loads of time looking at all the pic's.the brake blocke seem perfect on the rim both sides, also  nice gap with mudguard.
i must be missing something