When I was bike packing through Japan and Korea, I had a rear wheel that couldn't handle the weight of my bike plus bike bags and I continuously kept breaking spokes. One day in Korea I broke multiple spokes at once and was totally stranded countryside. I didn't speak Korean or have a working phone but I managed to find some very helpful firefighters out for a bike ride. They mounted my bike on a bike rack and took me to a bike shop to get my wheel fixed. A few days later I got a new high quality Mavic wheel in Seoul that set me back about $1,000.

There was the one time I had installed some brand new GP4Ks, and on the first ride I sliced the sidewall on the front tire after about 3 miles. So that tire cost me about $6 per minute of use...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"

Second ride tubeless. Slashed GP5000. 2xdyna plugs. Then rode on. Still going soft, so stopped to pump up, bike slipped and bent the valve meaning couldn't unscrew pump as was caught on the 'bobble'. Ended up having to rip off (pump was attached to front, so couldn't ride).

Hence cost was new tyre ($179), dynoplugs $15, valve ($40), sealant ($10), gloves (hey, i was in a bike shop for the valve, of course I'm going to have to buy something else.....).

That said, I still think any normal pre-race long training ride costs more per minute in nutrition than either of our stories....

In Feb i was on my gravel bike riding a combination of tarmac and gravel route. shortly after the start of some gravel i came to a grinding stop. About a 3 inch long bit of wire from the road had become stuck in my rear der. The der ended up wrapped around my seat stay - the hanger had sheared, the der and chain were trashed and to cap it all off my seat stay was severely cracked requiring repair - oh and a few spokes broke! Total cost of that ride was north of 1k!!

Two weeks ago, 2 miles into the ride while getting out of the city in a downhill street I was going after some traffic when I hit a big hole.

Front tire went flat and rear wheel broke down. It was a carbon DT Swiss ARC with close to 40,000 miles but I can't forgive myself for the lack of attention. I was looking at the cars but didn't expect something on the tarmac.

I didn't fall so I was lucky but it reminded me how vulnerable we are.

Called a taxi to get me back home. €10 taxi, €7 for the latex front tube and €700 for the rear wheel

I rode from Poughkeepsie to a friend's lake house. I started out with at least two tubes + CO2, a patch kit, and a mini pump. After using both spare tubes and patching another, I think I ended up buying five spare tubes + co2s at the one bike shop that was within 20 miles of where I was (luckily, my last flat was only a mile or so from the shop). Pretty sure I didn't flat at all after getting all the spares, but had basically no desire to ride on that road again.

Oooh, forgot an MTB enduro race about 2012/13 (Moonride in Rotorua, - 6 hour solo). Was horrendous rain which meant volcanic mud deeper than hubs. Pretty new Epic.

Finished race and last lap the front mech seemed to have lost all control. Dropped into bike shop after for its '1 month' service.

1) Lower headset bearing shot.
2) Both brake pads worn to backing plates.
3) New bottom bracket
4) Cracked frame at bottom bracket (warranty)
5) New chain
6) New cassette
7) New inner chainring
8) cant remember if it was front or rear hub bearing, but one.


In same race someone doing the 12 hour else managed to get through a set of pads, put new ones in and they managed to wear through those, the backing plates and actually wore the pistons too. And that was a new XTR build.

I went to Kona in the late 90s (to work). Brought a 650c singlespeed whip - because I could fit it in a golf travel bag so no bike charge for flying. The day before I left I found some sweet grey treaded Conti tires in the closet and put them on my wheels.
Decided to ride from Kona inland and uphill to Waimea. I don't know what it is like now, but back then it was all sharp chipseal. So I am grinding out of the saddle for miles up the hill, and pretty close to Waimea I get a flat. NOthing in the tire that I can feel that punctured the tube. Install new tube. Just outside Waimea there's another flat. Now I look really close and realize the back tire is wearing through. I put in another tube and a dollar bill boot. Found a bike shop in Waimea, but no 650 tires. so, I will have to ride back to Kona on a pretty dodgy tire. Took off the tire, refolded the dollar and started riding. Eventually I got another flat, and now I was on my last tube and out of singles. put in the last tube and a $5 boot. after 5 miles I refolded the fiver. A few more miles that bill was shredded. I only had $20s now. Put in a $20 and started riding again. Flatted before I could refold so then it is ride a flat really carefully and hitchhike. There are very few cars out there, but luckily the second one stopped and I got a ride back to town. If I remember right the $20 was still spendable, but barely.
An expensive flat for the '90s.

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Andy Tetmeyer (I work at HED)

Mine was during a team camp where we do doing long (~60-100 mile) rides every day.

About halfway through one of those long rides - out in the middle of the desert - my crank comes apart. I have the non-drive-side crank arm hanging from one shoe, and on the other side I was about to pull the drive side completely out. Much hilarity from teammates.

No, problem, re-tighten. But the one-bolt SRAM design has a bigger allen socket than any of our multitools can handle. So I screw the bolt in by hand and jury-rigged tool as best I can and ride along. But it keeps coming apart - always to hilarity. So pretty soon I'm resorting to riding and squeezing my feet together like I'm doing some kind of weird lamaze exercise. Super taxing.

Finally we reach a remote desert gas station with a garage. With great relief I pull in and ask to borrow an Allen tool. The very "remote desert loner" looking dude brings out his set. But none fit. I ask "Do you have metric?" And he gives me a look that reminds me vaguely of "You shore got a purty mouth!" Bunch of skinny, stretchy pants guys asking for metric.

But finally we find a good-enough fit, and start to tighten it down, and suddenly all tension releases and it just starts spinning. Pull the bolt completely out - find it's stripped smooth. That was the whole problem all along. (I had been swapping this power meter crank between two bikes to avoid buying a second power meter, so clearly wore out the threads over hundreds of swaps).

So now with *zero* holding the crank together, can't even do the lamaze thing. I have to do like 40 miles of one-legged ILTs on the drive side. Somehow made it back, but so ruined I couldn't ride another day at camp.

I decided last minute to do a duathlon because I had good bike and swim fitness while waiting for a stress fracture in the hip to heal.

There was a uturn on course and going into it I somehow pulled a newb move and locked up my front brake. Immediately went down on my left side and fractured my collarbone and tibial plateau (knee). Bike rear seatstay broke in half so had to get bike repaired. Of course shredded my kit and smashed my helmet.

Fun times. Last minute race because I was bored probably cost me $6k lol.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

jumped into a 'cross race a few years ago on my lemond poprad. i was racing in switzerland where i sometimes come up against a language barrier, and for some reason they stuck me in the 'elite' wave.

i was already getting ass completely kicked by the end of the first lap, when on an awkward tree stump/corner/climb, i hear a godawful noise and came to a halt. my rear derailleur had essentially sheared off the hanger.

hard to attach a dollar price to it, since the hanger was so bent that i haven't been able to get a derailleur back on that frame. instead i decided to convert it to a singlespeed. (which i confess is a lovely ride that gets lots of use, so maybe there's an upside? either it cost me an entire bike, or created me a new one?)

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Almost two years ago, right at the beginning of my 3rd semester of nursing school, I was out on a training ride, hit some loose sand in the middle of a turn, went off the side of the path, slammed hard and broke my right wrist.

I lied about the severity of the injury and continued through the next eight weeks of the semester with my wrist in a store bought splint, but I did finish. Fortunately, the cost in dollars was minimal, but beyond the financial, it was a pretty expensive experience.

I've got two:

1. Unbound 2023: Total cost about $750 in repairs. Bent a rim, every bearing on the bike was toast from the mud. Had to replace a bunch of stuff like the bottom bracket. Plus rebuild everything from the frame up
2. Deer Creek Canyon: made it to the top of a 10mi 3,000' climb, down shifted right at the top and put my Di2 derailleur into my rear spokes and fully ripped it off. Probably ~$400 and didn't even get to ride the descent. Had to call for a ride at the furthest point from home