As a bicycle mechanic list your common and worst injuries on the job

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As a bicycle mechanic list your common and worst injuries on the job
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flag molland8
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 4:50 Quote
I was sorting out my mates chain beside the trail so the bike was upside down, as i leaned forward to look he rotated the cranks, giving me a nice gash on my forehead, never thought i would get a pedal mark there!!
flag RelentlessRider
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 5:07 Quote
stabbed by frayed cables, finger caught between chain and chainring ss too so it was damn tight, tightening one of those old quill stems but the bolt must have been sripped so it gave out and i ended up smashing my hand into the bars.
flag brodoyouevenbike
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 5:08 Quote
was fixing my rear derailour and my finger got stuck betwen the chain and the thingy... ouch idk how it didnt digg through my skin... it hurt like crap though... :S
oh and btw i'm not a mechanic... yet xD
flag johanwetwilly
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 5:47 Quote
poked a sharpened spoke into my finger lol and poked stupid frayed cables under myskin
flag leverfingers
O+
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 18:43 Quote
I've had the rotor slice and plenty of the frayed cable poke. But what happened to the guy next to me one time was awful. Rim tape was off and he was cutting the spokes to put a new rim on the hub. When he cut the first spoke it shot through the meaty part of his hand between the thumb and other 4 fingers. Right through, nipple first. And one time at crankworx one of the rocky techs sprayed the wall of the tent with blood when he got his finger in the rotor.
flag
Posted: Jan 27, 2009 at 18:46 Quote
lol i like it when the cable fray things get under your fingernails, feel great. haha
flag typecaRl
Posted: Jan 28, 2009 at 13:42 Quote
leverfingers wrote:
I've had the rotor slice and plenty of the frayed cable poke. But what happened to the guy next to me one time was awful. Rim tape was off and he was cutting the spokes to put a new rim on the hub. When he cut the first spoke it shot through the meaty part of his hand between the thumb and other 4 fingers. Right through, nipple first. And one time at crankworx one of the rocky techs sprayed the wall of the tent with blood when he got his finger in the rotor.

lol perfect example of not paying attention and getting too envolved in the job. Everybody knows that you should really slacken the spokes first. But yeh. Ouch thats gotta hurt
flag chrisispringles
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 at 10:18 Quote
blown up innertubes are the worst, especially at 115psi in a small garage.
other inuries i do alot is whenever i have my chain off ill stick my sprocket in my arm or pedal spanner slipping and cracking of my leg Madder Facepalm
flag dannyvilladsen
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 at 12:57 Quote
TyreBurningBiker wrote:
was fixing my rear derailour and my finger got stuck betwen the chain and the thingy... ouch idk how it didnt digg through my skin... it hurt like crap though... :S
oh and btw i'm not a mechanic... yet xD

No shit...
flag dannyvilladsen
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 at 13:01 Quote
typecaRl wrote:
ctd07 wrote:
Checking a Hayes rotor was true and catching my finger in as it was spinning around - how I still have the end of that finger I don't know, but I won't be making that mistake again!

Cranking the wheel around to check the gears, dropping my allen key and buzzing my forehead on the rear tyre as I bend over to pick it up - again, I am very wary of this now!

- and squirting Dot brake oil in my eyes, its just second nature to meEek

Mucoff in the eye isnt very nice either lol

PE master wrench (anti corrosive) is bad and dot 4.1 is the worst!! The mechanic at work was bleeding some avid brakes/doing a bit of "brake magic" and the piston popped out and the dot oil sprayed in his eye!! He ran to the bathroom screaming and we took him to A & E. he lost 10% of his vision...
flag cooldudethatate
O+
Posted: Jan 29, 2009 at 13:15 Quote
Im not a mechanic but i was fixing my chain in my room and i was spinning the wheel really fast to check if the chain wouldn't skip anymore.Then my finger went into my back disk brake i just felt a tingle.Looked at my finger the end was cut clean off.Picked it up went to my mom.She just looked at me and said do you want an ambulance or a car.I'm just like lets just take the car.On the way to the hospital there was a car crash and lots of traffic.It started to be bleed when i got to the hospital and they made me wait 3 hours until they sowed it back on.1.5 hours with out pain killers.Sowed it back on walk into the car look at the paper towels their all perfectly red.For all you grease monkeys watch out for your fingers.
flag willy94
Posted: May 5, 2009 at 19:55 Quote
1. i was at work building this old lady trike with basket. trike was like 55-60 lbs. (no joke) and when i was taking it off the stand it came down on my head/shoulder and i had a big bleeding scrape on my shoulder and a massive headache

2. putting on a cable cap and didnt notice one of the wires had unraveled and thats right, right into my finger 1/4" deep bleeding like hell

3. in the scrap bikes getting a used part and i pushed a bikes frame up in the air fork was jammed together with other bikes and i couldnt get it out so i left it when i was taking the part off i bumped it and it came right down on my head almost got knocked out, i was really dizzy and almost barfed

4. using a knife on numerous occasions and have cut myself deep

5. doing skis and cut myself on the edge

6. getting my fingers caught in between chainring and chain it was on a ss too so i couldnt get it off and to make it worse it was a coster brake so i couldnt back pedal, i had to get my dad to help me take off the wheel (ok this was at my house but w/e)
flag willy94
Posted: May 5, 2009 at 19:58 Quote
typecaRl wrote:
Or opening a box to get a new bike out and scratching your self on those bloody staples
Really Mad i HATE those!
flag levigardiner
Posted: May 5, 2009 at 20:50 Quote
not a mech. story but funny...i just put new pedals on my bike...big studs...my buddy is doin chin ups and the bike is leaning against the wall behind him and the bar breaks and ofcourse he has to be showin off and being shirtless... he fell right onto my pedals and put 3, 6 inch long gashes in his back....it was f*ckin awesome
flag dh-pete
Posted: May 6, 2009 at 13:02 Quote
I get too many to list, so I'll just list the bad ones:

Cutting the extra metal from mudguard mounts, those things literally fire. And on the off chance one of your co-workers decide to cut one without warning you, they will pierce skin. I learnt the hard way by having an end go through my jeans and into the back of my thigh.

Mechanical disk brakes, just working on them sucks, and then there's Avid. Them and that silly speed dial. I got it perfect, just tuning the speed dial in one bit at a time to get a nice bite point. And then I spin the wheel to see for rub, with my hand still on the speed dial. That was a big mistake and my finger looked like a snake's tongue.

SS/fixed gear drivetrains, this was at home, but I'd say it qualifies as my worst; anyway, I was cleaning the rim on my fixed gear, spinning the wheel with my cloth wrapped around my hand to rub off the dirt and grease, then my dog decided it wanted attention and jumped up. Thinking of his safety I took my hand away to push him down, and at the same time not considering what I was doing with the hand in the cloth. By the time I turned the chain had caught the cloth and tugged my hand through. I managed to get most of my hand away, but my right index finger took the hit. But that wasn't all, my chain still had my finger and the cloth mangled around it after the chainring, and it was still spinning. Cue the sprocket! After that the frame blocked it's destructive path and wedged my arm between the frame and the spokes which stopped the wheel. Leaving me to tug off my finger and see it squirt blood about 8 foot from where I was standing. It managed to cut down close to the nail bed, took the edge off my bone, then because of chances of infection the bone needed to be 'cropped'. Yay! Check my pictures for the X-ray and some pic's of the half healed finger. Wink


And finally, the butane torch. Normally a fairly safe tool when used correctly. But after being used by mechanics with oily, greasy hands it becomes lethal. Anyone who doesn't remember this is greeted my the torch igniting their hand when they ignite it.

 


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