I was biking home today, and I made a left turn. Or rather, I started to, then jerked to a stop as my turn was too sharp. I try to start back up, but there’s something wrong with my front wheel. I drag it to the sidewalk, and take a look, tipping the bike on its side. The front wheel is hanging loose. It is still connected to the bike, but the axle is disconnected from the bike frame. I try to unscrew the bolt of the axle, figuring the frame must be bolted to the axle. Fortunately, that didn’t work, as I had no tools with me, and the bolts were on there pretty tight. I then try to line up the grooves at the end of the frame with the axle, and pull the frame onto the axle, bracing the wheel on my chest.
After awhile, I give that up, and decide to walk the rest of the way home (20 min biking, so I wasn’t looking forward to that) and take it to a repair place the next day, so I stand my bike up and discover that miraculously the front wheel was reconnected. I shake my bike to see if it was firmly attached, and finding that it was, biked home.
My theory is that the line-the-axle-with-the frame-and-pull strategy was the correct one, but I needed the weight of me leaning on the bike to have enough force, so next time, I would try that strategy, but keep the bike upright.
So, my questions are: Is my theory right? What’s the best stratagy if it happens again? Should I take my bike to be looked at tomorrow? Is there something I should do to avoid this happening again?
