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Certainly have had a few good crashes myself. Spandex is certainly not protective. At this point, I am EXTREMELY careful---at age 68, things tend to break. I still enjoy riding between 15 and 20 miles daily in good weather. I also do charity rides and centuries. Right now I have a very complete home bike shop and feel competent to fix almost anything. I don`t have the tool to ream a bottom bracket housing or a steerer tube. I take that stuff to our LBS. We have a great relationship. I work on the older bikes--late 70`s to late 80` and 90`s. Eventually these people want to upgrade, and end up buying a new bike from him. I get all my parts from him at a discount. I also "Re-comission" Mart bikes. In the past five years, I have only seen one Mart bike assembled properly. Usually all the cones feel like they were tightened by a Sumo Wrestler and the bearings lubed with bacon grease. Keeps me busy. Most of our migrant Blueberry pickers ride Mart bikes. They get them to me before any miles are put on them, and I set them up for them---a great group of people. They also stay in great shape riding these pretend Mountain bikes with their super-agressive tires. They eventually put street tires on them--which sometimes cost almost as much as the bike. I do the migrants bikes free. They only get charged for parts when they absolutely need them, and then it is for the same price I get them for.
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