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Past week I had a bike incident with another cyclist. The rider in front of me slowed down and when I looked back to confirm no one was behind, he stopped and I hit him. Totally my fault, and no one get hurt. Typical mistake.

I gave my phone number to the other person and ask him if he wants to go to a bike shop at the moment but he refuse because it was late for him. Anyway, he contact me the day after asking for 370 euros for the repairs. I consider this amount of money ridiculous since the damage is only in the gear drive that is twisted (not broken).

At the moment I had some shots of the damage and a video of the person riding after with no problem apparently.

My question is if I should ask the person to take the bike to a shop repair that I trust and get a new budget for this? Or even buy the parts and install it by myself.

This is in Spain and I am not covered by insurance for this incident.

The person is very reluctant to detail the repairing. I told that I accept the costs and the repair shop but I need a detailed invoice. Somehow the pictures I took are helpful to clarify how damaged it was.

This was between two Bicycles. As additional info, we were not riding together.

enter image description here

feetwet
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1 Answers1

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Great job taking the photo at the time, it could end up saving you some money.

I can see an Acera rear derailleur(inexpensive), a seven speed freewheel (cheap), a rusty chain (poorly maintained), a bent derailleur hanger (possible damage) and a rear derailleur cable which is doing something slightly funny.

Focusing on the seven speed freewheel, we can tell that this is a budget bike. I would expect you could replace the whole bike for 370 euros. Labour charges will make up a large portion of a repair bill, but it does seem like an inflated price.

You absolutely must insist on transparency upfront from the bike owner. If they are not prepared to tell you what they want to spend your proposed 370 euros on, then I am confident they are trying to rip you off. If they tell you what the money will be spent on and you are struggling to decide if it is reasonable, please ask us about it with the updated info, before you pay any money at all.

Also seek some regional legal input into what your obligations and time frame need to be (we aren't lawyers!). If you meet your legal obligations and do so in a timely manner, then you are free to be as generous or not as you like in returning the bike to the condition it was in before the incident.

As for the original questions (sorry). I would suggest having the quote for the repairs approved by someone you trust in advance, yes perhaps a third party bike shop you trust. I would suggest not doing the repair work yourself. Even though that could be cheaper, you don't want any follow-ups from the other person. So if the repair is done at the other person's choice of repair shop, with your prior agreement about the cost and extent of the work, then they cannot follow up and ask you for more money after the fact.

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