easyroller wrote:Flinders wrote:I assume you're joking?
Only half joking actually. The point was he has never ridden a road bike - ever - no idea how to work the brakes or gears, has no cycle maintenance knowledge and has to ride home burdened with a load of accessories either down a 70mph dual carriageway or through a hilly estate with heavy traffic. Probably best put it in the car and then practice somewhere quietly.
Flinders wrote:I've been cycling for over 30 years, commuted every day in Central London for 6 of them, and I've never once had to take wheel off when out. Not once.
Twice I have had to push the bike home- one was an unmendable puncture that wrote of the tyre as well, and the other was a catastrophic derailleur failure that bent the back forks and wrecked the back wheel.
So in 30 years of riding you've never had to replace an inner tube by the roadside?
Not once. Even when I commuted in the Smoke I never got a puncture I couldn't get home on by pumping the tyre up hard once or twice. But I am a lightweight.
I've changed tubes at home, of course, on previous bikes, but with my current HP tyres, I suspect my paws aren't strong enough to get the tyre back on. The OP might have the same problem. I carry the necessary, of course.
I did comment that I thought if the rider had clips on their shoes and wasn't used to them that I thought he should practice on a trainer first. I think that's a necessity. But when it comes to gears, I rode my current bike home with in-brake gears for the fist time with absolutely no problems at all. It's easier than it would be going the other way from in-brake gears to stem levers, I should think.
On the whole, I agree that if it is possible, I'd get the bike home through other means, like a mate's car or van, and play with the bike somewhere safe off the road. But we don;t know how much experience the OP has on other bikes. If the only difference is that they're used to a MTB they may be fine with it. Personally, I'd struggle with a MTB, having only ever had drop bar road bikes!