Getting home after a puncture

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Vinko
Posts: 180
Joined: 27 Feb 2014, 7:11pm

Getting home after a puncture

Post by Vinko »

Hi,

Yesterday I had a slow (rear) puncture, but rode in to my destination anyway (being pushed for time). Got there just as the back wheel was starting to feel a bit "bumpy"....yes...I know, should have stopped long before that!

Anyway, did what I needed to do at appointment. Not stressed because when I returned to the bike I delved into panniers and retrieved my pump, repair kit and spare inner tube.

"This should be fine, I have repair kit AND a spare tube" I thought (and I was outside a lovely cafe so had a cuppa to hand and they let me use their sink for hand cleaning. It wasn't raining either, so if ever a good time and place to have a puncture, this was it!).

I found the offending thorn and to save hassle I put on the spare tube....then pump broke (Topeak pocket rocket, it snapped at the head!).....couldn't get a bit of air in......... No the cafe didn't have a pump and the only cyclist I found also had no pump.

So, I was now stuck.

However I was a mile from the railway station at one end and a mile the other. So I walked with the bike to the train, caught train and walked home pushing bike. The tyre and inner tube were loose, flat, and yes I did wonder if I was doing any damage. I also had two full panniers....I couldn't easily carry them, so they were on the bike and yes, over the flat back wheel.

Anyway, today I checked. Wheel fine, but tyre has stretched.(....or so it seems). It certainly is loose and when I pump it up the inner tube breaks through at the beading pushing the tyre away from the rim (at around 40 psi).

I realise I have wrecked the tyre, its seen better days anyway (an old Schwalbe Marathon). Oh, this is my old commuting bike, a 26" wheel old steel MTB (Marin Muirwoods)

What I wonder is, what I could really have done different. I couldn't easily have called anyone to rescue me (well not without more hassle than cost of new tyre!) If I could have carried the panniers it might have made less damage, but it was easier to leave them on the bike and that was bad enough anyway, especially on a busy train. Yes carry a better pump, but this ones been great until just now.

I had the spares I thought I needed, just never realised the hassle of getting bike and loaded panniers home. In the end it's just a tyre, and I didnt mess up my day and all was OK, but trying to work out if there was anything else I could have done to avoid wrecking the tyre.
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gaz
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Location: Kent

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by gaz »

Assuming there was no LBS / Halfords / Wilkinsons / Poundland / etc nearby where I could have bought a pump (even an emergency pump) I would have done the same as you.

Perhaps stuffing the tyre with grass / straw might have protected it but that may be nothing more than a (rural) myth.

IME Schwalbe Marathons need to be seated with some care at the best of times, so it may be worth another go but there's no sense taking chances with it.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Joined: 24 Oct 2012, 10:43pm
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
I can recommend this double acting pump swivel head (don't need a gauge to get home) by Beto, all pumps by Beto seem very good quality I have found. £5.95 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beto-CMP-002- ... 4165e6c5d4
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beardy
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Joined: 23 Feb 2010, 4:10pm

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by beardy »

The only thing that I would have considered would be to unweight the wheel. Depending on how easy or comfortable it was to sling the panniers over my shoulder or at least on the front of the bike.

I am a little surprised that it managed to damage a Marathon, they are robust tyres to say the least.
I have pushed an unladen bike seven miles with a flat without doing any substantial damage and that was a much lesser tyre than a Marathon, the bike was unladen though.
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by [XAP]Bob »

This is why front forks should be 135OLN as well ;)

Not alot to do, other than find a local shop with a pump, or a garage (I've borrowed compressed air systems before - they were nervous until I said that I was looking for over 80psi anyway...)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Mark1978
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Joined: 17 Jul 2012, 8:47am
Location: Chester-le-Street, County Durham

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by Mark1978 »

I think the main issue I would find is getting a presta pump.
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Vantage
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by Vantage »

Not something I have personally done but seriously considering is carrying a co2 canister as a backup to the pump.
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hondated
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by hondated »

This might be the opportunity to put forward an idea I have had for some time. And it is couldn't we somehow compile a voluntary directory in our local areas of members who would be willing and able to be contacted for assistance if we encounter an unfortunate breakdown which cannot be fixed at the side of the road.I am fortunate at being retired so I may be able to assist someone more easily than someone who is working.
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[XAP]Bob
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Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by [XAP]Bob »

I always carry a presta Schraeder adaptor, the gram or two is well worth it. I don't run many presta tubes any more, but a stranded cyclist might, so I carry the adaptor
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
geocycle
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Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 9:46am

Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by geocycle »

I have done the same as you! The only thing I did different was hang the panniers on the front with cord to reduce weight on the tyre.
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gaz
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by gaz »

hondated wrote:This might be the opportunity to put forward an idea I have had for some time. And it is couldn't we somehow compile a voluntary directory in our local areas of members who would be willing and able to be contacted for assistance if we encounter an unfortunate breakdown which cannot be fixed at the side of the road.

A national directory used to exist, the CTC Handbook included a list of members willing to assist a fellow member stranded by mechanical failure whilst touring in a different part of the country. It was never intended as a puncture repair service but I trust most would have accepted the catastrophic failure of a pump as a justified reason to be called out.
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bigjim
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by bigjim »

I'd have asked the cafe if I could leave the bike there until tomorrow. Got home and if time, drove back for the bike or returned the next day. I don't know your situation though, whether you have access to a car or not. It's worked for me in the past. Knocked on a door, left my bike in their shed and come back later. Most people are very nice and understanding. Being on the bus in Lycra shorts felt a bit weird though. :)
rjb
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by rjb »

Fellow club member had the temerity to knock on 1/2 a dozen houses near to where he had a rim failure. Persuaded one owner to let him borrow their old bike and left his behind to be reclaimed later. He managed to cycle 10 miles home collect his car and return to swap bikes back again. :mrgreen:
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661-Pete
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by 661-Pete »

I'd always recommend a pump with a flexible hose - e.g. Topeak Morph. Quite aside from the risk of the pump head breaking - as in your case - it's not unknown to snap a Presta valve stem, leaving the inner useless. At any rate, I find pumps with hose a lot easier to use.

I'm not an advocate of CO2 cylinders - not the most eco-friendly option - but as a last-ditch resort they might have saved the day for you. Might be worth carrying one - even if you never intend to use it. Like having a fire extinguisher in the house.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
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661-Pete
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by 661-Pete »

Some roadside mechanicals - such as broken cranks: something which my son seems to specialise in :shock: - are usually utterly beyond repair at the roadside. How many people are going to carry a spare crankset?

My worst - many years ago in the days of screw-on freewheels, pre-cassettes - was when I stripped the thread on the hub which took the freewheel, piling up a 1-in-5* with maximum effort. Absolutely nothing I could do about that. It was on a sunday, and in those days everything closed on a sunday. I got home - several miles - by a combination of freewheeling down any hills and 'scooting' the bike along the level. Eventually.

*Yes! That was in the distant past when I could still do 1-in-5's!
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
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