Getting home after a puncture

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
I considered pushing my bike two miles from home with a flat back tyre, but panniers loaded
So I was resigned to repairing it but missed the chain unhitch and jammed it between the granny and the BB tube :?
So not wishing to wreck chain pushed uphill all the way home.
I have yet to fix the gab so I don't fall foul of this problem again, thanks for the reminder.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
So you break a plastic lever, they come in threes.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
Grandad
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by Grandad »

I had a freewheel fail 160k into a 200k audax. Scooted up and freewheeled down hills for a while then passed a cottage whose open garage displayed a bike hanging on a wall. An old heap but they lent it to me and kept mine so I made the finish and then retraced in the car to swap back.

Bigger problem was a major mechanical failure on the commute on an upright trike. This meant getting a train and having to change trains at a busy station in the rush hour. Carrying a trike up and down steps between platforms surrounded by swarms of commuters was something a bit different.
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661-Pete
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by 661-Pete »

mjr wrote:Bikes usually have two cranks... yes, I have pedalled home on one remaining crank at least once :lol:

Perhaps on another day my son could have brought off a stunt like that, but:
1. He had his mobile phone on him.
2. He had an obliging Dad with a car. :oops:
3. His route home would have meant going over Ditchling Beacon. :roll:
So I did the necessary and provided the rescue service (not the only time I've done that)!

Back to punctures... plastic levers are pretty good these days, reinforced with various things, but metal levers are rim-maiming abominations in most hands and so should be recycled before they fall into them. ;-)

OK, perhaps not the ones you get from H*lfords, but really good plastic levers..... I'll have to eat my words then.
I've always been careful with steel levers. Sometimes when they're new they come with rough edges or a bit of a raised burr, which I rub down with emery paper before using them. At any rate, I don't recall ever damaging a rim with a lever. Having said that, I don't go for the notorious Marathon+'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).
maxcherry
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by maxcherry »

Walked 6 miles due to Marathon+'s :twisted: (How the heck do none mutant super people get them off)
Next day checking my tire (45 mins to remove) i found out that my tube had split along the seam. I went straight to Amazon.

Using these now 'Schwalbe Marathon GreenGuard Endurance Tire' i don't even need leavers to get them on and off.

Nothing against Marathon+', but what would have happend to me if there was a zombie plague roaming the street at the time :shock:
Honestly chaps, I'm a female!
Vinko
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by Vinko »

Phew....I felt I was going to be ridiculed for being stupid!

Nice comments and good thoughts too. Thanks for an interesting read so far and being so kind to me :D

All up and running again....with even more additional extra stuff being carried.

Problem is my three regular bikes are - 26" wheel commuter (the one in this tale), a Brompton and my 700c main touring bike. I use them all every week at some point for the various different places I go and also the availability of safe "parking" etc.

I also use a trailer for one day each week for the family food shopping - but that is the same wheel size as the Brompton, but pulled on my 26" wheel bike!

OK, I have now tested replacement pump.....and tested it again and may get a second one as recommended above as another spare! But that is three sizes of inner tubes to carry! It's as much as I can do to remember everything when I leave the house anyway, so I personally have to have one pannier dedicated to all my cycling needs and spares - tools, inner tubes x 3, change of clothes, extra clothes, books to read, three locks, flask of tea, cape (yes....I did say cape :D )....and have that loaded ready for all of my bikes no matter which one I am on....and then stuff all of that into the Brompton C bag for when I take that.

At least I could probably help most others if I find them stuck whilst on my journeys!

....or...I now set up three totally separate sets of kit, and panniers/bags, one for each bike!
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mjr
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by mjr »

Or find ways of fixing just the single- bike tools/tubes to the bike concerned. Small saddlebag or whatever.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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661-Pete
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by 661-Pete »

I have never used Marathons on my current bikes becaue they don't come in 700x23c size as far as I know, but I have used the road equivalent, Durano+, for a while, but I was disappointed with their claimed p*nct*re resistance. I have since switched back to Armadillos which are definitely my favourite. But they are also a devil to get on and off some types of rim. A good tip is to stretch the tyre before first time use: sit down, hook the tyre under the soles of your feet, grab the opposite point with your hands and tug as hard as you can. Rotate the tyre a bit and pull again. Keep going till you've gone all round the tyre. If nothing else, this serves to 'soften up' the tyre a bit.

I should perhaps explain that I have unusually strong fingers. At any rate, I'm always the person called upon to open that obstinate pickle-jar or whatever. For those less fortunate, all I can do is sympathise.
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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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
661-Pete wrote:I have never used Marathons on my current bikes becaue they don't come in 700x23c size as far as I know, but I have used the road equivalent, Durano+, for a while, but I was disappointed with their claimed p*nct*re resistance.

Correct me If I am wrong ? "Schwalbe" I found them sub standard in all ways.......................I have never bought one but used one off a skip bike (Which looked brand new and not contaminated) Schwalbe land cruiser WITH PP strip.
Rubbish fairy protection and rubbish rubber.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
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mjr
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by mjr »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Correct me If I am wrong ? "Schwalbe" I found them sub standard in all ways.......................I have never bought one but used one off a skip bike (Which looked brand new and not contaminated) Schwalbe land cruiser WITH PP strip.
Rubbish fairy protection and rubbish rubber.

Which might be a dud tyre and why that was in the skip! :roll:

I use Schwalbe for all new tyres (mostly Delta Cruiser or Marathon Greenguard, but I've tried a couple of Marathon Plus which I don't like as much and I've some studded tyres which I've yet to try) since switching away from Armadillos at their last compound change because junk started sticking to them until it hammered through the tyre. I used to use protected tyres from Kenda (actually still have some on the 20") and before that Michelins but Armadillos seemed better than them and Schwalbe protected tyres seem better than Armadillos.... but this may vary depending on what sort of tools are used by the fairies near you.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
mjr wrote:
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Correct me If I am wrong ? "Schwalbe" I found them sub standard in all ways.......................I have never bought one but used one off a skip bike (Which looked brand new and not contaminated) Schwalbe land cruiser WITH PP strip.
Rubbish fairy protection and rubbish rubber.

Which might be a dud tyre and why that was in the skip! :roll:

NOT SO..............The tyre looked brand new and unworn, as are many bikes that (sorry skip) I get from the local recycling centre!
As cyclist of 48 years and only me works on my bikes ever, along with ten years a motorcycle mechanic working alone on the street in the snow etc, etc.
I fit tyres in my sleep, mate rings me come and swap some motor cycle trail tyres with wheel clamps after tea.
Some eight tyre changes by later by hand......... :)
I have done all tyres with exception of tractor tyres, all with hand pump and tyre levers only a piece of rope and a bit of carpit on the ground.
Tubeless etc. etc.
I would know a dud tyre If I saw one.

I will admit that not all tyres by one brand are the same, so your tyres might be OK.
I have another set of Schwalbe road cruiser's with PP off another skip bike one is unworn if 100 miles at all the other is say 30 % worn so we will see.
I have used kenda's they are ok even more so considering that they are brand name but at the cheap end.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
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IanW
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by IanW »

661-Pete wrote:
eileithyia wrote:... when tyre lever broke....
Plastic tyre levers are an abomination. Straight in the bin is the only place.

On the other hand, if you succeeded in breaking a metal lever, you have my respect... :shock:


Hmm, I beg to disagree that plastic tyre levers are "an abomination".

I agree that they are weaker, but they are also lighter and gentler on the rims.

So I carry 1 good strong metal tyre lever and 2 plastic levers.

The metal lever always gets used first / for any difficult tyres
and the the plastic ones get used as the "placeholding levers" as I work further around the rim with the metal lever.

If I really have to use a lever to put a tyre bead back *onto* the rim, I use the plastic levers for this operation too.
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661-Pete
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by 661-Pete »

mjr wrote:Bikes usually have two cranks... yes, I have pedalled home on one remaining crank at least once :lol:
More here on one-crank cycling. :lol: (the rest of the video is pretty hilarious too!)
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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CyberKnight
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Re: Getting home after a puncture

Post by CyberKnight »

I once walked 7 miles home after going through 3 tubes in a couple of miles when i had a small piece of glass inthe tyre that you could not find in the dark, no buses, trains etc on my commute and the wife had the car at work so it was walk or sulk.
John Wayne: "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on... I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
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