British Cycling and Cycle Rescue

[2wd]

After recent debates regarding insurance and a recent innertube fail which left me stranded (I knooooow I should have had a spare,but I didn't ) I have been looking at British Cycling membership at £24.00 with an add on of the rescue service at a further cost of £16.20

For this I would get £10m non competitive insurance (I dont need competitive),legal assistance, plus a few discounts off magazines and at Halfrauds.

Has anyone used BCs rescue service and would you know if punctures are covered as I cant see any in depthTs&Cs,only the wording....

If you became unable to complete a journey (anywhere in the UK) due to an accident, theft or irreparable breakdown, Cycle Rescue will take you and your bicycle to a convenient location. That could be your home, train station, bicycle repair shop, car rental agency or alternative overnight accommodation. It's worth noting that any roadside breakdown must have occurred at least one mile away from your home to be eligible to use your Cycleguard Rescue cover

 

[400bhp]

.....innertube fail which left me stranded (I knooooow I should have had a spare,but I didn't )

wording.......
... irreparable breakdown....

There should be a definition of that term. If not then enquire as to what it means.

 

[2wd]

Thats the sentence that caught my eye as well

I'll ring tomorrow

 

[byegad]

ETA do recovery and will cover for punctures but I don;t know how much you'd pay for just that as both our cars are covered on the same policy. And they'll retrieve recumbent trikes too.

 

[400bhp]

I found out the other day that Salford Council have a scheme for there employees. They picked up my mates brother on his way to work when he suffered a puncture. Even fixed the puncture too!

 

[growingvegetables]

Hey - Scotrail do it; found out about it by chance last year, cycling around Arisaig and Mallaig with youngest. And to qualify? A ticket to a station in Scotland, and you're sorted!

Just one wee thing - limited to one p******e a year

Details here

 

[CopperCyclist]

Hopefully they might be like the AA and RAC, and if it's a puncture and you call them out, simply fix it for you at the side of the road - hopefully while mocking you mercilessly for not being able to!

If they could just come out, look at he bike and say 'Nah, you can fix that' then bugger off, that'd be a bit harsh!

 

[2wd]

I rang them today and they said p******e's are not covered

I'll just take the pedal fell off so I can't ride it and tell em it fell down a grid

Then when I went to look for it, my wheel got stuck in the same grid and popped the tyre

 

[CopperCyclist]

Rubbish then. Much as I think everyone should be able to fix their own puncture, I also think if you're paying for a service like that, you should have the choice to do so!

I'll stay with the free 'Friend and Family' rescue service that don't ask what's wrong before they decide to come out!

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

If you have home buildings/contents or motor insurance you may already have Third Party liability insurance and legal expenses cover; either way £10m is massively over the top.

Who and how is the recovery provided? They have a nationwide network? Ask for a specimen policy.

To be fair, I wouldn't expect punctures to be covered.

 

[lukesdad]

Shirley a puncture is repairable.

 

[Banjo]

You can go a fair way in a taxi for £16 .Unless you are really in the back of beyond Im not sure breakdown insurance is money wisely spent.

 

[snorri]

Odd, is it not, that cyclists are mostly expected to fix their own punctures and generally look after their machines, whilst motorists tend to do none of that nowadays.

Odd indeed.

 

[Bicycle]

Odd, is it not, that cyclists are mostly expected to fix their own punctures and generally look after their machines, whilst motorists tend to do none of that nowadays.

Not odd, I think. I've rarely suffered a mechanical failure on my bicycle that couldn't be fixed by the roadside or trailside.

Punctures on bicycles are not too hard to repair. Using (appropriate) tyre levers to split the beading on a modern, lowish-profile car tyre is a mammoth and sweaty task. Even motorcycle tyres take some doing.

I've ridden an MTB back to tarmac with snapped spokes flailing around, on one brake or with bent handlebars. many people have.

Apart from snapped forks on London Wall twenty years ago (and the odd cruncher of a collision) I don't think I've ever been unable to proceed on a bicycle due to mechanical failure. When I have been, I've generally locked it, left it and come back later.

If I look back at my (relatively few) AA call-outs in the last 20 years, there are none I could have dealt with at the roadside:

High-pressure LHM Hydraulic pipe failure in a BX.
Sheared fan backplate sliced through oil-cooler pipe in 2CV (towed home to repair it myself but utterly fooked as it was).
Several flat batteries in a 2CV (despite the starter handle, this can be a major problem - whatever people say).

Probably other call-outs I don't recall..... The hydraulic-pipe failure was at midnight with two toddlers in the car. I like that sort of back-up from a motoring organisation and pay for it with pleasure.

I really wouldn't feel the need of anything like that from a cycling organisation and wouldn't want to pay for it.

It's up to the rider to decide. Many think AA membership a waste of my money (with no call-outs for well over a decade). For the modest cost, I like to have it.

I think cycle repair and recovery a waste of money for me, but many riders will be glad to have it and will happily meet the modest cost.

But to refer back to the point I'm replying to: No, it isn't odd that cyclists are expected to repair their own and motorists are not. Cars are buggers to fix on a wet night 100 miles from home without a workshop full of tools.

I pay to have punctures on my car fixed. I'm sure I could pay my LBS to sort a flat on my bicycle... but I might feel slightly odd asking... I'm not expected to fix bicycle punctures, I just choose to.

 

[400bhp]

Shirley a puncture is repairable.

Precisely. Shirley a puncture can be fixed/tube replaced in the time it takes for a breakdown van to turn up.