How easy is it to fix a bike puncture?

[Sharky]

All you had to do was wait by the roadside, bike upside down with the wheel off. Wait for a passing cyclist to call out "Are you OK" . If they are a "real" cyclist, they will stop and help. The belief is that if you help others, when you need help, there will be somebody there to help you.

I've offered to help a few times and once or twice have received help from others to get me home.

 

[steveindenmark]

You do not need to have a puncture to take a wheel and tyre off a bike at home and replace them. Its good practice.

Not taking a puncture repair kit and bike pump on your ride is really dumb. You may not be able to use them, but you can ask someone for help. Maybe you learnt something on your walk.

 

[Mike Ayling]

.

Oh, and most importantly, don't forget to find and remove from the tyre whatever it was that caused the bloody thing in the first place!

Which sometimes can be very difficult!

Mike

 

[Paulus]

Which sometimes can be very difficult!

Mike

But first a visual check of the outside of the tyre, and then using your fingers gently feel around the inside of the tyre. Keep going until you find the offending article. They can be very small flints that have only just worked their way through the tread to a nail or similar which will be more obvious.

 

[kingrollo]

Carry a spare tube - tyre levers - decent mini pump.

If you need to - in you're hour of need you will get there.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Which sometimes can be very difficult!

That's why the sensible thing is to carry a pump not gas cylinders. When I get a flat the first thing I do is not remove the wheel or get the tube out, but instead I pump some more air into it, to try to identify exactly where the hole is in relation to the valve position. Unless the puncture is very slow, it's not normally that hard to pinpoint the location.
This is all absolute basic stuff and fixing punctures was done by the people I grew up with as kids. Parents would soon tire of fixing frequent flats and would tell us to find and fix our own! I really can't believe that adults are riding around who are clueless about punctures. They are just part of cycling, and before highly puncture resistant tyres like Marathons became common, were quite a regular happening.

 

[si_c]

That's why the sensible thing is to carry a pump not gas cylinders. When I get a flat the first thing I do is not remove the wheel or get the tube out, but instead I pump some more air into it, to try to identify exactly where the hole is in relation to the valve position. Unless the puncture is very slow, it's not normally that hard to pinpoint the location.
This is all absolute basic stuff and fixing punctures was done by the people I grew up with as kids. Parents would soon tire of fixing frequent flats and would tell us to find and fix our own! I really can't believe that adults are riding around who are clueless about punctures. They are just part of cycling, and before highly puncture resistant tyres like Marathons became common, were quite a regular happening.

I usually pull the inner tube out, but the principle is the same, chuck in some air so I can figure out where the hole is, then remove whatever it was that caused the puncture. Then new tube time - largely as it's quicker at the side of the road, and I prefer to use a proper patch kit if I can when I get home. I find that using a vulcanising solution with a rubber patch gives a more permanent fix than the instant patches - it's not infrequent that the patch fails a few weeks after application in my experience. I'm probably doing something wrong, but a traditional fix works for me.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I always use a traditional patch kit, they just work. Have never tried the instant self-adhesive variety. Trying to fix them in the rain is the worst thing, but I don't like cycling in rain anyway and I no longer ride to work, so I avoid wet cycling wherever possible.

 

[Sharky]

I always use a traditional patch kit, they just work. Have never tried the instant self-adhesive variety. Trying to fix them in the rain is the worst thing, but I don't like cycling in rain anyway and I no longer ride to work, so I avoid wet cycling wherever possible.

I'm a traditional patch cyclist as well. The one time I tried the self adhesive ones, it had been raining and my bag was soaked and they didn't work.

Another time I was about to repair a P and found my rubber solution had dried up. I still had a spare tube, so got home safely. But lesson learned and now carry a new tube with me or at least check that it hasn't dried up.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

When I use the rubber solution I squeeze the tube so the stuff is just on the point of coming out of the nozzle and screw the cap back on before releasing the pressure. I want as little air as possible trapped inside the glue tube. If you can keep the air out, the glue stays OK for years. As the glue tube gradually gets used I roll the bottom of it up tightly like a toothpaste tube so all the liquid is in the top part.

 

[rrarider]

When I use the rubber solution I squeeze the tube so the stuff is just on the point of coming out of the nozzle and screw the cap back on before releasing the pressure. I want as little air as possible trapped inside the glue tube. If you can keep the air out, the glue stays OK for years. As the glue tube gradually gets used I roll the bottom of it up tightly like a toothpaste tube so all the liquid is in the top part.

--- and always have a completely unopened tube in you kit, just in case the part used one has dried out. Wilko basic kits at £1.25 each are good for this as the tubes are small and the patches are good too. Two kits and some strong plastic levers like Park Tools or Pedro ones are all you need to carry for a repair kit.

Repairing a puncture on the road is to be avoided, so carry a spare tube. The repair kit is just for when you are doubly unlucky with 2 punctures on one trip.

 

[MntnMan62]

You don’t necessarily need to know how to fix a tire puncture. Just carry a spare tube with you. And if you do know how to properly fix a puncture AND carry a spare tube with you, you will never walk home again. Frankly you should also be riding with a multitool. You need to be prepared for stuff to happen while out there riding. And stuff will happen. Count on it. So the only reason you walked home for two hours that day and are now questioning riding a bike is because you were not prepared. You can fit a tube, puncture repair kit, multi tool, Gu packets, a cell phone, ID and house keys In a small saddle bag that hangs underneath you saddle. And a pump should be attached to your frame next to you water bottle cages. No reason to walk from a flat tire.

 

[Sharky]

Did I just read a post that has just disappeared? Did the Puncture Fairy take it away?

 

[Reynard]

You and me both, I think... It has vanished into the ether...

 

[MichaelW2]

You need a small sharp thin blade to pick out glass, flint wire and thorns that embed in the tyre.