How easy is it to fix a bike puncture?

[Oldhippy]

My local bike shop has been inundated with people needing punctured or flat tyres since lockdown started. As others have said it is a bit depressing that people can't even do the basics. Even carry a spare tube and fix later if necessary. At what point did people stop learning things like. Sad.

 

[slowmotion]

I use Tacx tyre levers that come in threes. One thing I learned is that it's easiest to get all three under the tyre bead before levering each one down.
For digging sharp stuff out of the tyre, I carry a big safety pin. It's easy to grip, weighs nothing, and doesn't poke holes in your spare tube when it's rattling around in your saddle back or rucksack.
You can get a perfectly good puncture repair kit from Wilco for ( I think ) £1.99.

 

[Mike Ayling]

That's where the trusty Swiss army penknife come into it's own.

Plus 1 for that!

Mike

 

[weareHKR]

TBH I don't even bother fixing them anymore, take it out bin it & put a new tube in!
I do the repair for other people if they insist, but I go through no end of patches for other people, usually at my cost & I know some people can do it they just can't be arsed & wheel them in my garden!

 

[Mike Ayling]

£25 for a bog standard tube change sounds steep
My LBS prices. I’ve used once or twice when I simply could not get the flipping tyre off when I’ve had joint pain

Puncture Repairs

• Wheel only – £5 + tube
• Wheel in bike – £10 + tube
• Hub gear wheel – £15 + tube
• Dutch style bike rear puncture – £25 + tube

I have two Thorn bikes with Rohloff IGHs.
Removing a wheel with these is easy.
Disconnect the EX shift box using the thumb screw thereon.
Open the quick release and the wheel drops out from the vertical dropout.
I find this as quick or quicker than getting the wheel out of the derailleur.

Dutch style bike, maybe is is the enclosed chain case which slows down the procedure.

Mike

 

[Mike Ayling]

I find this thread a bit depressing.

Tyre levers used to be metal so were basically indestructible; I think some even used household spoons and forks.

Mothers tended to get quite upset when forks/spoons were returned bent!



I have a theory that many adults ride fixed gear bikes because they cannot handle dealing with the potential problems of derailleur type gears (the most common one being re-indexing the gear occasionally).

See my other post about removing/replacing a Rohloff wheel.
I ride fixed sometimes but not necessarily only for ease of maintenance. Single speed, various IGHs also save the need for regular re-indexing of derailleurs.
I believe that for those with deep pockets the electronic shifting completely eliminates this problem.

Mike



</rant over>

 

[Bad Machine]

I use Tacx tyre levers that come in threes. One thing I learned is that it's easiest to get all three under the tyre bead before levering each one down.
For digging sharp stuff out of the tyre, I carry a big safety pin. It's easy to grip, weighs nothing, and doesn't poke holes in your spare tube when it's rattling around in your saddle back or rucksack.
You can get a perfectly good puncture repair kit from Wilco for ( I think ) £1.99.

Ah, I've just bought two from Wilko, yesterday. £1.25 for the small kit - patches, rubber solution, chalk, sandpaper and a wax crayon. Or £2.50 for the addition of a metal spanner and two tyre levers. Like the idea of the safety pin for digging out flints 👍 - I might swap that for the needle nose pliers I carry (even my Marathon Plusses can't protect against everything round here).

 

[rrarider]

TBH I don't even bother fixing them anymore, take it out bin it & put a new tube in!
I do the repair for other people if they insist, but I go through no end of patches for other people, usually at my cost & I know some people can do it they just can't be arsed & wheel them in my garden!

That is just a complete waste by someone with more money than sense. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Ah, I've just bought two from Wilko, yesterday. £1.25 for the small kit - patches, rubber solution, chalk, sandpaper and a wax crayon. Or £2.50 for the addition of a metal spanner and two tyre levers. Like the idea of the safety pin for digging out thorns - I might swap that for the needle nose pliers I carry (even my Marathon Plusses can't protect against everything round here).

The Wilko basic kit is good value, just for the small tube of rubber solution alone. It's always a good idea to have an unopened tube, as used tubes (even with all the air squeezed out) are often completely dry. The levers aren't the strongest but the patches are very good. I include a fragment of snap-on box cutter blade, for removing the cellophane backing from the patch and scraping a bit of talc from the little block. Repairs at the roadside are only necessary if you haven't got a spare tube with you or you happen to be doubly unlucky with two punctures on one outing.

 

[fossyant]

TBH, there are plenty of members on here that CBA with fixing bikes - other than fixing a puncture, as they literally don't want to. Bit like people washing cars - take it somewhere to be washed. Not everyone wants to. Puncture fixing is good business for a bike shop - get a junior to do it as well !

But, if you are going to be riding miles, take a kit and spare tubes. It's a 5 minute job. I only carry CO2 for speed - hardly ever use them as I use my pump. We had 3 punctures on a ride with 3 of us recently. We are all proficient with tube changes and repairs, but if we weren't, it was one hell of a walk home - literally up the top of a hill in the middle of no-where - no roads.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

people washing cars

It's a mystery to me why people wash cars. I've owned mine nearly a decade, probably washed it less than once a year, when the number plates become unreadable or it's so mucky I get dirty opening it.

Why wash more often? It's a car, not a work of art.

If I spent 30 minutes a week washing the damn thing, that would be 250 hours of my life gone, and more than the current value of the car even at minimum wage. Why bother?

 

[Lovacott]

Today I had a tire puncture very far from how and I didn't have a puncture repair kit and I don't know how to fix punctures, so I was forced to walk home for 2 and a bit hours as bikes aren't allowed on buses.

This has made me lose confidence as a cyclist and put me off cycling as I am afraid this will repeat and I will be even more further from home. So I thought it is about time I learn how to fix tire punctures, I looked at many tutorials online however I don't feel very confident that I will be able to repeat the procedure on my own successfully.

The easiest way is to carry a spare tube in your bag and some tyre levers in your tool kit. Either that or carry a can of the emergency stuff which inflates your tyre and seals small punctures.

Roadside puncture repairs using a glue and patch kit are OK if you can find the hole and I've done quite a few of them, but a spare tube is much easier.

 

[fossyant]

It's a mystery to me why people wash cars. I've owned mine nearly a decade, probably washed it less than once a year, when the number plates become unreadable or it's so mucky I get dirty opening it.

Why wash more often? It's a car, not a work of art.

If I spent 30 minutes a week washing the damn thing, that would be 250 hours of my life gone, and more than the current value of the car even at minimum wage. Why bother?

Same reason you might wash your bike. I wash my car every week - find it quite relaxing. Hate a filthy car. Bird poop damages paint quite quickly. My car is over 18 years old, and still looks rather good. I suppose, regular washing, like regular maintenance on a bike makes the job easy - you aren't shifting a load in muck, so it doesn't take long.

But hence why many people don't do anything to their bikes, just not interested.

 

[vickster]

That is just a complete waste by someone with more money than sense. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I probably replace maybe 2 or 3 tubes a year, and almost all due to valve failure or damage, so not repairable anyhow. I rarely get punctures in the rubber. Tubes cost a fiver or less so it’s hardly a kings ransom annually.

 

[Lovacott]

My local bike shop has been inundated with people needing punctured or flat tyres since lockdown started. As others have said it is a bit depressing that people can't even do the basics. Even carry a spare tube and fix later if necessary. At what point did people stop learning things like. Sad.

I started life doing plumbing and I made quite a few quid replacing tap washers. I often wondered if electricians got called out to replace light bulbs?

Bike shops must be loving this at the moment.

Mechanical disc brakes need tightening up, chains, sprockets and deralieurs need cleaning and oiling, indexing needs attention now and again.

All easy and cheap stuff to do yourself and You Tube is packed with videos showing you how to do it if you don't know.

 

[weareHKR]

That is just a complete waste by someone with more money than sense. You should be ashamed of yourself.

No, not at all, I don't like riding with a patch stuck on an innertube, I've seen what happened when my mate went downhill at speed and it blew off, or at least that's what we suspect happened, just about wore his face off on the tarmac!