My 3 hours and £30 commute!

[nilling]

Last Fri night cycling home I got a front flat, 3 miles into my 17 mile commute. I was on my new Genesis Day One Disc. This bike does not have QR for the wheels, instead it has allen key nut. Whilst rummaging through my tools I can hear my inner voice saying “it’s only for one day, what are the chances of getting a puncture on your very first commute?”. True enough I don’t have an allen key. I know there’s a bike shop not far away but when I get there it’s closed. There’s a Lidl store nearby and they always have tools. But I don’t have a lock with me. I start thinking I can leave my bike in open view at the front of the shop and dash through but I stop myself; I wouldn’t ride on a flat but a thief may. At a nearby industrial unit I find somebody kind enough to lend me an allen key set.

Off comes the wheel but whilst I’m taking out the inner tube I notice that it’s a 35c and the spare I’m carrying is only a 23c. No problem I have found the tiny hole and I am carrying a punture repair kit. I have a patch but the tube of glue is stuck at the bottom of a plastic bag. Despite the tube never being used it’s split and all leaked. So I then decide I’ll put in the 23c tube and see what happens. Whilst pumping up the tyre my Aldi pump comes apart in my hands, it’s useless.

It’s about 6pm so I chance walking. It’s rural roads and I maybe able to flag another cyclist down and get my tyre pumped up. But no sign of another cyclist. I finally give up and ring a local taxi firm to take me and my bike home. Thinking the taxi driver will arrive in a minibus or an estate I’m bemused when he turns up in a Vauxhall saloon. I tell him if he doesn’t have an allen keys he’ll not get it in but that doesn’t stop him trying. I’m stood watching my new bike being rammed into the boot of the taxi by a very determined taxi driver. I could cry! I’m telling him it’s ok I’ll just walk home when he manages to put down the rear seats, even though he said they wouldn’t two minutes before. Eventually my bike is finally in the boot. I’ve used my buff to tie-down the boot lid to stop it banging on the hoods.

I’m finally get home some 3 hours after leaving work. The taxi fare is £25 but I’m so grateful I give him a £5 tip. Bike seems fine despite it’s rough handling. Thinking myself as a self-reliant cyclist with nearly 30 years commuting experience behind me I was determined to fix these problems myself and get home. Now I think that in this instance I’d have been better off with no tools at all as I would have just walked 10 minutes to the nearby train station and travelled home on a nice warm train!

 

[Nigeyy]

Ouch! That is one painful story.....

I know when I tour I take C02 cartridges as well as a pump, but don't do it on my commute (just trust to a pump). I also used to have allen key secured QRs but gave up on them after realizing that my lock would always go around the wheels and frame so I didn't see the point except for the inconvenience. I got them thinking they would be a good deterrent (which they probably are) but after some thought realized it wasn't worth it.

Hope for a better commute for you!

 

[phil_hg_uk]

So I assume in future you will be carrying some allen keys the correct size inner tube and a decent pump, I always carry scabs with me saves messing around with glue and stuff.

 

[Arjimlad]

Bad luck indeed !
A lot of things to take from that, but at least you made it home OK.
Will your other half let you out on the bike again though ?!

 

[fossyant]

Always take a quality pump on the commute !

Bad Luck - just double check what you need every so often. I have to remember to make sure the 15mm spanner is with my when using the fixed (wheels have track nuts).

 

[jonny jeez]

Bugger that. lots of lessons learnt there.

good luck with the next one

 

[addictfreak]

Sods Law!

I remember snapping a chain on my MTB when I was miles away from anywhere. No quick links, no chain splitter and no signal on my mobile! By sheer luck, I'm approach by two cyclists (the only two I have seen all day) and they have a chain tool.
One of the first things I did was buy quick links and a chain tool. I have since done many thousands of miles and never needed them!

 

[Gez73]

My tool bag on the bike is full of stuff I have yet to use and in some cases more than one of them! I got caught out with the wrong spare inner tube once. I had bought several of them and only realised when about to change the tyre. It's sods law that the day you need something you've left it on the wrong bike or lent it to someone else or you've actually got a totally useless piece of kit or something that rhymes with kit!
Better cycling in the future for you! Gez

 

[screenman]

I not only carry for my benefit but for the benefit of other I might come across, even my car has mtb and road tubes along with a pump in, just in case I will be able to help a fellow cyclist, and I often have,

 

[mangid]

Several years ago now I was caught out by the spare tube having had a hole rubbed in it by the other bits and bobs in the saddle bag. Since then I've kept them in a Tyvek envelope, which to all intents and purposes appears to be indestructible. I think I bought 10 6 years ago, and still have 6 left.

 

[HLaB]

Not a commute but my daftest walk was last year. P'tured in dark country lanes, so I thought it be better to walk to a local village and fix it under a street light. Whipped the tyre of and changed the tube, went to pump it up. Doh it was my first p'ture on those wheels and they were mid section rims and my stem was regular, cue a 8 mile or so walk home

 

[Peteaud]

CO2 kit and park instant patches, worth their weight in gold.

 

[PBB]

I bought an aerosol puncture repair thing from The Range (a shop in Cardiff). A bit like Holts Tyre Weld for a bike.

It cost a whole pound, and because of it's low cost I have no idea if it will work when I need it, so I still also carry a tube and a repair kit!

Sods law dictates that when the need arises, I bet the aerosol won't work, the tube will be the wrong one and the glue will have long since dried out

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've always got a bag of tools in the saddle bag, plus spare tube, patches and a tyre boot made from an old piece of tyre, over the years I've used them to bail other people out more than for bailing me out.
One of the silly things I did was, just after I brought my fixed, to tighten the rear tracknuts down with my big ring spanner after I had adjusted the chain, then when I had a puncture find that I was struggling to undo them with the spanner in my tool bag, I came very close to walking the rest of the way to work that morning.

 

[Sandra6]

I don't think it would've mattered what kit you had and how well prepared you were somebody definitely had it in for you and something else would surely have gone wrong. The co2 cannister would definitely have exploded if you'd had one!
The rest of the week has got to be a breeze after that.