Proper Commuter

[beatlejuice]

Can I call myself a proper commuter now I've had to fix the work of the pu****ure fairy by Southampton airport roundabout this morning? V. Glad I had a spare inner tube with me. I am waiting for Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyre to arrive any day!

 

[ianrauk]

A PUNCTURE is a right of passage of every commuter. However you really only pass the test if you get a PUNCTURE and fix it in the dark whilst it's howling a gale and bucketing down with freezing rain...

 

[Scoosh]

Yes, you can !

Good that you had the wherewithall to fix it too .

 

[daSmirnov]

Horsham Cyclist - avoiding the puncture fairy since October. Prior to moving here, the last one I had was April or May time I think, managed to get to work fine, but was flat when I went to leave, so not massively critical.

Other half of Horsham Cyclist - two punctures since October, despite doing about a quarter the distance. D'oh, one when she had to catch a train. But I'm the one who ends up fixing them since I'm the breakdown service.

Of course I'll be cussing on here tomorrow saying I have a puncture now. Thanks guys. In fact, I'll go check the bike now...

 

[beatlejuice]

I think the puncture fairy is in league with the post office. The postie tried to deliver my Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyre this morning, the only time when Mrs B is out. I will not get until Wednesday. My back tyre is coming away from the beading and due for a trip to tyre heaven. This *might* have some thing to do with this morning visitation.

 

[cyberknight]

A PUNCTURE is a right of passage of every commuter. However you really only pass the test if you get a PUNCTURE and fix it in the dark whilst it's howling a gale and bucketing down with freezing rain...

using your bike lights as its an unlit road !
Carry 2 inner tubes just in case !

 

[Cubist]

The postie tried to deliver my Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyre this morning, the only time when Mrs B is out.

Did he need help getting it out of the van and carrying it to the door?

 

[Bicycle]

Using a bike light which you have to hold with your teeth.

I've never had to do that, but I've been the miserable, self-pitying, shivering Gollum at the roadside on a dark, wet, windy night more than once. You can remove and replace wheels in the dark - so the lamp can be left on the handlebar to illuminate the fiddly part of the job.

Out here in the sticks, it's hedge-trimming time you have to watch for. Blackthorn and its pals are all bastards. Officially.

The bit I don't like is getting home to find blood on my fingers, gloves, top, handlebars... everywhere.... Because it was so miserably cold that I'd failed to notice the cut I got while running a finger round the inside of the tyre to find the cause of the puncture.

Just writing this makes me want to go for a blat in my Mr Toad Special. Heater on, wipers on, spare in the boot and Lou Read giving it wot as I roar down those lanes. Toot Toot!

 

[fossyant]

Argh - not M plusses.

 

[shunty]

...you really only pass the test if you get a PUNCTURE and fix it in the dark whilst it's howling a gale and bucketing down with freezing rain...

You mean sometimes they /don't/ happen in the freezing rain, wind, dark etc etc
Hmm, must be a different universe

 

[potsy]

Argh - not M plusses.

One day you'll give in

 

[I like Skol]

Quite bizzarly I have had around 7 or 8 punctures on my commute since I started 18+ months ago and of the ones that were flat during the trip (not the flat when returning to the bike after the trip variety) they have without fail occurred at or approaching the Morrisons at Bredbury so I have always limped onto the petrol station forecourt and fixed them in a sheltered, well lit corner. This is also, give or take 1/2 mile, the midpoint of my 10 mile commute. The last time this happened I could hear the front tyre hissing as I climbed the hill towards Morrisons so decided to keep going to my 'usual' spot but by the time I had fixed the front the rear was also flat, also with a tiny shard of glass just like the front. Thankfully I had 2 tubes with me and felt vindicated for doing so!!!

 

[fossyant]

Quite bizzarly I have had around 7 or 8 punctures on my commute since I started 18+ months ago and of the ones that were flat during the trip (not the flat when returning to the bike after the trip variety) they have without fail occurred at or approaching the Morrisons at Bredbury so I have always limped onto the petrol station forecourt and fixed them in a sheltered, well lit corner. This is also, give or take 1/2 mile, the midpoint of my 10 mile commute. The last time this happened I could hear the front tyre hissing as I climbed the hill towards Morrisons so decided to keep going to my 'usual' spot but by the time I had fixed the front the rear was also flat, also with a tiny shard of glass just like the front. Thankfully I had 2 tubes with me and felt vindicated for doing so!!!

That will be all the crap from the refuse tip on the industrial estate !

 

[SquareDaff]

Have Schwalbe Marathons on my bike now too - so far 8 weeks and no punctures after averaging about 1 a month! Excellent tyres - just watch the cornering to start off with. I notice a difference in grip when I lean the bike to far (don't know if anyone else notices this?).

 

[Kiwiavenger]

touchwood ive only had one puncture which happened when i left my saddle bag off the bike (it has my innertube etc in it) but quick call to mother got my old 700c wheels delivered to me to fit and ride home on! now i carry patches, levers, 2 tubes and assorted bits and pieces however i should really test my hand pump to see if it works!