What is your rescue remedy for cycle breakdowns miles from home?

[Mrs M]

Phone and car with big boot

 

[Ianboydsnr]

[QUOTE 5228477, member: 9609"]think she would of had the decency to give you a lift home after that - or did you feel walking might be safer than being her passenger?[/QUOTE]

I was definitely not getting in that car.

 

[Ianboydsnr]

Well if the chain snaps around here, then it’s walk up the hills, coast down, the hills around here are pretty steep.

 

[ColinJ]

As I said, for me for £18, it’s worth the peace of mind for me and the OP seemingly

You might be able to fix stuff, I can’t and have no interest in doing so (I’ll happily pay trained mechanics). We’re all different

If I have a chain or cable snap for example I’d have no idea what to do. I can sort a puncture and that’s pretty much it

@Littgull was owning up yesterday to his inability to fix mechanical things. It is one reason that he has gone for an ultra-reliable Rohloff hub gear on his touring super-bike.

Having boasted about my ability to fix most cycle problems and riding in places with no phone signal, I have probably jinxed myself and will now suffer an unfixable bike problem somewhere miles from home or a station, but with a phone signal!

 

[night cycler]

Roll up a twenty pound note put it in your seat tube ready for a taxi rung by you if you need it.Thats basically all ETA will do.

Is that really how it works though?

 

[night cycler]

Roll up a twenty pound note put it in your seat tube ready for a taxi rung by you if you need it.Thats basically all ETA will do.

Is that really how it works though?

 

[Vantage]

The only time when a bike has been so messed up that a phone call was an option was when I ploughed into a banking in Pendle at 25 or so mph 20 ish years ago. That little bump bent the frame enough that the front wheel was pushed behind the down tube. I remember seeing my bikes forks wedged in a bench and several club mates pulling the thing straight enough that I could ride it home. Phone call wasn't needed...although a new frame was.
The first time I actually made a call for help was to my dad when on the way home from work I had a puncture. Puncture kit but no spare tube and it was dark, raining and on a busy main road. Finding the leak was impossible so it was dad to the rescue in his Volvo 850. Anything would fit in the boot of that car. At the time I was still paying him back for the bike that got mangled in Pendle. He wasn't pleased.
Second call for help was to my fiancee a couple years ago. It was my first attempt at touring and I'd set off just as the tail end of Hurricane Bertha was still delivering lovely weather to the UK. By the time I reached Great Budworth, the front panniers had tried bouncing off the rack several times, I was freezing cold and soaked, I was knackered (the bike was close to 100lbs) and the final straw came when the etrex froze and wouldn't turn on again. I phoned Pam and agreed to meet her at Warbuton Bridge to take me back home. I'd lost the will to live pretty much.
At this point in my life I've secured the knowledge to fix near any fault with the bike. My own stupidity and poor planning are the only things that might cause a call for help.
Due to what happened in Pendle though, I wouldn't go near a carbon bike if my life depended on it. That bike was alloy framed. Even they can be bent back temporarily. If that happened with a carbon frame, I'd have been f****d.

 

[Lonestar]

Well if the chain snaps around here, then it’s walk up the hills, coast down, the hills around here are pretty steep.

Actually in places that's exactly what I did with the failed BB.

 

[fatjel]

I was on the Romney marsh about 40 miles from home with a bent frame, trashed seatpost, loose handlebars and a broken collar bone.

The few hundred quid I always carry in cash on long rides paid for a cab home, cab to hospital and another one home. .

Luckily that day I had more money than sense

Last words I heard as I left home “ you’re not going out in all that ice?”

 

[Vantage]

Luckily that day I had more money than sense

No I'd say you had equal amounts of both that day

 

[wonderloaf]

Had to callout Mrs W for the first time last week, a busted freehub that couldn't be fixed. Luckily I was in an area that she was fairly familiar with so the pick up wasn't a problem, but if it had been more remote I not sure what the outcome would be.
I see the Cycle Rescue service also includes a free insurance policy for which I already pay about £12 a year (I think), so taking this into account the rescue policy realistically works out at around £6, just the price of a couple of tubes. Good value in my mind and I'll be investigating further, thanks for the heads up!

 

[Vantage]

Had to callout Mrs W for the first time last week, a busted freehub that couldn't be fixed. Luckily I was in an area that she was fairly familiar with so the pick up wasn't a problem, but if it had been more remote I not sure what the outcome would be.

Carry a bunch of zip ties and convert it to a fixie by wrapping them around the sprocket and spokes. Pedal gently to get home

 

[Levo-Lon]

i live in the UK
if the bike was beyond repair,through in ditch and walk to nearest village or town.
so maybe a 20 60 min walk tops

 

[wonderloaf]

Carry a bunch of zip ties and convert it to a fixie by wrapping them around the sprocket and spokes. Pedal gently to get home

Didn't think of that I always carry zip ties as well! I was 25 miles out with a few hills in way so would have taken quite a while! Anyway good practice for the Support Team

 

[Sharky]

Didn't think of that I always carry zip ties as well! I was 25 miles out with a few hills in way so would have taken quite a while! Anyway good practice for the Support Team

I "lost" my freewheel once on a commute home and did a similar fix using a toe strap wrapped round the spokes and cassette. Just made it before the strap disintegrated,