When do you deal with a puncture?

[vickster]

Putting the bins out, fueling up the car and..... Can't think of any more

Yep that’s pretty much It 👍

 

[Ajax Bay]

Think of the sense of empowerment when you (may never happen) next have a puncture (and it'll likely be one that goes flat and you can't ride on it even if you were prepared to trash the tyre) and you can say to yourself (and back up with action) 'No problem'. Competence (removing wheel, unseating tyre, replacing tube, refitting tyre and wheel) breeds confidence. It's possible you are content/keen even to reinforce your husband's feeling of 'dependabilty' and 'competence': which is fine.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Nope.... left it to my hubby....I know I know ....

This might sound odd but in the lead up to my wife doing her first solo long distance event, we realised that she'd not changed a tyre before (she was always out with me, and had just never punctured this far). So a couple of weeks before her ride we made a bit of a social of it, we sat in the front room one evening with a few drinks and some music on (and her bike on the floor) and we practiced swapping tubes in and out and patching a few holes. Learning doesn't have to be "serious time" tucked away in the garage!

 

[Ajax Bay]

I ride 25mm tyres so I accept that a few punctures are inevitable

Do not accept this, Ian. Given your mass and the 25mm width of the tyres, run pressures (20psi more in rear than front) which will reduce to ALARP the risk of snake-bites. And resolve (clearly you are a man who relishes a 'routine') to pressure gauge check/top up both tyres before a ride and thumb check your tyres every stop/few hours during a ride. The last major snake bite I experienced was in the front tyre at 199km down a fast hill : it did not end well (ICU etc). Revisiting the road/hill a month later when I could drive again revealed no cause (eg pothole) and I am forced to assume that my properly inflated tyre(s) - that morning at 5am, had lost air through a very slow puncture which, after 8 hours had increased the risk of a snake-bite.

 

[Tom B]

The obvious flippant answer is when the happen.

Lastyear I was mooching along the Camel Trail from Padstow at about 1am and got a snakebite puncture somehow. I was right near the vineyard so normally it wouldn't be a problem :-) but at 1am I was out of luck.

Stopped and was horrified to find I had my MTB pouch and no patches so nothing to fix it with, no cash, no cards and Uber wasn't playing. Cycled the 14miles back to the campsite, slowly and carefully slowly on a rear flat.

The tyre sidewall was cracked, but it survived the last few days and a ride to the LBS once I was home. I've still got it on my emergency spare.

The wheel was a brand new Shimano MT15 at the time and seemingly suffered no ill effects.

I've got a clunker that ive ridden miles on flats over the years worst that has happened with that is tyre bead damage. Although I always seem to see the local cycling militant oldboy who insists on giving me a lecture about carrying puncture kits and a pump when I do that.

I should really say I don't advocate riding on a flat and my preference is always to fix it right away or get off and push it. But sometimes needs must.

 

[I like Skol]

So a couple of weeks before her ride we made a bit of a social of it, we sat in the front room one evening with a few drinks and some music on (and her bike on the floor) and we practiced swapping tubes in and out and patching a few holes. Learning doesn't have to be "serious time" tucked away in the garage!

Who said romance is dead, you smooth old b'stard! Keeping the love alive eh?

 

[oldwheels]

Get yourself a pump and a couple of spare tube plus puncture repair kit.Deal with it there and then.I would usually use a new tube when out and about and repair the punctured one once I get to home/work.

Don't forget some decent tyre levers. Cheap plastic ones are no use and I have plastic ones with a steel core which came from Edinburgh Bike Coop years ago.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

You sound like you enjoy it.
When you get home from a ride and you haven't punctured, are you secretly a bit disappointed?

Not quite, but by being having an routine and expecting punctures they just become part of the ride and they don't upset the relaxation of the ride.

With two spare tubes and at the moment 2 repair kits in my second water bottle holder punctures are non events, just an excuse to sit by the side of the road and slowly go through the motions.

When I was a school I used to ride tubulars every day and the cheapest were Wolber Juniors at around £5 each. I couldn't afford to replace them as often as needed, so I got good at mending them, after that clinchers are reliable and easy.

I did try Strava a while back and decided it wasn't for me, then when I thought I would try it again it wouldn't let me record the ride without signing in and by that time I had forgotten the password. So I deleted Strava rather than let it become hassle at the start of the ride.

Do not accept this, Ian. ....

Thanks for the ideas.

I already run tyres pumped up to almost solid, its only when I hit sunken drain or manhole covers or really big potholes that I get punctures nowadays, I did try 23mm tyres but that was almost a puncture a day on average, often pinch flatting both wheels at the same time.

There are a number of roads that I ride on that wouldn't normally be good bike roads, too many fast HGVs, which have a paved surface to the left of the left hand side of the road solid white line. I find these areas tempting to ride in, but it means if you find a dropped drain or cover you have nowhere to go, bunny hop over it or get out of the saddle and hope that is enough to allow the tyre to pivot the bike rather than crush the tyre into the rim.

I have seen the advice for lower front wheel pressure before, but I have never been able to make it work. Climbing hard out the saddle where there is a lot of weight on the bars and almost straight down to the front wheel meant that the tyre was under inflated.

Bye

Ian

 

[Ajax Bay]

There are a number of roads that I ride on that wouldn't normally be good bike roads, too many fast HGVs, which have a paved surface to the left of the left hand side of the road solid white line. I find these areas tempting to ride in, but it means if you find a dropped drain or cover you have nowhere to go, bunny hop over it or get out of the saddle and hope that is enough to allow the tyre to pivot the bike rather than crush the tyre into the rim.

You are bonkers. Bye.

 

[FitMum]

This might sound odd but in the lead up to my wife doing her first solo long distance event, we realised that she'd not changed a tyre before (she was always out with me, and had just never punctured this far). So a couple of weeks before her ride we made a bit of a social of it, we sat in the front room one evening with a few drinks and some music on (and her bike on the floor) and we practiced swapping tubes in and out and patching a few holes. Learning doesn't have to be "serious time" tucked away in the garage!

This sounds like a great idea, thanks for sharing!

 

[rogerzilla]

Here's the tyre from Thursday, just before it goes in the bin. Not the ideal location for a tyre boot but it held.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

I took a camera out with me today and this is the sort of road surface that I expect holes from. :-)

Unfortunately it is on the far side of a humpbacked bridge that is a car and a big bit wide, the first time I hit it I didn't know it was there.

 

[I like Skol]

Even on 23mm tyres I would be surprised to pinch puncture on that. The empty squares certainly not. Maybe the raised edge is a risk but even that looks like it is only around 15mm, maybe a bit more.
There is a technique that can massively reduce the pinch flat risk when encountering obstacles like this.
the worst thing you can do is to tense up and brace for impact, this just puts your bike in between a rock and a hard place, increasing the severity of the hit.
The best thing to do is as soon as you spot the defect and realise that you are going to have to ride over it is to stop pedalling with the cranks horizontal and lift your weight off the saddle slightly while keeping your legs bent at the knees. You also need to relax your arms and also have them bent at the elbow so most of your weight is on your pedals. In this position the bike is free to move about beneath you in response to changes in the road surface. As the front wheel encounters the raised lip the wheel is free to bounce off the edge more lightly and the bike will pivot a little around the pedals where all the weight is focused. Your bent arms and legs will also act as human suspension springs and allow this movement. As the rear wheel reaches the lip the same thing will happen and the bike will be able to move away from the hard edge, minimising the severity of the impact and the risk of wheel damage or punctures.
If you remain fully seated or tense up and stand with legs and arms locked straight then you are exerting your full weight on the point of impact and all the deflection that occurs at the tyre will result in the pinch punctures you are experiencing.
It is good to practice this position, maybe find a cobbled road and ride along at a higher speed than normal and see how it feels when you unweight the saddle and assume the loosened position I describe above.

 

[Tom B]

I took a camera out with me today and this is the sort of road surface that I expect holes from. :-)

Unfortunately it is on the far side of a humpbacked bridge that is a car and a big bit wide, the first time I hit it I didn't know it was there.

View attachment 538423

Report it to the council, fixmystreet.co.uk if you can tell which utility it is tell them that too.

But mention that if it isnt sorted pronto you'll do it yourself as it only needs some quick set cement.

Mention you have taken inspiration from Dave telling you about the Big Society and how we all should take responsibility for our own area and cite https://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/16...tholes-on-ramsbottom-road-to-begin-next-week/ where residents filled a load of holes themselves.

You obviously cant use it every time but I have had some results with it, including a rotten signpost (ignored for months) that was leaning into the road ( I pointed out Ihave a cordless grinder and would eliminate the risk myself) and some streetlamps that I offered to relamp.

(I had no intention of doing any work - except for perhaps the signpost that was about to fall imminently).

 

[Chris S]

fit the tyre without using levers if you can. Using levers is one of the causes of punctures.

Does that also apply to plastic levers?