Seriously!?!?!?! You don't know how to change a flat?!?!?!

[Mojoman]

Personally I think all the people who can't fix a flat are just not cyclists. I think if you have any serious interest in cycling, on or off road, you would know how to repair a puncture. And carry least have 1 spare tube+kit. These are probabaly the same group of people who drive their cars for months on end and then oneday get a puncture only to discover that the spare is gone/flat or the car does not come with a spare!

[mudda]

What secrets are there to fixing a tube ?

 

Take patch, apply glue. stick on and leave overnight to dry

 

I have done probably 50+ repairs that way with no issues. Sometimes I cut the big patches down to size to fit the hole.

 

On the road, I use those sticky patches if my spare tube gives in. Procedure is simple, find hole, peel off and stick. When at home, replace with proper patch, if really neccessary.

[mudda]

O yes, with the price of tubes these days, i Rather patch them until they cant be patched anymore.

[Mads]

What secrets are there to fixing a tube ?

First prepare area around the hole by scratching it with grater

Take patch, apply glue. stick on and leave overnight to dry

 

 

[Starvin' Marvin]

I take my repair just one step futher. Where the patch I put 2 smooth pieces of pinewood and clamp it in a vice grip and leave it over night. Over kill?

[Tumbleweed]

Yesterday I'm on my jobsite and I see a "cyclist" sitting on the opposite corner of the road. When I asked him what was wrong or if he needed help, he proceeds to tell me that he got 2 flats riding through the construction site and only has 1 spare tube and doesn't know how to change the tubes, so he's waiting for his wife to come and pick him up (he lives about 45km from where he was broken down). Fortunately for him I had an extra tube in my car and showed him how to change them out.

 

However, this is not the first instance where I have come across "cyclists" who do not know how to fix a flat. Two of these other instances are people that I know...

 

So this made me start wondering, is this just a lazy a$$ American thing, or has anyone else come across these "cyclists"?

 

Read Bike Snob's take on this…

 

And it's that last item--Generally Not Knowing How To Do Stuff--that is exemplified by the person on the $10,000 bike who cannot fix a flat.

 

"So what?," you may ask. "This is America--Canada's red, white, and blue udder--and I don't have to know how to do anything I don't feel like doing."

 

You may need to load the next page to see the original aricle he's commenting on:

 

Feeling flat?

[Ceres]

I gave a guy my tube on a mountain race because his tube had the wrong valve. Now how do you make that mistake?

[TucknRoll]

Hell I've done that, it's an easy mistake to make when you've got 2 bikes with different wheels. I did a race on the Saturday and had 2 punctures. On Sunday I was doing another race and as I rushed out the house on Sunday morning realised I needed a spare tube. Needless to say I reached into my tube drawer and grabbed one. The wrong one as I found out later, after my 3rd puncture that weekend.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I take my repair just one step futher. Where the patch I put 2 smooth pieces of pinewood and clamp it in a vice grip and leave it over night. Over kill?

 

Yeah, I would say so.

[dirtrider]

Ok so you ride with your sleeping bag and wait for your patch to dry overnight ?

[AndreZA]

People don't patch tubes anymore because money doe not matter anymore. Their time worth much more then the R30 of a new tube. My last tube I had toss because I was starting to patch the patches. The patches on it actually cost more then the tube.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I have a differant take on this, the American mentality is often differant to ours, the legalistic nature of the country makes people tend to shy away from learning how to do anything which could cause them to be involved in a law suit. They are spoon fed from an early age and told "dont do this", "dont do that", you could have this happen, you could be hauled into court etc,etc.

 

So they dont, they would rather take it along to a shop or a professional to do the job, and they will happily pay for it.

 

As an example, I often go diving in the USA, once I popped an o ring on the cylinder, no sweat I just hauled out another and was putting it in like I have done for the last 25 years and some guy comes over and starts telling me I best wait till we get to the shop, cos you need a clean enviroment, a special "shore strength" o-ring, food grade lube, and a torque wrench to fasten it all up, cos otherwise you could be injured!!.

 

I mean "Duh" I have been replacing the o-rings on boats, on the beach in sand storms at Sodwana and never had an issue, but thats Yanks, and I am fine with that.

 

In a way it keeps the economy turning, in my view its just stupid, but, hey each to their own.

[TucknRoll]

Yeah, this basic basic stuff. I don't understand how people can go out and do a 2-3 hour bike ride and not know how to fix a problem with your bike if it arises, and then expect someone to come and pick you up. I think not only is it ignorance/being clueless/lazy, it's also selfish.

 

"2 or 3hr bike ride" !!! - Hell I know a guy that did Sani2c and didn't know how to fix a puncture. When he got one on day 2, he got assisted by a couple that were walking along the track waiting for medical attention, because the lady in the team had broken her collarbone. Turns out he's scared to take off the back wheel because he doesn't know how to get it back in with the derailleur, chain etc.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

People don't patch tubes anymore because money doe not matter anymore. Their time worth much more then the R30 of a new tube. My last tube I had toss because I was starting to patch the patches. The patches on it actually cost more then the tube.

 

Yeah, very good point, I know quite a few guys who could'nt be bothered, they toss them out and buy another, its just too much effort to clean the tube, apply glue, wait for it to dry, find a patch, stick it on and hope it dont leak - at the mall they will just pop in and buy two tubes with their weekly shopping.

[Carbon_Kooi]

Not sure why you leave it overnight though....I press mine with the thumb for a minute or so and just put it back, no problems for many years.

[iRob]

I learnt a VERY important lesson. Pump trumps "bomb". Got stranded en-route to the block-house on Devil's peak yesterday. It was RAINING. And burst an tube, screwed up the repair and when I replaced it with the spare tube I had, the tyre had a nice little pool of water in it and pushed the tube right out the side of the rim on both sides. Wow. Fluke and "silliness" all thrown together with a side order of stinging rain, and no more bombs. I had to walk 5km down to a mates house in town. Lesson learnt. Mini-pump I miss you.

 

I hope someone learns from this.