Puncture repair

[lnr]

Tiny piece of glass in the back tire. But I'm impressed in that I got it down to 30 mins to remove the wheel (argh nuts too tight, and hard to get the cogs out past the derailleur), get the tire off (damn, 3 tire levers would be easier than 2) find the sharp bit and remove it (less than 1mm sticking out inside tire, scratched me when I finally got it out), insert the new tube and put the tire back on the wheel (this bit went like a dream actually) and get the wheel back on (chain went back straight away, but was an arse getting the wheel back in the two slots it goes into far enough that it seemed OK and getting the wheel to stay straight as I tightened the nuts).

Definitely a vast improvement on the last fiasco though. But I still wouldn't want to do it anywhere other than my own garage.

Comments

[damerell.livejournal.com]

I can do it in fifteen. :-P

[lnr]

People keep telling me I ought to be able to do it in 10. So why can't you?

[damerell.livejournal.com]

They're fibbing, clearly. :-)

I can do a front in 10, but not a back. Of course one gets far more in the back...

I suspect with a bit of practice you'll do it in 15, too. Mind you, with flats, one would rather not have the opportunity to practice in the first place. :-/

[lnr]

Yeah, I do reckon I could improve on that. And I know the front' much faster. I think I'm still bound to get more flats than the average commuter on wide knobbly lower pressure tires is going to do, so even if I'm luck for another 6 months I'll get some more practice eventually.

The main problem with fixing flats on the go though is not so much having to carry around spare tube tires and spanner, I can probably manage that if I want, it's carrying a pump which is actually capable of refilling the tires when you're done. And a) I'm useless without a track pump and b) WTF does it go on my bike? That's the hard bit.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

TBH, the average commuter on under-inflated knobblies probably loses more to snakebites than they gain from tough tires. As you know, I ride road tyres (Conti GPs or GP 3000s), and I flat only every 2-3 months - 1,000 to 1,500 miles.

I carry a Blackburn Kamikaze which has a stupid name but is extremely small and light, and will just about inflate tyres to adequate pressure - about 70-80 psi. It's designed to attach to bottle cage braze-ons, but it's small enough that it would fit in practically any cargo space you have short of a bumbag or teeny wedge saddlebag.

[lnr]

ENOCARGOSPACE at all: at the moment I just have a mini-rucksack which things live in while I'm out, which is far from ideal. A largish saddlebag is certainly a possibility. And I keep meaning to see if I can find a rack which doesn't need specific attachment points. I think I've seen a couple on bikes around town that just fit around the seat stays instead which would probably work, but I've no idea how easily available they are. Something to look into when we have money though. Along with a longer seat-post.

A pump like that *might* fit to the widget I have the bottle cage attached to, but then I'd have to remove the bottle cage. And generally if I'm going somewhere far enough to want one I want both.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

It would fit into a mini-rucksack, I hope; it's only about 8" long. It's intended to fit under a bottle cage by having the bolts screwed down on top of it, so if your pseudo-mount actually has bolts, it'd fit along with the cage. My pseudo-mount is just 2 strips of metal, though. :-)

[lnr]

I don't think there's the clearance for anything else there. You're forgetting I don't have a proper crossbar. It's was a squeeze getting the cage fitted somewhere where I could actually get the bottle in and out.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Don't you have a proper crossbar? Gosh. Is it a mixte frame, or what?

[You may be right that I knew this and forgot.]

I estimate that it raises the bottle cage about 5mm away from the bar it is on. I don't know if that's feasible.

[narenek.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on what sort of wheel release mechanism you have, and if you include the time require to wash your hands and clean up afterwards (the joys of swarfega).

[lnr]

Ah, but I didn't include the clean-up time, and I don't think quick-release wheels would make that much difference, especially not with rear wheels. Besides, I like to keep my wheels :-)

I think I really could just do with a lot more practice. Plus many of those who said 10 mins were thinking of patching tires without removing the wheel, which there just isn't clearance to do on my bike.