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What do you do?
I woke up this morning, and got ready for work as I do everyday, including getting dressed in the right clothes for riding. I went about my routine, then went out to the shed to get my CX/commuter bike out only to find it had a flat rear tyre. It didn't have one when I put it in the shed on Friday evening.
Anyway, by coincidence, my son who also rides everywhere and has his own commuter bike, is sick today, so I was able to use his instead. But I did think through my options had he not been ill, and didn't fancy any of them.
1. I could have used one of my other bikes, none of which would have been appropriate or efficient.
2. I could have taken the car.
3. I could have spent the time changing the tyre, and ended up being very, very late.
So what do you do when you find an unexpected flat, you just have to get to your destination, and there is no time for a tube change? Hop in the car?
Get quick at changing flats. I could do it in no more than 5 mins easily. Have a tyre changing kit to hand so you won't have to rummage for tools. Or, given secure bike storage at work, I'd have ridden a different bike. Efficiency doesn't matter for a one-off. You might spend an extra 3 minutes on an mtb but it's hardly an issue one off.
I'm about to experiment with Slime tubes.
Though FWIW my commutes are different to yours and so is my bike selection, so options 1, 2 and 3 are all generally viable for me.
I take another bike. Swap laptop into rucksack and ride.
Oh and I also had toughened up Marathon tyres on my commuter for a long time - never had a puncture on those.
3. I could have spent the time changing the tyre, and ended up being very, very late.
This, only learn to do it carefully in 10 mins. It certainly shouldn't make you very, very late. It is trickier when you come out to a flat, as it's harder to find the puncture and it's easy to miss a bit of glass/a thorn and get another. If there's still air hissing violently out of it, you can check just that section of the tire pretty quick.
If your logos align with your valves, you can find the hole in the tube and focus in on that section of tire quite quickly.
I had Marathons on my last commuter and didn't realise how much life they had sucked out of the bike, nor how unpleasant they had actually rendered my commute, until I woke up one day and changed them in an act of defiance. I don't think I could go back to them unless was riding through fields of glass for miles every day. I know they have their virtues, but I would rather fix punctures (within limits) than have to ride them.
It certainly shouldn’t make you very, very late.
It can if you ride from home to a train station and a puncture means you miss the train.
Schoolboy error in not checking the bike since friday. 🙂
When it's happened to me, I've changed the tube, only 10 mins late.
Top tip - When I commute I check my tyres at lunchtime , I hate the knocking off time puncture. aaagh.
I always check mine the night before 🙂
I always check mine at lunchtimes too, so I don't have to fix it just before riding home - but! Last time I went down to check and actually found the back tyre flat, I put the bike in the handy bike stand, spun the wheel and the sealant fixed the hole. Pumped it up, jobs a goodun.
Yay for tubeless.
+2 for getting faster at changing tubes. I’d always have a spare tube and worry about the puncture repair later. If the problem is that your chosen tyres are a very tight fit then maybe take this into account next time you need new tyres.
If I’d made the discovery at home I’d have grabbed another bike. I ended up commuting via Fatbike for several weeks a few years ago through this scenario and enjoyed the change. By the end of the first week I was fitter and there wasn’t much difference over my usual 700x28 commuter. Strictly after day one it wasn’t necessary to continue with the fatty but it was fun so I did. Mostly I went back to the appropriate bike because 800 bars were causing problems in places and it was much harder to lock up securely...
Depends, if I'm on time I'd probably spend 10 mins fixing it. I'm in the easiest place for this as there's a spare tube, a track pump and my fancy tyre levers.
If I'm late, there's a fine line between seemingly empty roads and loads of nutter drivers (usually about 7:15) so I'd have to see. There would still be loads of time for me to have a shower and get the train if I abandon.
That said, I use slime tubes or tubeless depending on what bike I'm taking so it's not something that comes up often.
What would you do if you had a puncture half way? You'd change the tube, quickly so as not to be too late. Would be much easier doing it at home as well.
I always fixed it - at home, with tools and a track pump and somewhere to wash your hands it's not a big job. Commuting by bike your journey is normally completely predictable - people driving hit roadworks, jams as a result of crashes. Trains get delayed or canceled and make people late.
The once or twice a year (maybe less) you get a puncture on the way in is your equivalent.
Bez's train example is probably the exception. And maybe if it was a particularly important meeting that you could avoid by taking another form of available transport might be different.
I check my bike before breakfast - that gives me the option to skip my weetabix and through another tube in or swop my lights over to my mountain bike.
The other option is to just pump it up, see how far you get before you have to pump it up again-especially if you ride home on it Friday.
I live less than 3 miles from work so I can run that far if I get a puncture on the way. Otherwise, I can also take a train, bus, or taxi. Or just turn up late.
I used to have about a 10 mile commute through an industrial area, going right past a metal recycling plant. I used home-made Slime tubes. Needed to top up the tyres once a week, but never actually went flat for a couple of years. Then one tyre just wouldn't hold air so I pulled the tube out and it was just full of tiny holes. The tyre had picked up dozens of tiny metal shavings from the metal recycling plant but the Slime had kept sealing them until it eventually dried out. I was quite impressed. After that, I carried a small can of Holts Tyreweld, but never actually needed it.
I know they have their virtues, but I would rather fix punctures (within limits) than have to ride them.
I can understand that. I didn't mind at all - ran them at 60psi - but then my commuter is a heavy hybrid commuter not an actual road bike. It is however much nicer for proper rides on normal road tyres. And punctures are biannual at worst so as said above - not that different to people being delayed by trains/roads.
biannual
never use that word. twice each year or every two years?
Biannual = twice a year
Biennial = once every two years
🙂
I had Marathons on my last commuter and didn’t realise how much life they had sucked out of the bike, nor how unpleasant they had actually rendered my commute, until I woke up one day and changed them in an act of defiance.
I avoided Marathons for a while, but the Marathon Supremes are close to a nice road tyre (GP4000SII) but the treads get less cut up and I've only had one puncture (and one flat due to a valve coming out of the tube) in about 5000 miles to date - and the fact I don't feel nervous saying that is nice.
The GP4000s are probably fast enough to make up for the punctures (only have to save 1 minute each way to justify a puncture a week) but the rear was pretty cut up after 2 summers. Not sure if I'll bother refitting them, as I have a nice road bike for when the weather's nicer and punctures are less likely, and the position/lower overall weight makes far more difference to the commute time (2, maybe even 3 minutes! 🙂 )
Biannual = twice a year
Biennial = once every two years
successfully burned. 😉
Ok - so it's biweekly and bi-monthly that are completely unclear.
They're all unclear if you ask me. Crap words that are generally best left in a dictionary.
Biannual = twice a year
Biennial = once every two years
Phew, got that right!
Continental Sport Contact with the Safety System. Every bit as puncture proof as Marathons, but roll like road tyre. I'm on my fouth set now over a couple of bikes. The last ones had no patches on the inner tubes when I replaced them, and the ones I have now are probably 4000 miles old (15 months) without a flat.
In the OP's case though, it'd be a 1, (different bike) or 2, (drive).
Chew
Bless
Use a different bike. Had a similar, though much more first world, issue last week. Came downstairs, having forgotten to put my E-mtb on charge. Gravel bike was swiftly brought into service. No real time lost as carry kit in a rucksack, only loss of time was changing shoes. Fairly flat commute too, so took same time, was just a little more out of breath than normal...
I don’t have the option of a car, but always aim to get the train before the one I NEED to get, to mitigate potential issues
I would take the back up commuter.
They are the 2 bikes that get the most attention/love all year round,the rest can wait.
I run one of them with Stans inside the tubes and it has been fine all Winter,so going to get proper tubless tyres on it next.
I dropped the car off at the garage for a service & MOT this morning, with the bike in the boot to get the office. Took the bike out at the garage in the pissing rain to find a flat back tyre.
It was pumped up when I put it in the car at 9.30 last night! To say I was annoyed is an understatement!
If it happens at home I usually just put a new tube in, takes 5-10mins tops.
Oh forgot another option
4) If it's slow enough that it's taken 8 hours overnight to go down, then it'll last the 20 mins to work - so just pump it up, ride, and change it at lunch or before hometime.
I'd usually take another bike. I have 2 bikes which are loosely designated as commute bikes. If I puncture in the first mile I walk back and get another bike, if I puncture in the last mile I walk to work and fix it at lunchtime. If I puncture in the three miles in between on the way to work I fix it, on the way home I tend to walk and fix it in the light at home during winter (more likely to fix it on the road in summer)
(my commute is 5 miles by bike but closer to 4 on foot so if I walk I can usually find a short cut)
Bi-weekly>fortnightly >bi-monthly?
I've used supremes for years, they are an excellent compromise IMO, great riding tyres and pretty tough.I avoided Marathons for a while, but the Marathon Supremes are close to a nice road tyre
Or just go tubeless. I would but I only get about 1 puncture a year on the supremes (and that's normally cos they're wearing out & need changing anyway!)
I'd either take another bike, or fix it there and then.
Generally speaking I make sure I leave early enough that fixing it is an option, same as if I got a puncture on the way in, I'd fix it, and still be at work on time. Obviously I'm not always that well organised, but I do try...
A few weeks ago, Mrs A had a flat on her commuter*. I still had time to go outside, get the jack out, and fit the space-saver for her and sling the punctured tyre in the boot for her to drop at the garage on the way in. 😉
* she normally rides but is currently porting a tiny human around inside her so using the car.
Generally I only have storage to keep one bike at once ready to go. Which is the commuter (or designated commuter if commuter out of use). Changing the tube is the primary option unless I know I can get to work without needing to worry about stopping to pump it up. Lots of big chunks of smashed glass (CRT & beer bottles) beneath railway tunnel this morning gave instant puncture just 1 mile in so changed the tube. Forgot about it at lunch and then found the spare deflated too at home time. Opted to not fix it resulting in 4 stops in as many miles.
Always seems to be raining when I get a puncture.
I would just pop a new tube in (after checking for thorns or glass in the tyre).
IME, it's worth checking if the flat is the result of a slow puncture, I have a removable valve core SV19A tube that went through a spell of losing a lot of pressure over a couple of days. Turns out the core was not fully screwed in!
If the front tube is definitely dead, I have no choice, I have to swap tubes.
If the rear tube is dead, I can swap between my 29er and fat wheel.
Always seems to be raining when I get a puncture.
I’m told this is actually a thing, and tyres are more susceptible to damage when wet. Not sure how true, but it seems to make sense...
tyres are more susceptible to damage when wet.
I'd say this is a thing. (Well, it was a thing when I used to use those old-skool inner tubes.)
I'd just pump it up and ride to work, it's obviously not losing air fast enough for me to notice* 😀
I'm running schwable G-Ones tubeless at about 40psi, they're bloody marvelous.
Always seems to be raining when I get a puncture.
My experience also!
Interesting problem. Thankfully I've not faced that as I'm running marathon plus tyres...!
I'd probably take another bike and fix it in the evening. I've have to switch bags (from a rack pack to my brompton bag) and shoes (spds to flats)
Tubeless - so much nicer than dealing with punctures....
Or, keep a spare tube at the ready, swap out quickly and fix the puncture at lunchtime?