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I know punctures are a fact of life, but do they have to happen on a dark, unlit path when it's absolutely sheeting it down with rain and you're still 3 miles from home?
Why couldn't it happen on a pleasant summer evening?
Harumph
Don't talk about "life is shite club"?
Easy. I up the ante with 2 punctures and a slipped disc.
This of course was pre mobile phone era.
Why couldn’t it happen on a pleasant summer evening?
this is a very good question. i’d assumed that in the wet the stan’s didn’t seal as well, but that doesn’t explain the multiple punctures
Rain can wash debris onto the path and then the water acts as a lubricant so anything sharp can more easily penetrate your tyre.
Had one on an unlit national speed limit A road in biblical conditions, on a bridge, at rush hour, 10 miles from home, with an irate mother in law waiting, wondering why the hell i was already so late and then my pump fell to pieces. Which was nice.
Karma better be coming my way then, as I stopped on my way home yesterday to help an old chap with a puncture (in the sleeting rain)
My last puncture was on a lovely summer evening. Didn't stop the Muc-off sealant from spraying out and gluing itself to my downtube instead of doing its job...
So anyway, commuters - do you always bring a tube and pump? Or prefer tubeless? I've never bothered with either - commute is only 4 miles each way. But last night I was really regretting my choices....
Ironically, I had a tube with me last night, but it was for a different bike. And I didn't have a pump anyway.
Always tube and pump on the bike. Was tubeless on the charge but since reversing over it and it going in the skip have been on my "good" roadbike that wont do tubeless (well it might but i dont want to do it to my nice wheels)
Always a tube and a pump for my 8 mile commute.
On Friday I got a puncture on my last ever ride on the tire before I replaced it with new at the weekend. Typical!
Always carry a tube, a pump and some instant patches, even when I've switched to tubeless.
12 mile commute each way, a third on roads, two thirds cyclepath or tow path.
Not needed it myself since I went tubeless, but fellow commuters, local yoofs, proper organised cyclists who've just had their own pump break have all needed my assistance at various times.
Tube and pump. Or Marathon Plus tyres for town duties. Pump is a no nonsense Topeak Road Morphe on the frame - I'm not messing with mini pumps!
A couple of tubes and pump for 5 mile commute. Currently without glue and patches. Would repair the punctured tube at work so still had spares for ride home. Had a puncture the other week on ride home... Without spare tube due to laziness but did have patches. Decided it would be easier to walk the two miles home rather than repair at roadside. Jogged 1.25 miles of it pushing the bike, felt much longer.
My commute bike is a roadie on normal tyres and tubes. I’ve got a saddle bag on the bike at all times with a spare tube, puncture repair kit and 2 or 3 co2 cartridges. I’m going to regret saying this but I can’t remember the last time I had a puncture on any of my bikes. 2x mtbs are tubeless whilst the road and bmx are running tubes.
You forgot about poop, there is always some kind of poop when I am changing a puncture.
Over the summer, I fixed a puncture in baking heat by the side of a babbling brook. Idyllic. Got bitten to pieces by all the midges there and was itching for days.
Tube and pump, although the last time I tried to use it, the tubeless valve had corroded and I couldn't remove it to put the tube in. The only punctures I've had on commuter tubeless are when my sealant has run out / dried up so it's my own fault really.
Tube and CHEAP, reliable pump here. I've tried plenty of expensive, complicated ones and they rarely work for me and end up being thrown away into the undergrowth. (Cue me wasting more time looking for the pump I've just littered the world with...) Recently, I had a Lezyne mini-pump, which I needed to use about 2 months ago on a long social ride, and in the time since I had last used it, it had rattled itself into component pieces in my bag.
i had a puncture on the way to work yesterday. tiny but super sharp bit of flint/stone manage to penetrate my rear tyre. i managed to find some cover round the back of a building in a grave yard.
First time i have ever had my rear wheel out of my e-commuter. Taking no notice of the washers etc, i had to try and google how it went back together. I got it wrong and had to ride the remaining 8 miles without assistance (thankfully it wasnt too bad).
Needless to say, i now know how it all works and wont make that mistake again 🙂
But ultimately.... yup, always when its wet and 'orrible!
My commuter bike has a frame bag with tube, pump, self adhesive patches and a couple of Co2 whatsits in there. And it's tubeless!!
I wonder why I bother to carry a tube and a pump , whenever I change a tyre that I’ve set up tubeless there’s a gazillion thorns in it so you’re never going to remove all them so that a tube will stay up surely ? 🤔