If you see a cyclist on the side of the road...

pangolin

spasypaddy wrote:

No they looked at me but rode past. believe me it was quite obvious what was going on. no parked cars, no pedestrians.

no open bike shops in London at 8.30am on a sunday

I'd go with b, quite often ask people if they need help. Only actually helped someone once.

To be honest though spasy p, if I saw someone had managed to take their cranks off and they weren't just looking at their bike and crying, I'd assume they knew what they were doing. Did you mention in another thread you hurt your calf as well? Was that obvious to see? If so that's a bit harsh no-one stopped.

Probably just an unlucky combination of people timing laps and not caring, people looking and thinking you were fine, people not confident enough to help and shy people.

I was once walking home though Richmond Park as my repair kit failed 3 times in a row. Halfway along someone asked what I needed, and I said a new tube. To my surprise he gave me one for free. I spent a few minutes fitting it, cycled off, and immediately went flat. The walk continued. Some help you are better off without.

pangolin

clarkey cat wrote:

I once stopped and asked someone if he needed help as he was pushing his bike. He told me to 'fxxx off' and then chased me up the hill. He rode alongside me calling me a faggot and telling me his mates would stab me. We got in a fight and I have a big scar on my cheek from the ring he was wearing.

To be fair, spasypaddy had been waiting for help for ages at this point.

el_presidente

I was cycling home round Regents Park when I met a damsel in distress, she was a gorgeous blonde in full team kit with a lovely steel Colnago and a front flat. Lamentably I only had 26" tubes and no puncture kit. I was so upset. I offered to swap bikes with her and give her my credit card or something, then I could fix hers and drop it back round later.... but she rightly pointed out that I had SPDs and she had Look cleats... swapping shoes wasn't really an option. I'm sure that was her ONLY problem with that plan 8)

I cycled off a sadder man.

spasypaddy

pangolin wrote:

I'd go with b, quite often ask people if they need help. Only actually helped someone once.

To be honest though spasy p, if I saw someone had managed to take their cranks off and they weren't just looking at their bike and crying, I'd assume they knew what they were doing. Did you mention in another thread you hurt your calf as well? Was that obvious to see? If so that's a bit harsh no-one stopped.

nah wasnt obvious, no streaming blood thankfully. it hurts like a bitch now. i didnt manage to take my cranks off they fell off as a bolt snapped!

Probably just an unlucky combination of people timing laps and not caring, people looking and thinking you were fine, people not confident enough to help and shy people.

probably a combination of it all.

I was once walking home though Richmond Park as my repair kit failed 3 times in a row. Halfway along someone asked what I needed, and I said a new tube. To my surprise he gave me one for free. I spent a few minutes fitting it, cycled off, and immediately went flat. The walk continued. Some help you are better off without.

ive given away tubes plenty of times, not an issue. if i can help i will help.

Ben6899

spasypaddy wrote:

but how do these people know that? considering i was on the side of the road for near enough 45mins looking despondent with an upside down bike. on a circular road where these people go past between every 8 and 15 mins. so some will have gone past 5 times (some 3 times).

i couldnt go past someone walking with a bike down a road and just ignore them.

maybe ive just been brought up with better manners and better common courtesy to others than some people.

I never imagined so many Boris bikes to be about at that time on a Sunday morning.

In all seriousness, if I had been out - as I planned, but I woke with a headache - then I would have stopped to help or at least tell you bad jokes as you spannered away.

tallmansix

walkingbootweather wrote:

Depends upon how pretty she is

paulus69 wrote:

I would stop and offer help, its always made easier if they are easy on the eye.

I learnt a valuable car related lesson that could be applied to cycling. One night, I was dazzled by a stunning girl struggling to scrape unexpected ice off her windscreen with a bank card. I quickly jumped in my car with the intention of driving over and casually offering to de-ice her car with my 'always-on-standby-out-of-season' de-icer and scraper 8) . The problem started 3 seconds later when I drove head on straight into a tree and metal barrier on the car park. Failing to de-ice my own screen and forgetting I had parked in a different row to normal, meant I didn't see the 15ft tree right in front of me. :shock:

Knowing full well what I'd done, but too embarrassed to stop :oops: , I casually reversed and drove home without looking at the girl or the damage, I was more concerned with making up a believable story to tell the step-through-framed cyclist at home. I gambled on the truth causing the least grief in the end. Anyway, I wasn't hurt and all it took to repair the car was a new Vauxhall badge on the grill. Oh, and the grill, and bit of welding and re-jigging the whole front-end, realigning the suspension, replacement front cross beam, crumple zones, straightened and resprayed bonnet. And an overdraft. Although unrelated, the pain was worsened few month later when the car mashed up a valve and ended up being sent away on a truck never to be seen again.

Lesson learnt. Be careful before you go rushing to help someone.

Anonymous

I stopped to help a hapless homeless man a few weeks ago. Just got a new tap co2 pump so I was desperately keen to get some use out of it.
I pulled of his tube and with his drunken fingers (c 11pm on Sun night) he was of some use, and given he had quite a sudden deflation, I got him to check the interior of the tyre as I fitted my spare.
A short wrestle later, the new tube and tyre were back on.
"watch this"

screwed in cartridge

PPPPPFFFFFSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTSSSSSHHHHHHHH

A whole bloody cartridge into the cool night air. Tap wide open

"sorry mate I screwed that up, guess you're walking"

At least he was no worse off than before.....

Initialised

I wonder why they aren't riding on the road.

tallmansix

coriordan wrote:

At least he was no worse off than before.....

Good deed done regardless of outcome and in fact he was better off because he had a good tube and was now only a borrow of a pump or a garage away from an inflated tyre. And you now will never be caught out by that mistake yourself, especially when you really need your last cartridge. Win win.

veronese68

Riding in through Bushy Park this morning saw a bloke off to the side with his bike upside down. Thought I'd check everything was hunky dory. Everything was under control, we had a brief chat about the frequency of unexpected deflations recently.
Checked out his bike, a rather nice Genesis with hub gears. Turned out it was Padders of this here parish. Holder of many KOM's for that area. The only chance I have of passing him is when his bike is upside down.

Kieran_Burns

If I saw a cyclist on the of the road?

I'd eat 'em for tea... it's only poaching if you knocked 'em off

rolf_f

Mostly b. But sometimes a and sometimes c. Sorry, but I don't think anyone is under any obligation to stop at all. c is perfectly fine but if you go a or c a lot then you can enjoy the positive kharma you are getting from it.

And it depends on location. If it is on quiet, unused roads where another cyclist may not come past in ages I'll probably stop. If there are loads, I won't.

Sorry spasypaddy but - from your post it sounds like plenty of riders did go past. In that case, IMO if you want someone to stop it's up to you to flag someone down. I don't really see you as a shy little wallflower so next time just MTFU and ask for help. It's not hard and cyclists aren't psychic!

padders

Riding in through Bushy Park this morning saw a bloke off to the side with his bike upside down. Thought I'd check everything was hunky dory. Everything was under control, we had a brief chat about the frequency of unexpected deflations recently.
Checked out his bike, a rather nice Genesis with hub gears. Turned out it was Padders of this here parish. Holder of many KOM's for that area. The only chance I have of passing him is when his bike is upside down.

Helllo again, and thanks again for stopping, I was impressed whilst fettling there just how many cyclists shouted over to ask whether I was ok, and for the record I'm firmly in the B camp, unless there's more than one chap or chaplette at the scene.

The rest of my ride in was equally blighted; I'd forgotten to reconnect my gear cable as I set off, which I only discovered after a number of random attempts at shifting, banjaxing (at least temporarily) the shifter in the process. So singlespeed it was for the remains of the journey. Added to that, my poor efforts at quickly throwing on a Lezyne sticky-patchy-thing failed in a veeeery slow manner, allowing me to nurse a slowly deflating rear all the way to work...

I’m now sitting at my desk, giving my bike the evils, but knowing full well it’s all entirely my own fault :oops:

beverick

coriordan wrote:

I stopped to help a hapless homeless man a few weeks ago. Just got a new tap co2 pump so I was desperately keen to get some use out of it.
............
A short wrestle later, the new tube and tyre were back on.
"watch this"

screwed in cartridge

PPPPPFFFFFSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTSSSSSHHHHHHHH

A whole bloody cartridge into the cool night air. Tap wide open

.....

Strangely enough, that's never happened to my Lezyne handpump.

Bob

veronese68

Padders wrote:

Helllo again, and thanks again for stopping, I was impressed whilst fettling there just how many cyclists shouted over to ask whether I was ok, and for the record I'm firmly in the B camp, unless there's more than one chap or chaplette at the scene.

The rest of my ride in was equally blighted; I'd forgotten to reconnect my gear cable as I set off, which I only discovered after a number of random attempts at shifting, banjaxing (at least temporarily) the shifter in the process. So singlespeed it was for the remains of the journey. Added to that, my poor efforts at quickly throwing on a Lezyne sticky-patchy-thing failed in a veeeery slow manner, allowing me to nurse a slowly deflating rear all the way to work...

I’m now sitting at my desk, giving my bike the evils, but knowing full well it’s all entirely my own fault :oops:

Good to meet you. I think because not so many people cycle through there they may be more likely to ask. I've had one of those sticky patches fail like that. Not sure if it was because of a dirty tube or not letting it stick fully before inflating. Bloody irritating.

rolf_f

Veronese68 wrote:

Good to meet you. I think because not so many people cycle through there they may be more likely to ask. I've had one of those sticky patches fail like that. Not sure if it was because of a dirty tube or not letting it stick fully before inflating. Bloody irritating.

Just use proper patches. Glueless are just crap technology offering no gains and plenty of negatives. You see plenty of posts from people stranded by C02 and/or glueless patch related incidents and no posts from people stranded by decent mini-pump and proper patch related incidents. I'd use that horrible Americanism 'go figure' but I'm not American, I'm not illiterate and I do have standards!

tallmansix

Rolf F wrote:

Just use proper patches. Glueless are just crap technology offering no gains and plenty of negatives. You see plenty of posts from people stranded by C02 and/or glueless patch related incidents and no posts from people stranded by decent mini-pump and proper patch related incidents. I'd use that horrible Americanism 'go figure' but I'm not American, I'm not illiterate and I do have standards!

Agreed, and a proper mini pump and glue patches are unbeatable. Except for the time I bought my previous bike and was 1 mile into the journey home to discover a puncture. I laughed to myself cos the seller knew it was dodgy, it had hardly any air in and required pumping before going anywhere. Knowing I had by patch kit and pump I casually sat on a bench.

All 8 patches and 30 mins later I set off walking to the nearest bike shop. The puncture was righ on the valve stem base and wasn't fixable.

A kind gentleman at the bus stop offered some help after seeing the wheel taken off and on several times, which I accepted, a cigarette.

padders

Just use proper patches. Glueless are just crap technology offering no gains and plenty of negatives. You see plenty of posts from people stranded by C02 and/or glueless patch related incidents and no posts from people stranded by decent mini-pump and proper patch related incidents. I'd use that horrible Americanism 'go figure' but I'm not American, I'm not illiterate and I do have standards!

I pretty much agree, although I use the sticky ones to get going quicker and patch a batch of tubes properly on those special afternoons where procrastination is the order of the day.

Currently the bane of my life is my 'decent proper' Lezne mini-pump that unscrews presta valves. There is nothing more infuriating that spending a few minutes getting the tyre to a decent pressure only to have all the air escape as you remove the pump :evil:

vorsprung

In a town I might do B or I might just keep on going

Out of town I would do B, no question

Out of town in winter I would stop and quiz them to check they were ok

I did get slightly bored of fixing BSOs last winter. People seem to borrow a bike from other family members, assume it works and then a bit falls off miles from home. It's rarely punctures. Shit bikes should be banned

SimonAH

+another for proper glued patches, but I love my baby little CO2 pump - it's one of the push down to inflate jobbies about the same size as the 16g cylinder you screw into it so no chance of pfffffffffft by accident. Always carry a spare cylinder too so I'm good for a minimum of four inflates on a 35mm tyre (and trust me, if it came to even two inflates then it's taxi time :-) )

mudcow007

SimonAH wrote:

+another for proper glued patches, but I love my baby little CO2 pump - it's one of the push down to inflate jobbies about the same size as the 16g cylinder you screw into it so no chance of pfffffffffft by accident. Always carry a spare cylinder too so I'm good for a minimum of four inflates on a 35mm tyre (and trust me, if it came to even two inflates then it's taxi time :-) )

i only get one tyre out of 16g can?

granted i ride on 28s marathons

sadlybiggins

Definitely B for me, although I've never had my offers of help taken up so far (perhaps that's a good thing....). I hope others would do the same if I was in a similar position.

tallmansix

mudcow007 wrote:

i only get one tyre out of 16g can?

granted i ride on 28s marathons

Really nerdy. The volume of air in the tube increases by the square of the radius of the tube. That means it will take 4 times as much air to fill a tyre with double the radius.

The air volume also increases in proportion to the size of the wheel, but in proportion to the circumference of the tyre. The circumference is found by Pi X diameter. So increasing from 26 to 28" will increase circumference from roughly 82 to 88".

Any my nerdy point is that the width of the tyre is the main factor in air volume and the difference between a 700x18 and a 700x35 is four times as much volumes so that is four times as much CO2 or pump strokes.

jimmypippa

B always, but never needed to stop.

essex-commuter

Yep, B.

Only been asked for help once and that was about 2 months ago. Guy walking a bike wearing full GB kit! I stopped and he said he had a puncture and put in the only tube he was carrying and that had gone down as well. He was walking to the nearest bike shop which was 5 miles away. I gave him a tube but when I saw he didn't have a clue I changed it for him, talking out the culprit thorn from the tyre in the process.

All the gear, absolutely no idea. He offered to go and get some cash from the ATM but I declined,I just said do the same as me if you see someone else in trouble.

Felt good.

Sharkyssurfers

I had no one stop and ask me last night as I was fixing a puncture in stratford, A little boy around 4 or 5 did come up and asks me if my bike was broken, as I had it upside down.

gtvlusso

Stopped to help a guy last night; He was pulled up and on an Orange Argos road bike, a lovely custom build job. Turns out that he had put his back out, so, there was not much I could do other than offer him use of a mobile to call for a lift - however, he already had that covered and was going to walk for a bit to see if it eased up.

Hope he got home okay.

redjeepǃ

My only recent incident was couple of months ago when I punctured on my commute in. I replaced the tube, but the tyre was blown out as well and punctured my replacement tube. I was starting to try and figure out how I was going to get to work, when a Police car pulled up and offered me a lift to work.

Threw the bike in the boot of the squad car and they dropped me off outside the office. Superb piece of community policing, (but they declined when I asked if they could pick me up at 5pm and take me home).

I've stopped and offered help once or twice, but it's never been taken up.

Kendal Black Drop

I was fixing a puncture (well, replacing a tube really) last year when a car drove past, did a U-turn, and then pulled up beside me. The gentleman inside, who was a vicar, enquired whether I was OK, did I have everything I needed and could he offer any assistance. I assured him I had everything required and thanked him for his offer of help.

When I was a teenager I was walking home in the village where I lived when I came across a couple who were obviously having a mechanical problem with one of their bikes. I told them I lived close by and offered to go and collect any tools required. I returned with some pliers and whilst they fixed the problem we chatted. It turned out they were taking their annual holiday in a village close by. They also seemed to recognise me and asked if it was me they had given a lift to the year before. I had been hitch-hiking home with a friend and they had stopped and given us a lift, saving us a five mile walk. I was really glad I had offered to help after that.

bdave262000

Some kind gent offered me some help with a puncture at Robin Hood Gate at 11.30pm last night.