There is no camaraderie between cyclists anymore more.

cyclingprop

Wrath Rob wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

More of this

So I tried to lever the tyre with a very old Top Peak Einstein. Now I’m no genius but ...

and less drivel young man.

Wheel off and stand by road saying "tyre levers anyone" would have got a response.

This. I left my pump at home one day and of course got a flat. 15 cyclists later and one guy stopped to lend me his. Job done. What amazed me more was the 14 cyclists riding without a pump. My excuse was that it was a 1 off. Not sure what theirs was :?:

The few times I stopped on RAL, the sheer number of people asking if I needed anything was huge. It seems that requests for new legs are rather more difficult to fulfil though.

cookeeemonster

DonDaddyD wrote:

essex-commuter wrote:

I stopped and asked if you was OK when you punctured on your one and probably only ride on the CS3 last year near Beckton.

That you did and it was greatly appreciated. Thank you.

However, dreadful route, dreadful.

That's my route and if you think that sections bad...don't go further east than that

Back to the topic...I've ridden past people fixing punctures before without saying anything - if they look like they're ok then I'll leave them to it, else I'll ask if there's anything I can do, so far no one has needed anything.

suzyb

msmancunia wrote:

What you need to do is engineer it to have your first ever puncture outside a fire station and be a girl. Then you get it fixed, a glass of orange juice and the telephone number of a fireman as well. :oops:

Not in Carluke you wouldn't, the firemen are part time

Kieran_Burns

There is no love between us anymore

cyclingprop

Kieran_Burns wrote:

There is no love between us anymore

FTFY.

Kieran_Burns

cyclingprop wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

There is no love between us anymore

FTFY.

rjsterry

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

reformedfatty

Surely you wouldn't expect people to compromise a potential KOM on strava to aid you?!

STRRRRRRRRAAAAVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

DonDaddyD

t4tomo wrote:

also a rear wheel punture is a b******d to fix and should never be attempted at roadside.

What the...!? No it is not, what part of it makes it trickier than a front wheel one? Hang your head in shame. No! I demand you suspend yourself for a few days to think about what you have said.

That or MTFU. Bloody Bromptonites, its all about convenience for them.

Kieran_Burns

DonDaddyD wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

also a rear wheel punture is a b******d to fix and should never be attempted at roadside.

What the...!? No it is not, what part of it makes it trickier than a front wheel one? Hang your head in shame. No! I demand you suspend yourself for a few days to think about what you have said.

That or MTFU. Bloody Bromptonites, its all about convenience for them.

This from the guy left stranded at the side of the road....

DonDaddyD

CiB wrote:

msmancunia wrote:

What you need to do is engineer it to have your first ever puncture outside a fire station and be a girl. Then you get it fixed, a glass of orange juice and the telephone number of a fireman as well. :oops:

Ha. He won't even have a minor adjustment to the internal wiring let alone complete rearrangement into something more attractive.

I've worn my girlfriends underwear.... it was more attractive and needed a rearrangement, so there!

DonDaddyD

rjsterry wrote:

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

How the hell do you push a kevlar beaded folding tyre off the wheel with your bare thumbs? What the hell are your thumbs made of, Depleted Uranium?

Kieran_Burns

DonDaddyD wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

How the hell do you push a kevlar beaded folding tyre off the wheel with your bare thumbs? What the hell are your thumbs made of, Depleted Uranium?

I must admit I have managed to get a tyre off with one key and a slightly mashed thumb in the past

rjsterry

DonDaddyD wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

How the hell do you push a kevlar beaded folding tyre off the wheel with your bare thumbs? What the hell are your thumbs made of, Depleted Uranium?

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them. Like, I said, it's a swine, but can be done in extremis - just channel the awesome.

SimonAH

rjsterry wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

How the hell do you push a kevlar beaded folding tyre off the wheel with your bare thumbs? What the hell are your thumbs made of, Depleted Uranium?

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them. Like, I said, it's a swine, but can be done in extremis - just channel the awesome.

If you can find a bit of string or a shoelace then you can pinch the beads together and tie the string around the tyre to hold the beads in the bottom of the channel. This then frees up slack on the other side of the rim.

Do this in a few places and even one with the thumbs of a fashion critic can pop a tyre on (or off).

tailwindhome

rjsterry wrote:

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them.

Is there a story in there?

DonDaddyD

TailWindHome wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them.

Is there a story in there?

Yes, you should also note that I have never seen Mr Sterry's face or met him in person. But I know his thumbs well! They've got biceps on them.

veronese68

Silly Commuter Thumbwars?

cyclingprop

Dunno it all sounds like a photography club to me anyway.

rjsterry

DonDaddyD wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them.

Is there a story in there?

Yes, you should also note that I have never seen Mr Sterry's face or met him in person. But I know his thumbs well! They've got biceps on them.

NSB said they looked rather short; apparently he has "dancer's thumbs", whatever that means.





I happened to post a picture of a broken padlock that had had to be professionally removed from my bike shed after it jammed; my hand was in the picture, hence the comments.

roger_merriman

rjsterry wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Good grief, man, just push the tyre off with your thumbs. Granted it's a bit of a swine, and you'll swear a lot, but if I and my scrawny Wigginsesque arms can manage it, I'm sure you can.

How the hell do you push a kevlar beaded folding tyre off the wheel with your bare thumbs? What the hell are your thumbs made of, Depleted Uranium?

You've seen my thumbs, well one of them. Like, I said, it's a swine, but can be done in extremis - just channel the awesome.

Quite it's far from impossible to remove tyres with out levers, easer yes but not impossible.

Even quite stiff tyres like Marathon Plus, are perfectly changeable with or without levers.

kieranb

DonDaddyD wrote:

You see I’m old school. I was cycling to work back in 2007 when it wasn’t cool. There was no Team Sky and the Cycle to Work Scheme looked like an email from Nigeria asking for your bank details.

Yes, there were about 25 of us tearing around London but we knew how to look after each other. Yes, if upright, we would leave a man behind. But if you were stationery with your bike upside down and one or both of your wheels off, we’d asked “You alright mate?”

I’m sad to see this camaraderie between cyclists die. I haven’t even seen an imperceptible nod in months. This new stock of cyclists are a bad bunch.

Maybe they could tell you were old skool by the vibes you gave off so assumed you'd be able to sort yourself out using you thumbs/key rings/ QR levers or other tricks you'd know being old skool.

Initialised

ILast time I was in this position only one other rider came past and didn't say out. Looked old school to me, green Dawes I think, oldish chap. But he clearly glanced across and seem I had all my tools laid out on the wall and was simply getting on with it. Usually you can see when someone is struggling or doesn't have the tool for the job so use your discretion.

mtb-idle

there is still camaraderie out there but it's certainly on the decline.

First cycle commuted in '03 here and dem days was definitely different.

Riding in London you can't stop for every rider you see on the side of the road otherwise you would never get to work.

I am pleased to say though that I called out to 2 riders yesterday (prior to this thread) to see if they wanted help/had everything they needed.

And then on the other hand this evening near St George's Tooting, about five riders sitting at lights. Rider in front turns round and says to me "can i borrow your pump?" (I have it frame mounted so on display).

Yes, I say as I didn't really have much choice. "I've got a puncture" he says. Cue visions of him wanting me to wait around whilst he took tyre off and replaced tube etc. which I think I would have baulked at.

But luckily it was a slow puncture and so he just added some PS to the Eyes and gave me my pump back.

notsoblue

I like how DDD says Camaraderie amongst cyclists is dead, and in the same thread someone mentions having helped him out on CS3 during a commute once.

il_principe

There is plenty of camaraderie, you're just less likely to see it on a commute when people are in a hurry/busy dodging traffic. I've never once had a puncture on a non-commuting ride and not been offered assistance (providing another cyclist comes by). If you want camaraderie, ride more on weekends...

kieranb

I've been commuting since the 1990s, first Glasgow, then Lancaster and now London (since 1998) if you got a puncture etc then you couldn't rely on another cyclist coming along any time soon, there was little camaraderie as there were so few camarades.

Headhuunter

I'm afraid I don't stop for every Tom, Dick or Harry I see by the side of the road unless they look genuinely stuck and are staring with a panicked look, into the traffic... If I see someone simply by the side of the road mending a puncture, it's pretty clear they're fine on their own. No one has ever stopped to ask me if I'm alright fixing a puncture or other mechanical prob on the commute although once on a club ride a bit further towards the edge of London/Kent I had a puncture and a few people stopped to ask if I was OK... It was nice I suppose although a bit annoying after a while as I was trying to concentrate on what I was doing!

Other times out in the country I've been fixing issues and people have asked me if I'm OK literally as they fly by at near 20mph! By the time I've looked up and had a chance to respond they're 100m away! Pretty pointless asking if you're not going to slow down!

The only time I have ever stopped on the commute was when a guy by the side of the road flagged me down. He'd had a puncture and had no pump and a spare tube with a hole in it. I donated my spare tube to him and pumped it up with my pump for him. He sent me a spare tube in the post although it only had a short valve which was no use to me!

I wouldn't take it as a sign of lack of camaraderie, it's just that there are so many cyclists in London these days you can't be stopping or acknowledging everyone you see, I'm sure if you were in genuine need and waved someone down they would stop for you...

sway

The other day I was on my way home from a 5 hour cycle. Thanks to Sustrans excellent signing(ha) I wasn't able to find the rest of the route, so I pulled out my cyclemap. Another cyclist on the other side of the road noticed and came over to help. He offered a better route than the one I was looking for on my map.

Mind you, I can read a map and I would have been fine on my own so his help wasn't needed, but it's the thought that counts.

mtb-idle

yesterday evening i was in the workplace underground car park getting my bike out the rack ready for the ride home and saw another rider a few feet away turning her bike upside down. She seemed to be struggling as I watched her for the perhaps 30 seconds it took me to take my bike out of the rack and put on my lid and gloves.

Are you okay i asked? I've got a puncture she replied. Do you have a spare tube and do you know how to fix it I asked?

She had a tube but apparently she was waiting until this weekend to go on the how to fix a puncture training course. :roll:

would you like me to help I asked? (I seem to be asking a lot).

Yes please she replied and so i removed the tyre on one side, removed the tube, found the puncture in the tube, found the matching lump of glass that had penetrated the tyre, removed the glass, replaced the tube and tyre and pumped the tyre up for her and then replaced the wheel in the frame. I tried to explain in not too patronising tones what I was doing as I went along so that she could do it on her own next time.

She was very grateful and promised to buy me a large hot beverage very soon.

I left feeling very good about myself.

The only down side was her bike was filthy and my hands were covered in black grime by the time I had finished.