Good samaritan or taken for a ride?
barrybridges
Posts: 420
A very weird thing happened to me yesterday. I'm sure I did the right thing, but would be really interested to hear others' opinions.
I went for fairly short ride to stretch my legs, taking in a few of the big hills near to where I live. I was halfway up the steepest section of Crockham Hill in Kent and noticed a cyclist on the other side of the road, on the footpath, with his bike upside down.
He had the wheel off and appeared to be struggling to repair his tyre, so I shouted over to ask if he needed any help.
He shouted back and asked if I had a pump, so I pulled over to his side to help.
To start, I lent him my pump, which he used to try and find the location of the puncture. As he tried pumping, the little lever on it pinged open (which it does from time to time) and a rubber washer in the pump head popped out. We searched for 5 minutes and couldn't find it.
I asked him if he had a spare inner tube, to which he replied no.
He got out his puncture repair kit, only to find the glue was so old it had dried solid.
I felt sorry for him, so I gave him one of my inner tubes, for which he was very grateful, but we then learnt that my pump wasn't working very well without the washer and wasn't inflating the tube much, if at all.
So, I then gave him one of my air cartridges, which really did the trick. He was even more grateful and I was pleased to have helped a fellow cyclist out.
But then, he revealed to me that he had already phoned his friend 20 minutes ago and that the friend was 5 minutes' away from picking him up!
I definitely did the right thing in stopping to help, but as I cycled onwards I could help but feel a bit hard done by.
He'd got £12 of stuff from me
My £19.99 pump no longer works
He was ill-prepared for his ride; no pump, no spare tubes, no complete puncture repair kit
And after getting that free stuff, he jumps in a car to be taken home. Had I known he had a lift on the way I probably wouldn't have given him the tube and cartridge as he could easily have sorted his puncture out at his friends' house, given that he's not going to be cycling on any further.
Did I do the right thing? Should I feel happy for being a good samaritan, or a bit annoyed at giving away £12 of stuff when I didn't need to, plus now needing to buy a new pump.
I went for fairly short ride to stretch my legs, taking in a few of the big hills near to where I live. I was halfway up the steepest section of Crockham Hill in Kent and noticed a cyclist on the other side of the road, on the footpath, with his bike upside down.
He had the wheel off and appeared to be struggling to repair his tyre, so I shouted over to ask if he needed any help.
He shouted back and asked if I had a pump, so I pulled over to his side to help.
To start, I lent him my pump, which he used to try and find the location of the puncture. As he tried pumping, the little lever on it pinged open (which it does from time to time) and a rubber washer in the pump head popped out. We searched for 5 minutes and couldn't find it.
I asked him if he had a spare inner tube, to which he replied no.
He got out his puncture repair kit, only to find the glue was so old it had dried solid.
I felt sorry for him, so I gave him one of my inner tubes, for which he was very grateful, but we then learnt that my pump wasn't working very well without the washer and wasn't inflating the tube much, if at all.
So, I then gave him one of my air cartridges, which really did the trick. He was even more grateful and I was pleased to have helped a fellow cyclist out.
But then, he revealed to me that he had already phoned his friend 20 minutes ago and that the friend was 5 minutes' away from picking him up!
I definitely did the right thing in stopping to help, but as I cycled onwards I could help but feel a bit hard done by.
He'd got £12 of stuff from me
My £19.99 pump no longer works
He was ill-prepared for his ride; no pump, no spare tubes, no complete puncture repair kit
And after getting that free stuff, he jumps in a car to be taken home. Had I known he had a lift on the way I probably wouldn't have given him the tube and cartridge as he could easily have sorted his puncture out at his friends' house, given that he's not going to be cycling on any further.
Did I do the right thing? Should I feel happy for being a good samaritan, or a bit annoyed at giving away £12 of stuff when I didn't need to, plus now needing to buy a new pump.
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Comments
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It was cheeky. If he had help on the way he shouldn't have taken your time or resources, I'd have been annoyed.0
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YOU did the right thing IMO. I always stop when I see a cyclist looking like they have a mechanical issue. Others won't but that's their call. I'd have to make a judgement call on handing over spares though, if I was a few hours away from home or a bike shop, how do I know I won't need them?
He's taken the pi55 IMO, he should have said from the off, "Yeah thanks for the offer buy my mates on his way to pick me up" or similar and allowed you to carry on.
Don't dwell on it, you're the better person for stopping.
Question - where are you buying tubes and cartridges for £12???“Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”0 -
jordan_217 wrote:Question - where are you buying tubes and cartridges for £12???
The cartridge was £7.99 from LBS and tube was £4 also. Then again, I hadn't had a puncture for 3 years so the prices may have changed!0 -
barrybridges wrote:jordan_217 wrote:Question - where are you buying tubes and cartridges for £12???
The cartridge was £7.99 from LBS and tube was £4 also. Then again, I hadn't had a puncture for 3 years so the prices may have changed!
:shock: Blimey. Have a look here:
http://www.co2cartridges.co.uk/index.ph ... &catId=280“Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”0 -
i suffered 3 punctures recently and was over the moon to get help (only carry 2 tubes)
paid back via paypal i might add
karma will get that person back for you fella.
so dont let it change your good nature..
i was going to say co2 cartridges are £10 for 10 on ebay but that link is awesome..
best tubes i can find are Planet x ones at £1:60 each at the minuteSpecialized S Works SL2 . Campagnolo Record 11spd. rolling on Campag Zonda wheels
http://app.strava.com/athletes/8812110 -
what an absolute douchebag!
and fair play to yourself for helping, you werent to know.
On the flipside, 40m into a 100m sportive I got a ripped tyre. A guy out walking saw me waiting for the sweeper van and asked what was up. he said he lived up the road and would lend me a tyre. 20mins later he appears back with a pro race 3 tyre (new). He gave me his address and asked if I would post it back to him. I offered to pay him for it but he said no worries just send it back. so off I went, got home and sent the tyre back, along with a few tubes and a thank you note.
karma points all round. Next time you see your guy punch him in the dick.0 -
paul_mck wrote:what an absolute douchebag!
and fair play to yourself for helping, you werent to know.
On the flipside, 40m into a 100m sportive I got a ripped tyre. A guy out walking saw me waiting for the sweeper van and asked what was up. he said he lived up the road and would lend me a tyre. 20mins later he appears back with a pro race 3 tyre (new). He gave me his address and asked if I would post it back to him. I offered to pay him for it but he said no worries just send it back. so off I went, got home and sent the tyre back, along with a few tubes and a thank you note.
karma points all round. Next time you see your guy punch him in the dick.
And that's the way it should happen. If I was helped in the way the OP helped the other guy I would expect to be offering to pay, refund, or whatever any cost like a tube. I wouldn't expect a total stranger to it to me without at the very least offering to pay.“You may think that; I couldn’t possibly comment!”
Wilier Cento Uno SR/Wilier Mortirolo/Specialized Roubaix Comp/Kona Hei Hei/Calibre Bossnut0 -
To be fair, the guy did ask for my number and has just this minute very kindly text me to ask if he could reimburse me.
What should I say? Would I sound like a nobber if I said 'yes'?
So, all's well that ends well it seems.0 -
ffs bit of a critical piece of information that!!!!0
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barrybridges wrote:To be fair, the guy did ask for my number and has just this minute very kindly text me to ask if he could reimburse me.
What should I say?
Yes please for the tube but not for a new pump as it seems that was just bad luck it went at that time (you say the handle did flip from time to time anyway) unless you think something he did broke it in whic case you may feel he should replace it. Personally I would only expect him to replace the pump if he broke it either carelessly or on purpose
Would I sound like a nobber if I said 'yes'?
No - he should repay you (he edfoe shouldn't have accepted your stuff in the first place though as the rescue was already on its way so he didn't need it!)
So, all's well that ends well it seems.0
