punctures on the street...how long?

snig

how long does it or should it take to change a puncture on a wet cold night on the street?

Just getting my stuff together to start commuting, so I thought I would do a inner tube change test in the warm...1 hour later and hands covered in oil I finished :oops:

I'm hoping to get my commute of 7 miles down to around 40 minutes, so a puncture would have me arriving late to work!

the main trouble I had was getting the tyre leveler under the tyre to get it off, took me a while, and the same for getting it back on, I watched a Youtube vid that says a level shouldn't be needed for getting it back on but no way could I have done it without one.

so how long doe sit take you on the street and any tips for getting the tyre off and then back on

oh and do you use gloves or don't get very oily?

Cheers

Initialised

Whether you need levers depends on the tyre, rim and temperature.

Take three levers, they weigh next to nothing and you could snap one if the rim/tyre combo is tight and it means you have one to donate to a puncture victim you may pass.

Be very careful not to pinch the tube when you put it back on, this can make a 5 minute job mean a walk to the bike shop because you've one holed tube and one exploded tube. So try and keep two spare tubes with you.

Look after your pump, I've lost pumps in the middle of nowhere (up a glen, was a nice day for a ride that turned into a long walk!) and had pumps fail for the sake of a rubber o-ring and some lube (I'm looking at your Topeak).

7 miles at 14mph is 30 minutes, that's where you should be aiming longer term. Also get tyres with puncture resistance and check for glass/metal/stone teeth in your tyres weekly. I dug out three punctures in waiting today.

snig

cheers some good advice there.

30 minutes would be great but I have a feeling that's a long time off, I'm very unfit and a bit overweight so anything under an hour and still breathing will be good :oops:

I have Continental sport contacts on at the minute, they are meant to have some puncture resistance, not sure how much tho? I know there are more resistant tyres on the market and I will probably move to something else if these prove to be not very good but that'll have to wait as I have a fairly long list of stuff could do with first.

yeah I was conscious of not nipping the inner tube but don't know how to prevent it as you are working blind.

Can I ask tho, I have some spare inner tubes but they are 1.25 but my tyres say to use 1.6, can I still use the 1.25 inners or best to buy the correct size...sorry sounds a daft question when typing it out, didn't sound so daft in my head, I guess I need to buy the correct size.

Initialised

In my experience Sport Contacts weren't great (one on the back for 6-8 months, many punctures). At 1.6" nipping the tube is unlikely.

Yes 1.2s will stretch but for puncture resistance go large, if you are on 1.6 get tubes with 1.5" minimum.

I only tend to break this on wheels with 2.3 or higher as 2.2 is usually the biggest I can find locally and I like to run low pressure on big MTB and BMX tyres anyway so a pinch is more likely than a puncture. For most of last year I was running 23mm tyres on 25-32mm tubes, no punctures until I left hot water running over the rear tyre while cleaning the bike, that was loud!

slowbike

A bit of air in the replacement tube will help against nipping. A pair of surgical gloves will keep your hands clean.

A light on the helmet will give you light to work by.

Before you put the new tube in check inside the tyre for foreign objects - otherwise you may end up puncturing the new tube too.

Practice changing tubes a few times - in the warm & dry. I generally use 2 levers - one to hold the tyre off the rim and the other works around the tyre. Putting them back on is mostly by hand but levers are usually employed for the last 1/3rd.


When I've had a puncture on my way in to the office I try and text someone who is there so they know I'll be a bit later than expected.

10 minutes is about the time it takes me to do a straight tube swap.

If it's a slow puncture and I'm close to work I'm tempted to just pump up then carry on to work - change the tube when you get there.

cookeeemonster

The advice about practicing at home is a good one, as is the tyre lever advice. Remember to do the back wheel too which is normally more of an hassle due to the chain needing to come off the cassette etc - take some disposible gloves with you unless you want oil all over your hands/clothes/bar tape etc

some people on here can change a tyre in 5 mins flat (they say). For me...I tend to faff a bit, so more like 10-15 mins in truth unless I've had a bit of practice recently in which case I might be faster.

I'd get some better tyres myself to be honest - there are many recommendations from the near bulletproof (but not quite, and heavy and hard to get on/off) marathon pluses that I currently use to durano pluses/gatorskins/gp4seasons and more...it's a balance of having heavy tyres with more 'puncture proofness' or lighter tyres with less.

For a commuter I'd just get the best ones - changing tyres in the cold and wet is a real pain

EDIT: and dont forget to check the inside of the tyre for thorns/glass/stones etc before putting a new tube in - my last major 'incident' puncture wise came because I didn''t...and two tubes later I was stranded

squired

I'd say the same as Slowbike in terms of time. You can normally get it done in 5-10 minutes if you are organised. As well as having all the gear (tube, levers, etc) you should also make sure there is nothing on your handlebars that isn't going to allow your bike to be put upside down on the pavement while you change the tube, or is in a position where it could get badly damaged.

I use Panaracer tyre liners just for a bit of extra protection. They have served me well over the years.

It is also worth investing in a good pump. There is nothing worse than being sat at the side of a road in the rain with a useless pump that puts in so little air that you are working for 10 minutes and still only have a semi-inflated tyre.

Initialised

When removing the rear wheel change to the smallest ring at the front and the smallest sprocket at the back this makes the chain nice and slack and easy the get on and off.

When you replace your tyres get Schwalbe or Specialized (with Black Belt 2) in my experience they are much more resistant to punctures than Continental. I regularly pick out 3mm+ shards of rock, metal and glass out of my Espoir Elites that the belt has stopped from getting through.

desweller

From coming to a halt to riding again takes me 10 minutes pretty much every time.

Keep a head torch with regularly refreshed batteries in your kit bag for locating foreign objects in the tyre.

Always align the tyre manufacturer's logo with the valve so you can quickly reduce the search area on the tyre.

Partially inflate the tube when you fit it and go round the tyre after both beads are in, rocking the tyre across the rim. You should be able to see the rim tape from both sides of the tyre. That will allow the tube to settle into the tyre and will prevent you from getting the tube trapped between the tyre and rim.

Use a good frame pump to quickly inflate the tyre; mini pumps are a pain in the backside and CO2 carts are no good once they're emptied.

vimfuego

get to know where the bike shops are on your route. V useful for replacing tubes, but also a lot of them (at least the Evans on Clapham High St and Cycle Surgery at Southwark Bridge - yes I use CS7) have track pumps ready & waiting for your use, free & gratis. Basically means if you run high pressure tyres and only have a hand pump, you can get back up to full pressure nice & easily. I'm sure other bike shops would do the same for you. A CO2 inlfator is also a great thing to have - instant re-inflation to high PSI & weighs practically nothing. Just make sure you've not nipped the tube or caught it in the rim before you start!


As above - keep a regular aye on your tyres & pick out the bits of detritus. It will save you loads of hassle later.

slowbike

vimfuego wrote:

get to know where the bike shops are on your route.

Er ... none ...

I pass 1 shop and that is a village store ... although quite handily, a colleague, who has far more bikes than me lives in that village so I could always bail out there ...

vimfuego

hmmm I see your point.
So there is at least one drawback to not having to share a commute with 1000s of cars in a hostile urban envrironment (the things we do to get some miles in!)

You need some sort of puncture repair cache en route then. Maybe a friendly badger will rent out space in his set? ;-)

slowbike

vimfuego wrote:

You need some sort of puncture repair cache en route then.

Why? Do you urban commuters not carry everything you need to get yourself going from simple problems? Carrying a suitable pump, two tubes, patches is easy enough on my road bike - so simple on the commuter with the added carrier & bags.
I keep spare tubes & a stand pump at work - so I can top up a quick tube swap when I get to work. TBH, if you've got the tyre up to 80psi, the extra 20psi may be ideal, but not a necessity.

desweller

If you've got a frame pump then you don't need a stirrup pump. You can easily hit 120psi with a good frame pump.

Koncordski

Puncture kit small enough to fit in 2 Jersey pockets/bag.

1 x Spare Tube
1 x Glueless Patches
2 x Co2 + Inflator valve
1 x Small bottle of soap/washing up liquid (those ones you steal from hotels)
1 x Pair surgical gloves
2 x tyre levers

Don't forget the 15mm pedal spanner if you don't have QR wheels, practice a few times and you'll easily get a striaght swap down to 10mins. You might as well practice whilst standing in the shower though becuase i only ever puncture when it's cold and raining! :roll:

vimfuego

Slowbike wrote:

vimfuego wrote:

You need some sort of puncture repair cache en route then.

Why? Do you urban commuters not carry everything you need to get yourself going from simple problems? Carrying a suitable pump, two tubes, patches is easy enough on my road bike - so simple on the commuter with the added carrier & bags.
I keep spare tubes & a stand pump at work - so I can top up a quick tube swap when I get to work. TBH, if you've got the tyre up to 80psi, the extra 20psi may be ideal, but not a necessity.

Think you've misinterpreted my attempt at humour here. Of course we carry enough to fix punctures, broken chains etc etc. why would you clamber aboard without the means to get yourself home??? I even fixed a broken pedal the other week. And I take a similar approach to keeping kit at work as you.

slowbike

vimfuego wrote:

Think you've misinterpreted my attempt at humour here.

Quite likely!

MichaelW

Rims have a centre well. If you can get the tyre bead to sit inside the well, the smaller diameter will free up some slack to lever the bead off. Press the sides of the tyre and slide your finger around. Also works for mounting the tyre. For seriously tight tyres like Marathon Plus, zipties are recommended to keep it in the well.
Keep a spare inner at work as well as in your saddlebag.

drummer_boy

The biggest thing that sped up my flat tyre replacement was CO2 cylinders. Saves loads of time. Swap the tube out, and reinflate (check the tyre for the thing that caused the puncture in the first place, of course!).

As for getting the tyre on and off without levers, I found the pinching the tyre bead into the middle trough of the wheel, and then using that extra bit of wiggle room was the magic advice I found. Lots of vids on YouTube.

slowbike

Drummer_Boy wrote:

The biggest thing that sped up my flat tyre replacement was CO2 cylinders.

They do - but not a complete substitute for a pump ... you kinda need both ... incase you run out of CO2 cylinders!

I do carry both, but (other than one test) have yet to be in such a rush that I've succumbed to using the CO2 ... the nearest I got was my wifes punctured tube on a sportive, but we stopped by a marshal who happened to have a standpump he was willing to lend us!

e999sam

I got a pair of these from Decathlon http://www.decathlon.co.uk/equinox-flex ... 26684.html I can get them on and off without levers (not sure if that's a good thing)

bendertherobot

Vittoria randonneur pro 2

drummer_boy

Slowbike wrote:

They do - but not a complete substitute for a pump ... you kinda need both ... incase you run out of CO2 cylinders!

I do carry both, but (other than one test) have yet to be in such a rush that I've succumbed to using the CO2 ... the nearest I got was my wifes punctured tube on a sportive, but we stopped by a marshal who happened to have a standpump he was willing to lend us!

Completely agree, and I should have said to always carry both for backup. I had a flat this morning, on the way into work, and got the CO2 cylinder out to find I had left the presta adaptor at home( :shock: ), so couldn't use it!!

oblongomaculatus

Did one on Friday in the pouring rain, it took me just under five minutes, including inflating the tyre. If that sounds like showing off, it is, I was very pleased with myself, it usually takes much longer and leaves me feeling cross and with sore fingers. And to be fair the bike in question has a mono fork which doesn't require you to remove the wheel.

Greggyr

Practice definitely helps. I also use a speedlever by Crank Brothers to get the tyre off. I then replace the tyre by hand, by making sure the 1st part of the tyre beading is pushed well inside the rim, then working the remaining bead onto the rim with my thumbs. Takes a while to get the hang of it, but when I was shown how to do it at a roadside maintenance course, it was worth the day's cost just for that. It has come in very handy when I've had unscheduled inner tube replacements in some of the fruitier parts of London Town.
I've also got a pump that attaches to the frame, which has a little fold out base so it is used as a mini track pump. I got it in Decathlon. I have also started carrying co2 as well, but I've not had to use those for real yet !!!

damocles10

Without complications I'd say 10mins - no point in rushing things.

With complications 2hours - I had multiple failures once...Puncture, Valve extender leaked, broke the valve on the spare tube (corrosion) and then finally the pump failed. I could not believe it. That was a long walk to the LBS in cleats ( I eventually took off shoes ) - maintenance lessons were learnt that day.

oblongomaculatus

Watching the TDF last year I was struck my how slowly the mechanics change wheels in the event of a puncture, given that in a race seconds count. Maybe 20 to 30 seconds. But I don't see why they shouldn't be able to get it down to less than 5.

It might go like this:

Rider stops, dismounts, flips open brake release switch, then the quick release lever, removes wheel and drops it by the road, lifts bike up in readiness for new wheel. About 2 seconds.

While this is happening, The mechanic is getting out of the team car, wheel in hand. He slots it into place, closes the quick release lever and brake switch. Rider lowers the bike back to the ground, gets on and pedals off. Another 2 or 3 seconds.

Of course, this would depend on the tyre deflating relatively slowly, giving the team car, alerted by the rider, time to get in position before the rider has to stop.

Initialised

Today I found a thorn stuck in my tyre, pulled it out expecting the hiss of deflation, but no, the kevlar did it's job and blunted/bent the end of the thorn without letting it through to the tube.

damocles10

oblongomaculatus wrote:

Watching the TDF last year I was struck my how slowly the mechanics change wheels in the event of a puncture, given that in a race seconds count. Maybe 20 to 30 seconds. But I don't see why they shouldn't be able to get it down to less than 5.

It might go like this:

Rider stops, dismounts, flips open brake release switch, then the quick release lever, removes wheel and drops it by the road, lifts bike up in readiness for new wheel. About 2 seconds.

While this is happening, The mechanic is getting out of the team car, wheel in hand. He slots it into place, closes the quick release lever and brake switch. Rider lowers the bike back to the ground, gets on and pedals off. Another 2 or 3 seconds.

Of course, this would depend on the tyre deflating relatively slowly, giving the team car, alerted by the rider, time to get in position before the rider has to stop.

I can only imagine the grid lock if this was a normal commute to work procedure to fix punctures for commuters.....I am just kidding, of course