F1 style wheel change...?

Colinthecop
Colinthecop Posts: 996
edited April 2014 in Road general
Out of curiosity, how long does it take you to change a flat at the side of the road...?

It seems to take me forever, admitedly I dont have the stopwatch running like a F1 pitcrew.

Got an Etap coming up and i'm gonna be well pissed if the puncture fairy visits and I have to add 10mins to my time.

So is it something you should practice (I mean in the kitchen at home as opposed to deliberately running over some thorns), or should I just not worry about it...?

Either that or I could dress like a girl and stand at the side of the road and look all helpless until a passing gents does the decent thing. 8)
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Comments

  • Moonbiker
    Moonbiker Posts: 1,706
    Takes me about 20 minutes. :oops:

    Some tyres are really hard to get off/on other very easy & faster. Older tyres seem alot easier to do after a few puntures than brand new ones.

    When I did a sportive last year was amazed & how many people seemed to get puntures/ or some kind of mechanical fault. There must of being at least 30 people stopped at the side of road fiddling with there bikes from about the 400 people doing the 100 mile ride.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Ten minutes if I find the source of the puncture fairly quickly. Last one was a sidewall failure though, and it was dark so it did take a while to find!
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    Do you use co2? They improve your time greatly.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    I don't know, Jeeves does it......oh hang on this isn't one of those 'if money were no object threads' :)
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    Do you use co2? They improve your time greatly.

    How? It only takes a couple of minutes to pump a tyre up so Co2 can only save you that amount (always assuming it doesn't go wrong and end up costing you more time).
    Faster than a tent.......
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Colinthecop wrote:
    Out of curiosity, how long does it take you to change a flat at the side of the road...?

    It seems to take me forever, admitedly I dont have the stopwatch running like a F1 pitcrew.

    Got an Etap coming up and i'm gonna be well pissed if the puncture fairy visits and I have to add 10mins to my time.

    So is it something you should practice (I mean in the kitchen at home as opposed to deliberately running over some thorns), or should I just not worry about it...?

    Either that or I could dress like a girl and stand at the side of the road and look all helpless until a passing gents does the decent thing. 8)

    Use tubular clinchers. They come off and go on the rim fairly easily, you don't need to use tire levers, you don't need to search for the object that caused the flat. In short you don't have anywhere near the fumbling around of changing tires / tubes that you do with standard clinchers.

    To tell the truth I have no clue as to what an Etap is(American ya know :wink: ). But I'm thinking that if the truth be known, no one really cares what your time is or whether you spent 10 or 20 minutes fixing a flat.
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    Rolf F wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    Do you use co2? They improve your time greatly.

    How? It only takes a couple of minutes to pump a tyre up so Co2 can only save you that amount (always assuming it doesn't go wrong and end up costing you more time).

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    Plus you get a higher pressure with CO2 than you can with a compact or semi-compact pump... with zero effort.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    DiscoBoy wrote:

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    I might, key word might, agree with you if you are using tubulars and they are not glued on properly(i.e. triathlon).
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    Get a can of sealant... it fixes most punctures without removing the tyre in about 10 seconds... Environmentally a disaster, but as long as you don't get the habit...
    Otherwise, go tubeless
    left the forum March 2023
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    dennisn wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    I might, key word might, agree with you if you are using tubulars and they are not glued on properly(i.e. triathlon).

    I have no idea what you're trying to say.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    Practice always helps. If it's speed you want you need to have an organized plan about the order in which you do everything rather than fumbling around for how to position your bike to get the wheel off, do you need to get your supplies out of the saddlepack before getting the wheel off?, need to remove the pump first?, etc,. For me it's first find the best spot available to stop and fix the flat and change gears to big chainring small rear cog to ease wheel removal and replacement. Then take the pump off the frame, get supplies out of seatpack, open brake release, turn bike upside down if in the grass or hold it upright if on a surface that would scratch the bike and remove the wheel then lay the bike on the NDS to protect the rear mech. Take out the tube and find what caused the flat, put small amount of air in the new tube, fit the tube and lever the tyre on (if you can do it without levers it will be faster), pump up tyre, (as long as it is narrow enough to fit through your brakes when inflated, some are too wide and must be inflated after being fit in the frame), mount wheel, close brake release lever, repack your flat kit and you're done. This is just my method. You may find a different plan works better but the more you practice a routine the faster you'll be and make fewer mistakes especially when you're tired and in a hurry.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    I might, key word might, agree with you if you are using tubulars and they are not glued on properly(i.e. triathlon).

    I have no idea what you're trying to say.


    Just saying that it would have to be a tubular if 2 minutes is any kind of "significant portion",
    say half, of the time required to change a flat.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Took me 20 minutes last time. A lot of faffing about eg the rim tape moving and having to realign it etc. Plus I happened to be on the only bit of road with walls either side and no verge so had to walk for ages.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Get a can of sealant... it fixes most punctures without removing the tyre in about 10 seconds... Environmentally a disaster, but as long as you don't get the habit...
    Otherwise, go tubeless
    Totally disagree. First off you have to find your little valve tool. Then remove the valve. Then try and figure out how to put the goo into the tire without making a mess of it all. then put the valve back in. Then pump it all up and wait to see if it holds air.
    10 seconds. No way.
    Even if you had a can of sealant that screwed onto the valve, sealed everything, and filled the tire it would still be way more than 10 seconds from dismount to remount.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    dennisn wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Get a can of sealant... it fixes most punctures without removing the tyre in about 10 seconds... Environmentally a disaster, but as long as you don't get the habit...
    Otherwise, go tubeless
    Totally disagree. First off you have to find your little valve tool. Then remove the valve. Then try and figure out how to put the goo into the tire without making a mess of it all. then put the valve back in. Then pump it all up and wait to see if it holds air.
    10 seconds. No way.
    Even if you had a can of sealant that screwed onto the valve, sealed everything, and filled the tire it would still be way more than 10 seconds from dismount to remount.

    This time you are stuck in the past Dennis... :wink:
    Something like Vittoria Pit Stop... unscrew the valve, shake the can for 5 seconds, press the can against valve until the tyre is inflated (10 seconds)... discard the can by throwing it in a private garden so you are sure it will be collected and recycled and you're off... It's not what I do, but in a race it's what I would do... :mrgreen:
    left the forum March 2023
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    edited April 2014
    dennisn wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    I might, key word might, agree with you if you are using tubulars and they are not glued on properly(i.e. triathlon).

    I have no idea what you're trying to say.


    Just saying that it would have to be a tubular if 2 minutes is any kind of "significant portion",
    say half, of the time required to change a flat.

    Irrespective of whatever definition of "significant" as a percentage we're using, when you have a group of people waiting for you to finish changing your tube, 2 minutes is a significant period of time.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Takes about 5 minutes to change a clincher. 2 minutes with co2...
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Get a can of sealant... it fixes most punctures without removing the tyre in about 10 seconds... Environmentally a disaster, but as long as you don't get the habit...
    Otherwise, go tubeless
    Totally disagree. First off you have to find your little valve tool. Then remove the valve. Then try and figure out how to put the goo into the tire without making a mess of it all. then put the valve back in. Then pump it all up and wait to see if it holds air.
    10 seconds. No way.
    Even if you had a can of sealant that screwed onto the valve, sealed everything, and filled the tire it would still be way more than 10 seconds from dismount to remount.

    This time you are stuck in the past Dennis... :wink:
    Something like Vittoria Pit Stop... unscrew the valve, shake the can for 5 seconds, press the can against valve until the tyre is inflated (10 seconds)... discard the can by throwing it in a private garden so you are sure it will be collected and recycled and you're off... It's not what I do, but in a race it's what I would do... :mrgreen:

    Of course I'm stuck in the past. Still, 10 seconds? Sort of begs the question of why Pro racers don't carry a can? Wheel changes would seem to take a whole lot more time than Pit Stop would.
    So, how does Pit Stop work on a clincher? Would seem to be not so bad an idea for tubulars but clinchers flats many times involve the tire coming off the rim and care must be taken to reseat it properly? :?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    dennisn wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Get a can of sealant... it fixes most punctures without removing the tyre in about 10 seconds... Environmentally a disaster, but as long as you don't get the habit...
    Otherwise, go tubeless
    Totally disagree. First off you have to find your little valve tool. Then remove the valve. Then try and figure out how to put the goo into the tire without making a mess of it all. then put the valve back in. Then pump it all up and wait to see if it holds air.
    10 seconds. No way.
    Even if you had a can of sealant that screwed onto the valve, sealed everything, and filled the tire it would still be way more than 10 seconds from dismount to remount.

    This time you are stuck in the past Dennis... :wink:
    Something like Vittoria Pit Stop... unscrew the valve, shake the can for 5 seconds, press the can against valve until the tyre is inflated (10 seconds)... discard the can by throwing it in a private garden so you are sure it will be collected and recycled and you're off... It's not what I do, but in a race it's what I would do... :mrgreen:

    Of course I'm stuck in the past. Still, 10 seconds? Sort of begs the question of why Pro racers don't carry a can? Wheel changes would seem to take a whole lot more time than Pit Stop would.
    So, how does Pit Stop work on a clincher? Would seem to be not so bad an idea for tubulars but clinchers flats many times involve the tire coming off the rim and care must be taken to reseat it properly? :?

    It will heal the tube, not the tyre of course... it's sealant, much like the one used in tubeless tyres
    left the forum March 2023
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Grill wrote:
    Takes about 5 minutes to change a clincher. 2 minutes with co2...

    Video tape this 2 minutes you claim. From stopping to moving again. With a new tube and a wheel that won't go flat in the next mile because you missed a thorn or your brakes are rubbing due to being too hasty or whatever. I will gladly eat my words if you can prove what you claim.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Here's someone who can be bothered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeeOhkug0yg

    Most of us could do that without too much trouble.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Grill wrote:
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.

    Couple of points. He never checked to see if he got the chain on the right cog. That's somewhat important. He never checked to see if the wheel went in straight or might be rubbing the frame and or brakes. He wasn't alongside the road groveling in the dirt and gravel.
    He never checked to see if the tire was seated correctly. That sort of helps to keep you rolling further down the road. His looking for the puncture cause was lame at best. Then again he didn't really have a puncture.
    I'm willing to admit that someone can, and did, change a flat in less than 2 minutes. Whether or not he got more than 50 feet down the road before he had to stop again, due to any number of things, remains to be seen. :wink:

    P.S. See above post. My bad. :oops:
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    What the hell are you on about Dennis
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    Do you use co2? They improve your time greatly.

    How? It only takes a couple of minutes to pump a tyre up so Co2 can only save you that amount (always assuming it doesn't go wrong and end up costing you more time).

    2 minutes should be a significant portion of the time it takes to fix a roadside puncture ;)

    Plus you get a higher pressure with CO2 than you can with a compact or semi-compact pump... with zero effort.

    Even if 2 minutes was that significant a proportion of the time, on a personal level, I simply don't use my waking life so effectively that I am going to lose sleep over arriving home 2 minutes later than I might otherwise have done once in a blue moon. I guess I'm reckless with my 2 minuteses! :lol:

    I guess I might have been more tempted to try CO2 if I'd ever seen it in use. But, probably as I'm in Yorkshire (or, maybe CO2 is just a Southern thing), I never have. No-one in my club, as far as I know, uses CO2.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    What the hell are you on about Dennis

    I was referring to Grill's "you tube" post with the guy changing a flat in less than 2 minutes. Sort of got my post's mixed up. :oops:
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    dennisn wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.

    Couple of points. He never checked to see if he got the chain on the right cog. That's somewhat important. He never checked to see if the wheel went in straight or might be rubbing the frame and or brakes. He wasn't alongside the road groveling in the dirt and gravel.
    He never checked to see if the tire was seated correctly. That sort of helps to keep you rolling further down the road. His looking for the puncture cause was lame at best. Then again he didn't really have a puncture.
    I'm willing to admit that someone can, and did, change a flat in less than 2 minutes. Whether or not he got more than 50 feet down the road before he had to stop again, due to any number of things, remains to be seen. :wink:

    P.S. See above post. My bad. :oops:

    Don't you ride with tubs? Seriously, the vast majority of us don't have the problems you describe. Although I suppose someone as eccentric and pedantic as yourself would suffer a coronary of you set off without ticking all the boxes on your mental checklist.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    Grill wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.

    Couple of points. He never checked to see if he got the chain on the right cog. That's somewhat important. He never checked to see if the wheel went in straight or might be rubbing the frame and or brakes. He wasn't alongside the road groveling in the dirt and gravel.
    He never checked to see if the tire was seated correctly. That sort of helps to keep you rolling further down the road. His looking for the puncture cause was lame at best. Then again he didn't really have a puncture.
    I'm willing to admit that someone can, and did, change a flat in less than 2 minutes. Whether or not he got more than 50 feet down the road before he had to stop again, due to any number of things, remains to be seen. :wink:

    P.S. See above post. My bad. :oops:

    Don't you ride with tubs? Seriously, the vast majority of us don't have the problems you describe. Although I suppose someone as eccentric and pedantic as yourself would suffer a coronary of you set off without ticking all the boxes on your mental checklist.

    I think that most people would check the tyre (and /or tube) a little more thoroughly than the guy in the video, and give the cranks at least one rotation once the wheel is back on...

    But still, it is a good illustration of how quickly it can be done.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Grill wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.

    Couple of points. He never checked to see if he got the chain on the right cog. That's somewhat important. He never checked to see if the wheel went in straight or might be rubbing the frame and or brakes. He wasn't alongside the road groveling in the dirt and gravel.
    He never checked to see if the tire was seated correctly. That sort of helps to keep you rolling further down the road. His looking for the puncture cause was lame at best. Then again he didn't really have a puncture.
    I'm willing to admit that someone can, and did, change a flat in less than 2 minutes. Whether or not he got more than 50 feet down the road before he had to stop again, due to any number of things, remains to be seen. :wink:

    P.S. See above post. My bad. :oops:

    Don't you ride with tubs? Seriously, the vast majority of us don't have the problems you describe.

    Yes, I do ride tubulars(and tubular clinchers).

    So, the "vast majority" of you don't check to see if the chain is on the right cog? You don't check to see if the wheel went in straight or runs smoothly? You don't bother to see if the tire is seated properly? You spend less than 10 seconds searching for what caused the flat?
    If you don't find the offending thorn or chunk of glass in 10 seconds you assume it's all good and just slap in a new tube and go? These are not "problems", these are things you do after having a flat. Ignore doing any of them and most likely you'll be stopped again just a bit down the road.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    DiscoBoy wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    Grill wrote:
    Do you even understand the logistics of what you're asking?
    Can i do it? Yes. Do I? Of course not, I'm never in that sort of rush.

    Couple of points. He never checked to see if he got the chain on the right cog. That's somewhat important. He never checked to see if the wheel went in straight or might be rubbing the frame and or brakes. He wasn't alongside the road groveling in the dirt and gravel.
    He never checked to see if the tire was seated correctly. That sort of helps to keep you rolling further down the road. His looking for the puncture cause was lame at best. Then again he didn't really have a puncture.
    I'm willing to admit that someone can, and did, change a flat in less than 2 minutes. Whether or not he got more than 50 feet down the road before he had to stop again, due to any number of things, remains to be seen. :wink:

    P.S. See above post. My bad. :oops:

    Don't you ride with tubs? Seriously, the vast majority of us don't have the problems you describe. Although I suppose someone as eccentric and pedantic as yourself would suffer a coronary of you set off without ticking all the boxes on your mental checklist.

    I think that most people would check the tyre (and /or tube) a little more thoroughly than the guy in the video, and give the cranks at least one rotation once the wheel is back on...

    But still, it is a good illustration of how quickly it can be done.

    How foolish would it be to change a tire like he did in that video? :wink:

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