In praise of Halfords packaging...

term1te

I don’t like buying products that use too much packaging, especially if it’s plastic. However, a couple of years ago I had a puncture very close to a Halfords, so I replaced the tube, and bought a spare, shrink wrapped in heavy duty plastic with a plasticy cardboard label. I didn’t need it on the rest of the ride, and it’s sat on a shelf ever since. On Saturday I went on a long ride, and just by chance picked it up and stuffed it in by pocket thinking a second spare tube would be sensible. Fifty miles into the ride I was coming down a long hill in the middle of nowhere and hit a small stone on the road. Punctured both tyres, and cut the front sidewall such that I could stick my finger through the hole. I replaced the rear tube first with the Halfords tube, cursing the amount of time it took me to get it out of the shrink wrap. However, when I found the damaged side wall on the front tyre, the plasticy label made a perfect boot to wrap around the new front tube and keep it in the damaged tyre. Fifty miles home and the tyre felt perfect. I normally carry a 50,000 Vietnamese Dong note to use as an emergency boot, but I hadn’t transferred it to the new saddle bag, so if it wasn’t for the excessive Halfords packaging I’d still be walking home.

cooldad

I hate having to use my dong as an emergency anything, let alone a boot.