Zinger

Used to be that a piece of inner tube wrapped inside a split tire would get me home if I just put about 50 psi or so in the other tube and tire. But it didn't work today and I wound up having to walk my bike several miles with about a 2" gash in it like that. I decided to ride the last couple of miles and it held up until several blocks from the house and the spare tube blew again.

I realize that I went way too far on my rotted out old Continentals that have been sitting neglected along with my bike for my 11 year cycling hiatus. But the gamble of riding w/o the spare tire in any circumstances finally came to my consciousness. I was homeward from about 25 miles out when it happened and have realized how bad it might've been had it happened earlier.

So I'm either going to have to get a cell phone or start replacing tires on time and maybe start carrying a foldup tire. That walk in the woods was not the recreation I had in mind. Speaking of minds, I'm probably out of mine for thinking I'd get through the season on rotten bare tires when I have a brand new pair of Seca Serfas that I'd just gotten in the mail yesterday.

BTW. You can't find a payphone that works to save your life anymore. That 50 cents in my patch kit is useless baggage.

AnthonyMcEwen

...I never leave without a phone.....

Get a cheap mobile, no need for one of these fancy android/ I phones , just get one cheap that makes calls...if u ever need help or have an accident they are life savers...I personly cant be love it when I am out MTBing (I know our only commuting) and they say they have no phone,,,,,I would not want to be them of they brake a bone in the middle of no wear or something.

chasm54

The problem here is not the lack of a spare tyre, it is riding on one that was rotted. In all my years cycling, I've never had a tyre fail so spectacularly that it couldn't be booted well enough to get me to the next town. I don't even carry a spare tyre on multi-week tours.

I do make sure they're in decent condition, though...

No cellphone? There can't be many of you left.

chasm54

This degree of mangled spelling can't be accidental, can it?

lenny866

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...58_-1___202473

Zinger

Well that looks interesting and I'll start carrying one but it might not have sufficed today because the piece of tubing that I used was bigger than that and it didn't stop my spare tube from blowing. Maybe I had too much stuff in a rotten tire though and it just made the rip longer when I took the chance to ride on it....And I could stack them end to end.

Thanks much for the link. I'm going to order two now and carry both.

OldTryGuy

I never leave without my RoadID and phone.

Zinger

Guilty as charged but I already ordered my security tire. I've been wondering when my luck would run out for over 30 years now and I was lucky to be several miles from the house on the tail end of about a 50 mile ride today.

It'll probably sit around for years and get rotten.

Just me and a coworker whose wife took his away for trolling smut sites.
Cellphones are for drug dealers and poor married errand boys.

Zinger

I've been meaning to look into one of those Road ID thingees.

contango 

I had to read it three times and still don't know quite what that particular poster was trying to say. I deciphered most of it, can't be bothered to keep re-reading trying to figure out what other words sound loosely similar to what's written.

contango 

When I'm in the US I buy a TracFone for about ten bucks (which includes some calling/texting credit) and topups are pretty cheap especially for low users. When I leave the country the phone is disposable.

Uh.... OK. Not sure what half of this is supposed to be saying.

10 Wheels

I carry a folding tire rolled up and keep it under the saddle.

No cell phone needed.

qcpmsame 

With my health issues I won't, nor will Monica let me, leave the house for a ride with out my cell phone and RoadID. I had to buy a cell phone for work as an engineer for a contractor, many of the sites don't have any phones now and if I need a testing lab tech on the site or concrete ordered I have it handy. When I went back to riding it was on her list of "you will do the following....." and I agree, laying along the side of the road after passing out isn't high on my list, especially in the rural area we live in.

And seeing as she has stood by me through 16 major surgeries, more procedures than I can count, ICU on 3 occasions in a coma, etc., I'll listen to what she wants, and even run some errands for her.

Bill

AnthonyMcEwen

Yhea,....I was tired when I wrote that.....haha sorry guys.

But basically don't leave the house without a mobile!

DnvrFox

With kids and a wife with serious health conditions, the cell phone gives me freedom. Tyvek for a boot - get some free from the USPS.

cyclinfool

The answer is - don't ride on worn out or rotten tires, they may be expensive but the risk level is too high, AND always carry a cell phone. Cell phones don't weigh that much and the benefit of having one is too great not to take it. Remember, the benefit of a cell phone is not just how it can be used in case you need help, but allows you to get help for others if needed, it is a multi-use tool.

Unless I was traveling cross country I would never carry an extra tire - if I have good tires the risk of damaging a tire beyond usability is low. I view the need for a spare tire about as great as the need for a chain tool. Once I start to feel my equipment is that unreliable I think I will forget about cycling and just go to the gym.

contango 

I'd be more minded to consider carrying a spare tyre if I were using anything designed for speed rather than durability. Having split the sidewall of a fast tyre after a mere 13 miles and with no idea what it was I ran over that split the side of it, I stick to puncture resistant tyres even though they are heavier and would take a spare (folding) tyre on a particularly long trip.

10 Wheels

You can hang one under your top tube:

cyclinfool

Hmmm - interesting thought. Buy super light racing tires just so I can carry a spare tire???
IMHO recreational bikers don't need race tires, racers have chase teams or recreational racers are in events where the events are patrolled.

Occasionally I will participate in a race - when I do I switch out my tires (and wheels and bike for that matter) for my race stuff. I have not gone to sew ups and if I was serious I probably would (should I then carry a spare wheel...).

contango 

Don't know about "super light racing" tyres, the one I split was much lighter than what I normally use, and didn't last very well. If I were using tyres like that as a matter of routine I'd carry a spare, but then I don't use tyres like that beacuse I don't want to be dealing with trashed tyres on a ride that's further than a quick spin around the block.

dbg

I'm carrying an extra tire on our upcoming WI trip but for an additional reason. I converted to 650b to run bigger softer tires (grand bois 32) but have already severely gashed one. But the big issue is availability of tires. I'm pretty sure I would not be able to get another tire from any local shop along the route.

North Coast Joe

I'm a noob that needed either a spare or booting skills just last week. Thought I was all dialed in with a spare tube/patches/etc. Had to call for a ride when the side wall close to the rim's edge just let go. I'm guessing that I could have booted it somehow. Anybody recommend a video or instructions on the technique?

trackhub

As others have pointed out, a cell phone does not need to be fancy. My maternal unit is in a nursing home, and I got her one of those Net10 phones.
You simply buy the phone from any retailer, then just buy minutes, either through buying cards or on-line (better deal) That's it. No bills, totally anonymous.
Only problem is that the phones are, well, cheap. Some of them aren't bad, but don't expect the same quality as a contract phone. Net10 is the same company
at tracphone.

Better get used to the idea of landlines going away. It's going to happen, likely by the end of the decade.

Don't let your tires dry-rot.

10 Wheels

"Don't let your tires dry-rot."

Doesn't matter.

I have two brand new tires destroyed by sidewall cuts on the first ride.

Third one was an Armadillo front tire that blew out at the tire bead.

Dudelsack 

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