fooferdoggie 

that's a harsh ride the marathons are bad enpugh by themselves and I have 1.5's

downtube42

Where is that Zen story that suggests you don't need to carry ****? Even the bicycle is superfluous. No matter your material preparation, life will throw something unexpected your way. With the right attitude, you can deal with anything. I like it.

I'm 90% there. I carry the stuff to cover what I think is most likely to happen, and count on my resilience as a human being to take care of the rest.

On the tubeless bikes: plugs, tube, patch kit, dollar bill, sealant, pump.
On the tubed bikes, subtract plugs and sealant.
Unless I'm just riding around town, in which case I might ride naked*. It's very liberating.

Suppose all your **** goes bad. I've seen these things occur on rides: All flat repair used up. BB spindle breaks (me), crankarm comes loose (me), frame breaks, front wheel tacos, seatpost breaks, rear derailleur goes into spokes, handlebar breaks, cell phone charger fails, pedal threads come loose from carbon crankarm, tire rips along bead, axle breaks, bike stolen, bike lost by sleep deprived rider, wallet lost on multi-day ride.

What are you going to do? Walk may or may not be an option.

I think, ultimately, it comes down to asking for help from a stranger. If you're not willing to either ask for help or die, you should probably stay home. You can't carry enough stuff to be self reliant 100% of the time.

*I mean without repair stuff. But actually, participating in one of the world naked bike rides is itself a very liberating experience. Go ahead, make yourself vulnerable.

downtube42

That's what I'm talking about.

Eds0123

One tube, a mini floor pump, a patch kit with a sealed never opened rubber cement container, and bus tickets always in my wallet if all above fail, never have had to call Uber or a friend or the girlfriend,

Eds0123

One tube, a mini floor pump, a patch kit with a sealed never opened rubber cement container, and bus tickets always in my wallet if all above fail, never have had to call Uber or a friend or the girlfriend,

rumrunn6

• I do sometimes carry 2 tubes. depends on where I'm riding, like if I'm far from home
• Yes, to the patch kit, more than 1 actually (this is helpful when carrying only 1 tube)
  • I've patched a tube even tho I was carrying a spare
• I've used a traditional "taxi' on 2 occasions & my Daughter bailed me out twice
• I've heard that AAA will also help you if you are a member

rumrunn6

Wulidasheng Bicycle Tire Repair Glue

biker128pedal

On the patch kit tubes of glue. After a few year I’ve found some dried out even when never opened. Just opened one yesterday. While fixing a tube in the garage luckily.

Reflector Guy

I work with a guy who drives for Uber on his days off. I don't think there's a bicyclist alive who can out-sweat this guy!

Jimriides

I ride Schwalbe Marathon Supremes, haven’t had a flat in years on the road. I have had a low tire after several days. Those tubes get a patch at home.

VegasTriker

Instead of messing with those small tubes of glue at home, buy a 4 ounce bottle of Elmer's rubber cement. It's universally available at local stores for a couple of bucks. I just clean the area where the patch goes with a little solvent on a Q-tip and then apply the glue with the applicator in the bottle. Let it dry a bit and apply the patch. It bonds just a tightly as the glue that comes in the tubes and the solvent smell is a lot less obnoxious. If the rubber cement gets a little thick, just add some solvent to re-thin it. I use Coleman stove fuel that I use for camping to thin mine.

Gyro

Ahhh, another use I've found handy for my wife and bike rack.

Reflector Guy

+2

I tend to think there isn't much difference between the glue in the dedicated bike-tube kits vs. automotive tire plug cement vs. a bottle of ordinary rubber cement except possibly the price.... With the tiny bike cement tubes being the most expensive obviously.

I have a little 1/2-pint can of automotive tire plug cement in the garage.... I am sure it'll work on bike tubes, has a nice applicator brush and it'll probably last forever as long as I keep it sealer tight.

Maelochs

To the OP----I have had it happen where the wire embeds itself into the tread and even riskily running my thumbs along the inside of the tire (great way to get nasty cuts) won't show a wire .... but when you hit a bump just right the wire will protrude into the tube ... sometimes giving such a small puncture that it is impossible to find without a bucket of water and really high air pressure ..... but still somehow enough to drain the tire to unsafe levels after a few miles of riding. (Someone needs to teach these tube Physics.)

I always bring two tubes and usually temporary patches .... and even so sometimes everything fails repeatedly. Welcome to Life---it doesn't always suck.

shelbyfv

I remember a thread where the goof went on for pages arguing that he didn't need to carry stuff for flats because he could always call a "friend." Not a spouse or relative.... Plus he said he couldn't be bothered to learn how to fix a flat. Wonder if any of those "friends" are still speaking?

csport

1 spare tube, Rema patch kit, Park patch kit, Park glueless patches, tweezers, Park valve core tool, Park tire boots, tire levers and a pump.

At least 2 spare tubes and a spare tire on tours.

rumrunn6

or your headlight shuts off, on a night ride, a dark night, while you are rolling ...

alcjphil

Most of the time when I ride standard tube type tires I carry a couple of lightweight inner tubes. I sometimes carry glueless patches just in case, but not always. I don't do as many longer distance rides as I used to, so basically I rely on just the extra inner tube. However, for the last 12 years I have been mostly riding on road tubeless tires. I was very much ahead of the curve on this technology and have been fortunate to have had very few negative experiences. Now, I should share a bit of history. Tubeless tires on automobiles had a similar history. I am not sure at what time they became the standard for cars, but I believe that it was in the 1950's. That said, I owned a 1972 Peugeot 304 station wagon that sported Michelin X radial tube type tires . Think about it, at a time when most cars sported bias ply tubeless tires not nearly as advanced as the radial ply Michelin X radials on my Peugeot, My car still had tube type tires. The point is: There are a bunch of tire choices out there now. Tubeless is just getting started for road bikes(only about 12 years so far). It is now pretty much choice #1 for off road(gravel, mountain bike). Road tubeless? 12 years with only 1 time having to install an inner tube early on. One time with a slow leak that I could simply pump back up and ride home. One time with a major puncture (not using sealant) Pumped back up and rode the last 3 km back to the end of the ride.
Point here is that I carry what I might need base on 50 years of riding on the roads I ride and my own experience on riding on the parts of the road that are the safest

Maelochs

if I am going for a serious night ride I bring two headlights.

My oldest Urban 500 just stopped holding a charge (I am in the process of replacing the battery) but it announced that it had stopped holding a charge by dying. Sure, I can manage .... only a couple times in my life when it would have been too dark to ride without lights, and since I used to commute starting back before rechargeable batteries were a thing, and when they were first introduced, they sucked .... I have done plenty of riding by ambient light. I still like to go dark sometimes on moonlit nights ... but it is a pain, having to turn on my light when I see cars approaching from a distance .... but I don't want to be one of those unlit ninja casualties, or just scare some car when something big and dark passes in the oncoming lane.

mschwett 

no, no, and yes… but before switching to tubeless, my anywhere would have been

yes, yes, and yes.

you’ll need to order an uber XL and you may get rejected once or twice. no way in hell am i going to ask a friend or family member to take an hour out of their day because i’m stranded with a flat.

Eric F

I run tubeless, too, but still ended up with a situation where I needed a ride - sidewall slash too big for sealant, and a stuck valve stem nut that prevented me from installing a tube. My only friends that are awake before 8am on a weekend are also on their bikes, and my wife does not sleep next to her phone. Uber got me and my bike home.

kcjc

Generally two.
Yes. I normally patch first instead of replacing unless I'm part of a group ride and there are people waiting on me.
? Check with the driver first?

greatbasin

To the OP,

For that type of riding, I recommend "flat-less" tires like Schwalbe Marathon Plus. They're not the airless tires, nor do they have the foam donuts instead of tubes, but they're highly puncture resistant. Combine them with some Conti Hermetic Plus tubes and you are very unlikely to get flats.

I carry two spare tubes and a patch kit on my touring-type bicycle that I use for all purposes because I can't get the setup I recommend above for its 27 inch wheels.

I'm not a fan of slime, but it can help if your tires are moderately tough -- Marathon Green Guards or Big Ben Plus for example.

Obviously, an elite road cyclist is going to balk at these heavy tires, but they're not as bad for non-competitive cycling as some people think. While the additional rotational inertia is harder to overcome to get going, once you're going, the additional mass gives great stability, comfort, and forward momentum.

Lots of tubeless answers so far, but that can be expensive if your wheels aren't already compatible. It doesn't end flats either, but is basically like a lighter weight, high performance version of tubes and Slime. I just picked up a couple of 700c Marathon Plus tires from Chain Reaction for about $60 out the door.

veganbikes

Slime is just terrible and when you have to change a flat because the goo in your tube didn't do anything it can get quite messy (not that tubeless isn't similar but many of those smaller punctures don't happen. Good quality tires with good quality tubes at the proper pressure as wide as you can go is a good recipe for fewer flats.

In terms of what I carry, usually a single tube on my road set up but for commuting or touring I usually take two and usually always have CO2, a pump and patches of both kinds. If I do get truly screwed I can call family or friends if needed be or über but I try to avoid that and figure a way home.

urbanknight

I posed a question with that idea and didn't get a definitive answer because none of the responders had tried it. How well does that work? I figured if sealant instantly plugs a hole in tubeless tires, would it work for tubulars as well? I love the ride quality of tubulars, and they don't sound like any more of a pain to replace than tubeless.