Two minutes flat ... I remember that tube change ...

[novocaine]

Well yeah, but you could apply that to all bike maintenance, and a lot of other things that once you learn to (and have time to) repair yourself, are easy.

It is for sure a disposable world we live in now though, manufacturers are always looking for ways to make things non serviceable, money is more important than the environment

Fair comment although personally id consider a puncher something that you should be able to sort yourself, much like changing the wheel on your car (granted that has other issues these days though), but i appreciate this is very much my opinion.

Want to save the world? Make it cheaper to be environmentally friendly than to not (and not by making it so expensive to not be that it becomes cheaper by default).

 

[Tootyred]

Most high street bike shops don't repair anything for liability reasons.

Take it off, throw it away, fit a new one. Regardless of how easy a repair might be.

Sad really, but then, having spoken to the kids in halfords ( who had never seen a cantilever) would you want then doing your repair!

 

[mattr]

Ah yes,the modern trend for wider tyres and lower tyre pressures on road bikes. As with almost every trend in cycling, give it ten years and youll see a reversal and a move towards skinny tyres again.

Except there are multiple, independent, studies showing all the various parameters and how they impact rolling resistance/drag/etc.

Only people who need 23 (or less) at 100 (or more) are trackies or (very) fast TTers where you have very smooth surfaces and sustained high speeds.
Even then, wider/deeper rims with slightly larger tyres at lower pressures are generally faster than the aero rims/tubs of yore.

 

[mk one]

Fair comment although personally id consider a puncher something that you should be able to sort yourself, much like changing the wheel on your car (granted that has other issues these days though), but i appreciate this is very much my opinion.

Yeah me too, though the other day i did have someone say to me they had forgotten how to remove the wheels from their childs bike, they were quick release!

 

[pw_pw_la]

I absolutely love repairing punctures.

It's at about the limit of my mechanical skills, so I just really enjoy being in the zone.

 

[novocaine]

Except there are multiple, independent, studies showing all the various parameters and how they impact rolling resistance/drag/etc.

Only people who need 23 (or less) at 100 (or more) are trackies or (very) fast TTers where you have very smooth surfaces and sustained high speeds.
Even then, wider/deeper rims with slightly larger tyres at lower pressures are generally faster than the aero rims/tubs of yore.

And 10-15 years ago there were all these independent studies showing all the various perameters and how they impacted rolling resistance etc.

Yes we've moved on. We have new understanding of certains varibles that we didnt know 10 years ago. in another 10 years?

Being an ex track rider, ill stick with what i feel works for me,which is the most important point really, if you are fast on a higher pressure, and youve tried lower and found it slower, then atick with your higher pressure. Having said that, im still talking 100psi not 120 in a 25c. Go up to a 32c and you can run lower pressure, leplaces law states just that. Less to do with tyre pressure and more to do with deformation of the tyre.

 

[greencat]

I tend to replace with a tube while out, and patch at home. They keep getting patched until they no longer inflate properly, patches would overlap, valve stem goes or hole too big (the last puncture I got punched a 7mm hole in my tyre, straight through the tube and the rim tape - local slate did it I think). I tend to do patching in batches ie I'll wait until I have half a dozen or so and then spend a happy hour or so fixing.

Tubes can be turned into elastic bands, exercise aids and used for tying up shrubs and trees (the missus seems to have an inexhaustible demand for my spent tubes in the garden).

 

[phill77]

There is hope, my 8 year old has just fixed a puncture for the first time under a bit of my guidance, and was dead chuffed to do so!

 

[2manyoranges]

Phil77 .... Great stuff!

Excellent.

The Grom here is fifteen and also is on top of it....

 

[Once A Hero]

Haven't had to fix a puncture in ages, primarily due to the use of slime filled tubes - they've been good to me. The only one that let go on me a couple of years ago was unrepairable due to the spike of metal that went through it, so that one went in the bin.

I pumped up a couple of old tubes the other day fully expecting them to need a repair, only for them to explode in spectacular fashion having perished around the valves, so I had to accept defeat there too!