Worst ride of the year

[Pebble]

It had to happen sometime; beginning of the week I was quite remote up on the moors, temperature was just above freezing (snow till lying on the verges) drizzle, windy, just one of the cold raw December days - and about 14 mile out from where I'm parked I get a puncture, bit of a daunting thought marathon plus tyres in such cold weather. Anyway I get the tyre off, but what a mess with all the road gunge, and by now my hands are nearly numb with the cold, can't find anything in tyre, can't even find puncture in tube.

So I get the new tube in and after a horrible painful struggle I get the tyre back on the rim, which was quite surprising as I thought I would never manage it with my frozen hands, may be all the slippery black wet road gunge helped it slip back on? So I'm back rolling but within half a mile its flat again, what an utterly depressing moment, I have patches but is there any point trying in the wet, anyway I couldn't face the horror of that tyre again. No chance of rescue from the wife for many many hours, No chance of hitching a lift with brexit. So its a very very long walk - long straight bits that normally just take a few minutes on the bike seem to drag on interminably walking.

I did decide to risk sacrificing the back wheel and tyre by riding, or at least freewheeling on slight downward inclines. With may be 90% of my weight over the bars it didn't feel too bad and could roll along at 7 mph. Probably freewheeled 5 of the 14 mile - it was still a hell of a long way though.

Surprising thing was neither the wheel or the tyre were damaged, just shows how tough these marathon plus tyres are. And in the warmth of my garage at home I could easily find the thorn that was embedded in the tyre, with decent glasses on and warm hands I could both see and feel it.

[Brucey]

sounds a very, er, 'formative' experience. Bloomin' miserable. By definition there is never a good time for a puncture to occur...

I do wonder about M+ tyres; they usually make punctures very infrequent but when they do happen they are almost invariably a significant PITA to fix too.

Given that they also slow you down, how much more often would you have to puncture before you would be net slower with faster, lighter weight tyres? And how much value is there in the improved ride quality in faster tyres?

My personal choice of tyre and fit has nearly always erred towards lighter tyres and easy fits. This makes puncture repairs a lot easier, in that if the tyre comes off the rim easily, you are not exhausted, freezing cold and losing the will to live before you actually get to the puncture repair part of the process.

cheers

[francovendee]

I can feel the pain from your post .
Some days you question why you're doing it but not very often. Mostly it's joy to be out on the bike.

[PH]

Sounds like a tough day! I might have wimped out and called a taxi.
Don't underestimate how the cold effects your thinking, best bit of puncture advice I've had is if you've been riding a while to eat something before you tackle it. Not only does it help you think straight, you also don't know when your hands will be clean again
I'm also of the opinion that a quick changing tyre is preferable to a difficult one, even if that means slightly more frequent occasions when it needs removing. The only time I've used a Plus tyre was on a commute where the consequences of being late outweighed everything else.

[Stradageek]

Memories, memories - your post even made my hands feel cold remembering my last similar experience in driving cold rain.

On a cold but dry day recently I dismounted to fix a puncture only to discover that I hadn't packed all my tyre levers - it's a long story - three motorists and four cyclists offered help but by that time I'd summoned the cavalry. I should have accepted the help, fitting my recumbent into the car was challenging

[Jdsk]

So I get the new tube in and after a horrible painful struggle I get the tyre back on the rim, which was quite surprising as I thought I would never manage it with my frozen hands, may be all the slippery black wet road gunge helped it slip back on?

Has this been observed before? Differential thermal contraction?

Jonathan

PS:

No chance of hitching a lift with brexit.

COVID?

[atlas_shrugged]

Complete sympathies with this. I had a similar thorn in a marathon tyre recently but luckily I was only a couple of miles from home and with 6 tyre pumpups I was able to ride home and then find and repair the puncture in comfort.

For this reason an AA type roadside type service for bikes would be very useful.

[Postboxer]

For this reason an AA type roadside type service for bikes would be very useful.

https://www.eta.co.uk/breakdown/bicycle/

Seems there is one, £24 per year. Don't know why the car services don't offer it included, or as a cheap add on.

Edit to add that Halfords breakdown also cover bicycles. https://www.halfordsbreakdowncover.com/

[Pebble]

So I get the new tube in and after a horrible painful struggle I get the tyre back on the rim, which was quite surprising as I thought I would never manage it with my frozen hands, may be all the slippery black wet road gunge helped it slip back on?

Has this been observed before? Differential thermal contraction?

Jonathan

PS:

No chance of hitching a lift with brexit.

COVID?

Yes, I meant Covid, think I'm going insane the two situations are starting to blur into the same thing.

May be punctures on cold wet days in the middle of nowhere could form the hat-trick. Visions of Laura Kuensberg endlessly reporting of distraught cyclists in distress at the side of the road.

[Jdsk]

: - )

Jonathan

[foxyrider]

The P fairy has visited me twice this year, last week and back in March, both thorns as it happens. i've been using an array of fairly lively road tyres, certainly nothing that special and consider that puncture count to be acceptable, both instances were quickly sorted, took longer getting the last thorn out of the tyre than the rest of the operation! Anything that makes fixing a p more difficult, tyres, gearing, braking are a big no-no for me on anything other than a short trip bike. Big thumbs down for M+ in this context.

Worst ride of the year - tbh nothing comes to mind, maybe nursing the bike 15 miles home with a pair of broken spokes in the front wheel but even that wasn't that bad.

[Ellieb]

If you can find them these days, having a pair of nitrile/latex surgical gloves keeps your hands clean and slightly warmer while changing a tyre.

[reohn2]

sounds a very, er, 'formative' experience. Bloomin' miserable. By definition there is never a good time for a puncture to occur...

I do wonder about M+ tyres; they usually make punctures very infrequent but when they do happen they are almost invariably a significant PITA to fix too.

Given that they also slow you down, how much more often would you have to puncture before you would be net slower with faster, lighter weight tyres? And how much value is there in the improved ride quality in faster tyres?

My personal choice of tyre and fit has nearly always erred towards lighter tyres and easy fits. This makes puncture repairs a lot easier, in that if the tyre comes off the rim easily, you are not exhausted, freezing cold and losing the will to live before you actually get to the puncture repair part of the process.

cheers

I'm of the same mind,light tyres be prepared for the odd puncture in the full knowedge I can be riding within 10 to 15 minutes.
Even when I was clocking up 7 to 9,000miles per annum I rarely punctured more than twice or three times a year.
Another thing with M+ tyres if you do puncture it'll be something big and unless it can grasp it firmly with pliers it's a bu@@er to pull out.

EDIT:- That said I vividly remember puncturing twice in the same ride on a bitterly cold ride due to a north wind,after fixing the second one I simply had to get to a cafe,ordrred soup and a coffe only to find I'd no money in my wallet,no worries use plastic,put cardmin the machine and had a total blank on my pin number only to manage it at the third attempt,I sat in that cafe for an hour to warm up.
I'm fairly sure that day I had suffered the early onset of hypothermia

[rfryer]

Just to add a different, smug, perspective, I was surprised to find a couple of large thorns sticking through my tubeless tyre when I replaced it due to tread wear. I'd had no iden they were there, but each might have lead to a similar experience if I'd had tubes.

[Jdsk]

May be smug, but I'd bet that there's a whole load of tyres that will be checked today following that...

: - )

Jonathan