Cycling UK Forum

Had an encounter with a flint today and lost. Took me a while and another tube went bang before I found the small u-shaped cut in the tyre sidewall, I'd missed on first inspection. I was in minimalist mode. I did not have a tyre patch or emergency boot and my spare tubes were minus their cardboard boxes. I was, however, carrying cash for lunch in case they didn't take cards, so, I folded a five pound note into 3 and put that inside the tyre at the appropriate spot and pumped up the 2nd spare tube while watching carefully. It held and got me back home.

That is an old trick in countries whose "paper" money was not actually paper, decades before ours changed. I came across it in the USA in the early 90s where it seemed to be commonly known.

Nevertheless - -- a good post to inform UK riders who may not otherwise be aware.

No need to fold the plastic notes a single layer is strong enough.

Mike_Ayling wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 1:34am No need to fold the plastic notes a single layer is strong enough.

Against flints, are you sure? There’s not much out there that’s sharper. Neolithic humans knew a good thing when they found it.... Which could explain why the bike was invented so late. But that’s another story.

Mike_Ayling wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 1:34am No need to fold the plastic notes a single layer is strong enough.

It was only a 25 wide tyre!

I've never noticed that a tyre boot takes up much space.

peetee wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 7:28amAgainst flints, are you sure? There’s not much out there that’s sharper. Neolithic humans knew a good thing when they found it.... Which could explain why the bike was invented so late. But that’s another story.

I can just see the grumpy old men sitting round the fire... "What have you got there... typical, the Oldowan Model 1 was good enough for 1,600,000 years and it's good enough for me... why do they have to keep changing everything... ?".

Jonathan

Jdsk wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 8:53am

peetee wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 7:28amAgainst flints, are you sure? There’s not much out there that’s sharper. Neolithic humans knew a good thing when they found it.... Which could explain why the bike was invented so late. But that’s another story.

I can just see the grumpy old men sitting round the fire... "What have you got there... typical, the Oldowan Model 1 was good enough for 1,600,000 years and it's good enough for me... why do they have to keep changing everything... ?".

Jonathan

Ha ha.
“...And isn’t about time someone tidied up that gorge!”

I used a dentist appointment card for the same purpose in an emergency. It’s not to prevent further punctures but to stop the tube from poking out of the hole in the sidewall to prevent it blowing out. I’ve since started carrying a bit of old tyre as a boot, just in case.

I once used a piece of a plastic bottle I found at the roadside. There was a choice! It had been there long enough for UV to weaken it.
A friend cut off a piece of his mudflap on another occasion.

As a last resort I have unwound a length of handlebar tape and wrapped it around the tube when the sidewall split on my conti top touring tyre.

Those bikes with mudguards in my shed all have long mudflaps made of damp course membrane. Easy to rip of and makes perfect tyre repair material.

Mike_Ayling wrote: ↑15 Oct 2021, 1:34am No need to fold the plastic notes a single layer is strong enough.

So how do you get an unfolded note into a road bike tyre?

I once used a piece of fag* packet found at the roadside. Cardboard isn't great because it rapidly gets shredded between the tyre and tube, but it got me within half a mile of home before the new tube poked through and exploded.

*cigarette, for US readers

I think using a fiver is an excellent idea. They make them out of tough stuff. What does a tyre boot cost? Because I bet a fiver is just as effective and I do tend to have one with me at all times.

Edit.
Okay, 3 tyre boots for a fiver, so using an actual fiver isn't the cheaper option.
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/inner-tubes ... tyre-boot/
But when I think about it, you don't really lose the fiver. You get it back when you return home and bin the tyre, so cost is zero. Compared to paying a fiver for 3 dedicated tyre boots that will not be used for anything else.