First Flat, Lessons Learned

"James Messick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:a54Ma.1772$Xm3.274@sccrnsc02...

Quoted message said:

"Naveed Aziz Near-Ansari" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

6. If you have a fancy leather saddle (I.E. Brooks), make sure to put something to protect it
from scratches before flipping the bike over

onto

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the cement.

No need to ever put your bike on its back. It's pretty hard on a lot of things. As a matter of
fact, you don't even need to remove your wheel to

fix a

Quoted message said:

flat, but even if you do, just lay the bike down after you get it out.

Ok, how do you fix a flat tire without removing the tube?

You only need to remove the tube to locate the hole. If you can find the hole without removing the
tube completely, you won't need to remove the wheel either.

Often the source of the puncture is visible from the outside of the tire. In this case, you can just
take part of the tire bead off the rim, pull out a section of tube, & patch it.

This technique doesn't work if you can't spot the hole first, and it means you ride on a fresh
patch, which isn't ideal, but it can be a convenient technique in some circumstances.

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Fritz M <[email hidden]+> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

At the risk of sounding dumb: How can the chain tool be damaged?

I've had the more expensive, and the cheaper chain tools. And I've dealt with (and learned from)
tool-moochers in the past, who's destructiveness would probably make them good beta-testers. I
don't like the materials (i.e: brass) in either of the two predominant makers of chain tools.

Well, this tool was/is part of a multi-tool, and those are not the most durable or user-friendly
versions of chain tools.

I managed to destroy a chain tool in the woods once while trying the in-the-field conversion to a
single speed after a stick ate my rear derailer. After riding about a hundred yards, my hastily (it
was winter, and well below freezing) eye-balled chain line proved to be off when the chain
spontaneously downshifted and bound on the larger sprocket. Un-riveting a chain under a *lot* of
tension is not a good idea, in retrospect it would have been wiser to try to remove the QR & spread
the dropouts to release the wheel, but like I said, it was *cold* & I wasn't thinking.

Peter Cole said:

You only need to remove the tube to locate the hole. If you can find the hole without removing the
tube completely, you won't need to remove the wheel either.

Often the source of the puncture is visible from the outside of the tire. In this case, you can
just take part of the tire bead off the rim, pull out a section of tube, & patch it.

This technique doesn't work if you can't spot the hole first, and it means you ride on a fresh
patch, which isn't ideal, but it can be a convenient technique in some circumstances.

You can get the whole tube out fine without removing the wheel, it just means the tube gets wedged
between the spokes and stays/blades a bit and you have to be careful moving it. This is not a
particularly advisable tactic if you have quickrelease wheels, cause, well, they're quick to
release, but for nutted axles, particularly with drum brakes and/or hub gears and/or fully enclosed
chaincases, you *really* want to avoid taking the wheel off if you can.

Jasper

Thanks for reminding me to replace my chain tool, which I desroyed three weeks ago. Never try to
shorten a chain whilst drunk.

In article wCBMa.85637$R73.10591@sccrnsc04 said:

Well, this tool was/is part of a multi-tool, and those are not the most durable or user-friendly
versions of chain tools.

I also prefer separate tools, thanx to my being cursed with fumbly, unnimble, fat fingertips.

Quoted message said:

I managed to destroy a chain tool in the woods once while trying the in-the-field conversion to a
single speed after a stick ate my rear derailer. After riding about a hundred yards, my hastily
(it was winter, and well below freezing) eye-balled chain line proved to be off when the chain
spontaneously downshifted and bound on the larger sprocket. Un-riveting a chain under a *lot* of
tension is not a good idea, in retrospect it would have been wiser to try to remove the QR &
spread the dropouts to release the wheel, but like I said, it was *cold* & I wasn't thinking.

Hey, it's forgivable. Stuff happens, especially when trying to effect field repairs, and your
fingers are sticking to cold metal.

I have my own set of misadventures of reinstalling chains, in an insufficiently-lit basement. Like
not properly threading it under the little guide tabs on the rear der, or around the chainstay.
Funny how chains go back on so easily when there's something wrong going on, unnoticed :-)

Maybe it's an indication that everything's okay, when the chain flies apart at the exact instant
everything's lined up for rejoining. Which hearkens to my corollary for Murphy's Law: when things go
right, it's mere, random happenstance. But when they go wrong, it's with split-second precision.

Actually, I've circumvented the chain-flying-apart-during-rejoining problem by loosely draping one
end around the BB shell, and clamping the other end to the fder with a clothes peg. Then put the
chain on the ring after the chain is rejoined (but which probably wouldn't work when doing an
impromptu single-speed conversion like you had to do, because there'd be no derailer to provide
slack to get the chain on the ring.)

When problem-solving, I may have to go through an embarassing number of failed attempts, but I do
"get it" eventually.

Then there's the detail of having the connecting pin facing the right way, once the chain is
threaded back on ...

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Naveed Aziz Near-Ansari said:

...
6. If you have a fancy leather saddle (I.E. Brooks), make sure to put something to protect it
from scratches before flipping the bike over onto the cement.

I must point out that pavements are made from concrete (bituminous or Portland cement) and not
just cement.

Civil engineers become uncivil when concrete is referred to as cement. 😉

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You soon find out the pig likes
it! - Unknown

Tom Sherman said:

Naveed Aziz Near-Ansari said:

...
6. If you have a fancy leather saddle (I.E. Brooks), make sure to put something to protect it
from scratches before flipping the bike over onto the cement.

I must point out that pavements are made from concrete (bituminous or Portland cement) and not
just cement.

Civil engineers become uncivil when concrete is referred to as cement. 😉

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You soon find out the pig likes it!
- Unknown

My apologies,

Do not flip it over on pavement (or not at all as others have suggested.)

Naveed

------------------
Naveed Near-Ansari I speak for myself
------------------