Fixing a puncher..

$20 for a new tube !! Where did you buy from, a government contractor? :p

Here's a link with pictures and step-by-step instructions:

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQGP2.shtml

Note that most 'normal' style patch kits are the vulcanising type (the one with the separate tube of glue.)

I've never used the pre-glued type yet, but they are much more convenient to carry about in a saddle bag than the normal kits.

Me fix a tyre? I have had to fix too many punctures when I was young.

These days I just buy a new tube (Then again...I have only had 2 punctures). :p

I guess I should fix them sometime.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Pacesetter
Hey kiddies...i'm fairly new to the bike scene and i recently got a flat on a long ride...being a new rider i didn't think to carry a spair so i was hit up for $20 for a new tube...I kept my old one but am not quite sure how to fix the damn thing....can someone help me please (i'm soo embarised for not being able to do this...)

I have changed a lot of flat tires over the years. I use the vulcanizing type ( you spread a thing layer of glue on the tube around the puncture and let it dry, then slap the patch over the hole.

Quoted post said:

Also bike cleaning...what do you use, how often..better yet perhaps you could pop by and show me 😉

I'm cheap and use rags and old toothbrushes to clean my bike. Where I ride it mainly gets dusty. I use dish detergent as well.

Oh..I travel light, and my wife travels prepared. When I got a flat on the bike trail, I was lucky to be close to a bike shop where my wife bought a replacement tube for $4. It just happened that she was meeting me downtown but was driving, so she brought the floor pump with her.

I now keep a spare tube with me and a frame pump. Frame pumps are not easy to use like floor pumps are.

The only other advice I can give you is figure out what caused your flat. Out here thorns can puncture tires and I have had more than one flat because it was hard to find the thorn that was stuck in the tire. I once gave up on a tire because there was more than one thorn stuck in the tire. I kept patching the tube and ended up with 5 patches on the tube before I gave up.

One final comment, if you ride a lot, flats are part of the game. This is just your first.

Thanks guys for all your help..as for the $20 for a new tube i think i got roarted - apparently my tires are slightly smaller than the norm and who am i to say other wise, after all i'm just a mear girl who knows verry little about bikes!

Stay tuned for my next lame biking question....lol.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Pacesetter
Hey kiddies...i'm fairly new to the bike scene and i recently got a flat on a long ride...being a new rider i didn't think to carry a spair so i was hit up for $20 for a new tube...I kept my old one but am not quite sure how to fix the damn thing....can someone help me please (i'm soo embarised for not being able to do this...)

Also bike cleaning...what do you use, how often..better yet perhaps you could pop by and show me 😉

There are any number of books and web sites that give good instructions on fixing punctures, how to remove and put the tyre back on the rim etc. I've got Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair by Jim Langley (cost me AUD35).

Also have a look at http://www.creativity-eccentricity.com/bikewebsite/tiretube.htm

One silly observation, how come the USA spells tire when most of the rest of the english speaking world spells tyre?😕

Oh one other thing - Mike Tyson is a puncher (among other things) a hole in your tube is a puncture, not to mention a pain in the [censored]. Sorry for being a pedant, but someone has to maintain the standard.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Spider1977
Oh one other thing - Mike Tyson is a puncher (among other things) a hole in your tube is a puncture, not to mention a pain in the [censored]. Sorry for being a pedant, but someone has to maintain the standard.

Soz about the spelling - my bad, Spelling isn't my strongest point... you should speak english like we dose....lol.

With most differences in American vs British spelling the Americans did the changing - but with tire/tyre it was the Brits.

http://people.cornell.edu/pages/jjh26/Spelling.htm

Tyre in British English is spelled Tire in American English
Main Entry: tire
Etymology: Middle English, probably from tire (head dress)
Date: 15th century
1 : a metal hoop forming the tread of a wheel
2 : a rubber cushion that fits around a wheel (as of an automobile) and usually contains compressed air

The American English spelling is closest to the Middle English ancestor. The British English spelling seems to be an unexplainable aberration.

We better stop here. I don't want to turn the thread into a spelling lesson. But thanks for the information. I never tire of learning new things.

Pacesetter, did you find the web site helpful?

I use dish detergent like Insight Driver mentioned in his reply. I despense it from a spray bottle to avoid getting the moving parts overly wet thus avoiding the use of compressed air to blow excess water out. I clean my bike every couple of rides or so, depending on how dirty it is. If you keep it clean it only takes a few minutes to wipe it down vs. much longer if it is very dirty. Also a coat of paste wax helps repell dirt. and don't forget to rub a little oil on the exposed sections of the cables after getting them wet.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Spider1977
There are any number of books and web sites that give good instructions on fixing punctures, how to remove and put the tyre back on the rim etc. I've got Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair by Jim Langley (cost me AUD35).

Also have a look at http://www.creativity-eccentricity.com/bikewebsite/tiretube.htm

One silly observation, how come the USA spells tire when most of the rest of the english speaking world spells tyre?😕

Probably for the same reason we have laborers in trucks hang colorful signs on our thruways.