Was on the way home along the Yarra Trail this arvo and I caught up to what appeared to be a father and teenage son on mountain bikes and going really slow. As I passed I realised that the son's rear tyre was totally flat. I asked them how far they had to get home and they said about 5 or 6km to North Balwyn so I decided to help them out. I took off his rear wheel and removed the tube to discover that it was a 27 inch tube in a 26 inch tyre and it had been folded over near the valve to make it fit!!!! I thought that this was probably what caused the flat but I did a quick check of the tyre and removed a couple of small bits of glass as well (Used my cut in half dentists tool that I have in my tool bag and use to remove glass by poking it out through the tyre). I put in my one and only spare tube (brand new and cost me about $10) with presta valve and explained that they probably wouldn't be able to pump it up as all their other valves were the standard car valve (Schraeder).
The whole thing took about 8 min or so and the guys were pretty happy and appreciative. I was thinking about the brand new tube down the drain but decided it was a pretty small price to pay given the circumstance. I suggested that they might want to buy a replacement tube with a car valve on it and install it pretty soon so that they could pump up the tyre again if required. I was about to leave and then I gave the guy one of my business cards and said that if he went and bought a replacement tube and gives me a call, I will stop by on my way home from work, fit the new tube and recover my tube back........."everyone's a winner"
For the rest of the trip home I was waiting for the puncture god's warped sense of humour to strike but I made it without incident. As soon as I got in the shed I put two more tubes in my bag before I forgot about it.....one brand new and one that has been repaired a few times so that if I have to give one away again I won't be worrying about it being a brand new tube.
I just hope that it will be a case of "what goes around comes around" if I am ever stuck somewhere.
Was on the way home along the Yarra Trail this arvo and I caught up to what appeared to be a father and teenage son on mountain bikes and going really slow. As I passed I realised that the son's rear tyre was totally flat. I asked them how far they had to get home and they said about 5 or 6km to North Balwyn so I decided to help them out. I took off his rear wheel and removed the tube to discover that it was a 27 inch tube in a 26 inch tyre and it had been folded over near the valve to make it fit!!!! I thought that this was probably what caused the flat but I did a quick check of the tyre and removed a couple of small bits of glass as well (Used my cut in half dentists tool that I have in my tool bag and use to remove glass by poking it out through the tyre). I put in my one and only spare tube (brand new and cost me about $10) with presta valve and explained that they probably wouldn't be able to pump it up as all their other valves were the standard car valve (Schraeder).
The whole thing took about 8 min or so and the guys were pretty happy and appreciative. I was thinking about the brand new tube down the drain but decided it was a pretty small price to pay given the circumstance. I suggested that they might want to buy a replacement tube with a car valve on it and install it pretty soon so that they could pump up the tyre again if required. I was about to leave and then I gave the guy one of my business cards and said that if he went and bought a replacement tube and gives me a call, I will stop by on my way home from work, fit the new tube and recover my tube back........."everyone's a winner"
For the rest of the trip home I was waiting for the puncture god's warped sense of humour to strike but I made it without incident. As soon as I got in the shed I put two more tubes in my bag before I forgot about it.....one brand new and one that has been repaired a few times so that if I have to give one away again I won't be worrying about it being a brand new tube.
I just hope that it will be a case of "what goes around comes around" if I am ever stuck somewhere.
Ride On,
Gags
Don't worry, you'll be rewarded in the after-life. Have faith!
"Gags" <gags_44nospamatnospamtpg.com.au> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Was on the way home along the Yarra Trail this arvo and I caught up to what appeared to be a father and teenage son on mountain bikes and going really slow. As I passed I realised that the son's rear tyre was totally flat. ... I put in my one and only spare tube ... The whole thing took about 8 min or so and the guys were pretty happy and appreciative.
Well done. Cycling is much more social than driving, and you just reinforced that in a big way. I'd feel good if I were in your position, and I hope the father and son can repay it by helping someone else. Reminds of the slogan "practise random kindness and senseless acts of beauty"
For the rest of the trip home I was waiting for the puncture god's warped sense of humour to strike but I made it without incident. As soon as I got in the shed I put two more tubes in my bag before I forgot about it.....one brand new and one that has been repaired a few times so that if I have to give one away again I won't be worrying about it being a brand new tube.
<snip>
Two spare tubes is a great backup plan - I use this as well, although when you think about it, you're actually handing over a tube plus three patches plus labour... 😄 Good work, and it was very nice of the puncture gods to reward you 😄
Gags> For the rest of the trip home I was waiting for the puncture Gags> god's warped sense of humour to strike but I made it without Gags> incident. As soon as I got in the shed I put two more tubes Gags> in my bag before I forgot about it.....one brand new and one Gags> that has been repaired a few times so that if I have to give Gags> one away again I won't be worrying about it being a brand new Gags> tube.
Sweet! This is what life's supposed to be about, helping each other. Good on you. -- Cheers | ~~ __@ Euan | ~~ _-\<, Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)
"Gags" <gags_44nospamatnospamtpg.com.au> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Was on the way home along the Yarra Trail this arvo and I caught up to what appeared to be a father and teenage son on mountain bikes and going really slow. As I passed I realised that the son's rear tyre was totally flat. I asked them how far they had to get home and they said about 5 or 6km to North Balwyn so I decided to help them out. I took off his rear wheel and removed the tube to discover that it was a 27 inch tube in a 26 inch tyre and it had been folded over near the valve to make it fit!!!! I thought that this was probably what caused the flat but I did a quick check of the tyre and removed a couple of small bits of glass as well (Used my cut in half dentists tool that I have in my tool bag and use to remove glass by poking it out through the tyre). I put in my one and only spare tube (brand new and cost me about $10) with presta valve and explained that they probably wouldn't be able to pump it up as all their other valves were the standard car valve (Schraeder).
The whole thing took about 8 min or so and the guys were pretty happy and appreciative. I was thinking about the brand new tube down the drain but decided it was a pretty small price to pay given the circumstance. I suggested that they might want to buy a replacement tube with a car valve on it and install it pretty soon so that they could pump up the tyre again if required. I was about to leave and then I gave the guy one of my business cards and said that if he went and bought a replacement tube and gives me a call, I will stop by on my way home from work, fit the new tube and recover my tube back........."everyone's a winner"
For the rest of the trip home I was waiting for the puncture god's warped sense of humour to strike but I made it without incident. As soon as I got in the shed I put two more tubes in my bag before I forgot about it.....one brand new and one that has been repaired a few times so that if I have to give one away again I won't be worrying about it being a brand new tube.
I just hope that it will be a case of "what goes around comes around" if I am ever stuck somewhere.
Ride On,
Gags
Bravo 🙂 That kid just learnt that cyclists=nice people. And watching you ride off, he probably also learnt that bikes are faster than he thought they were. I know you weren't consciously doing cycling PR, just "bein' neighbourly" but it's good all 'round.
I put in my one and only spare tube (brand new and cost me about $10) with presta valve and explained that they probably wouldn't be able to pump it up as all their other valves were the standard car valve (Schraeder).
Ride On,
Gags
Blessed are the helpers 😄
Good on ya.
Do you reckon they watched and learned.
"give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for life"
"give a man a fire and he will be warm for a day, set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his days"
"change a tube for a cyclist and he will be able to cycle home, show a cyclist how to change a tube and he ............."
Bravo 🙂 That kid just learnt that cyclists=nice people. And watching you ride off, he probably also learnt that bikes are faster than he thought they were. I know you weren't consciously doing cycling PR, just "bein' neighbourly" but it's good all 'round.
I was off on a short training ride last week and was considering not bothering with pump/spare tube but decided not to taunt th puncture gods. Just as well. A couple of km's along th ebike track I came across a guy changing a tube. i asked if he was right, but he definitely wasn't. He has one of those compressed air canisters and due to the bad connection had lost all his air. He got the tyre pumped up with my pump and was on his way. That's the second time I've come across that. Got me beat why you would not carry a pump on a training ride (racing maybe).
