How long does it take you to fix a flat?

[melissam]

When I changed my flat tire during the Waves to Wine ride, I was so slow that:

• You could have timed me using a sundial
• I had no less than 5 meaningful conversations with some of the locals
• The census bureau was going to add me as a resident of the town

I got off to a good start -- removed the wheel from the frame, got the tire off the wheel, found the source of the flat.

I lost a little time by not slightly inflating the new tube before mounting it.

The real time sink was that the tire didn't look like it was seated properly. I tried re-doing it a couple of times, but it just didn't look right. Perfectionism is a horrible thing! I finally decided that I wanted to finish the ride before sundown, so I did one more try at seating tube & tire, inflated the tire, put it back on, cleaned up my mess, and I was on my way.

Sometimes I think it'd be helpful if tubes were different colors than your tires. That way it'd be really, really simple to make sure that your tube wasn't stuck between the tire & the rim. But maybe that's just me.

[RolliePollie]

So I think what you're all trying to tell me is that I'm really slow?

melissam...you and I sound like kindred spirits in the tire department. But at least we can do it, right?

[Veronica]

I timed myself yesterday putting new tubes into my Rambouillet - about 5 minutes.

Don't ask me how long it took to put the fenders back on....


Veronica

[aicabsolut]

It depends on how new my tires are. New race tires take FOREVER to get back on the rims, and I usually wind up cutting my hand on the bladed spokes and/or smashing a finger in the process.

[OakLeaf]

Okay, embarrassing story. Last time I changed a flat was on a local multi-user trail, but way out in the boonies where there wasn't much traffic.

My multi-tool has tire levers built in and this was the first time I'd tried to use them. It was a MAJOR PITA trying to manipulate the levers with the rest of the tool attached. After that experience I put some regular tire levers back in my seat pack, too bad about the extra space and weight.

Once I got the tire off, I totally could not find what caused the flat. It happened when I hit a bump so I thought it was a pinch flat, except the hole in the tube was extremely tiny. (When I got home and patched the tube later that day, only a slow stream of the tiniest bubbles came out of the hole when submerged in water. I'm actually surprised it went flat quickly, but I guess a high-pressure tube just doesn't get slow leaks.) So anyway I went over the tire two or three times trying to find what caused the puncture and never did.

Then I tried to use my CO2 inflater for the first time and totally could not get it to work. I still don't know why. DH and I actually burned a cartridge to find out what the problem was, and he could get CO2 out of it, but only a very, very weak stream, and it took pliers to get the cartridge off the inflater head.

So luckily I had the mini-pump I'd just bought. Very glad to have it, but it wasn't exactly a quick job.

I got the tire to where it was starting to get hard and saw that the bead wasn't properly seated. So I had to let out most of the air, squish the tire all around the rim, and pump it all over again.

Interspersed with all of this was swatting mosquitoes, since of course it was seemingly a freakin' swamp.

Some guy on a tri bike came by and asked if I needed help. I told him I was okay. After he'd gotten to the end of the trail and came back on his return trip (like, 14 miles) he asked me again. Same flat??? he asked incredulously Thank goodness he was at least on a tri bike and appeared to know what to do with it, not some out-of-shape person on a 40 lb hybrid

I had to look this up in my training log to see just how much time I'd taken. It was almost 45 minutes. Slowest. Tire. Change. Evah. And I'm an experienced rider who's changed many, many flats in my life (without exaggeration, back in the day I patched the holes by the side of the road, MUCH quicker that). Just never with a non-functioning CO2 inflater, stupidly designed tire levers or a weetie little mini-pump...

[melissam]

melissam...you and I sound like kindred spirits in the tire department. But at least we can do it, right?

Yeah, we should ride together some time! If one of us gets a flat, we can transform the experience into a lovely picnic lunch.

Practice makes perfect. The good news is that I hadn't had much practice in the flat changing the department because I hadn't had any flats. (Oh great, I've just cursed myself to having lots of practice. I'd better pack some extra tubes for tomorrow's 200k...)

[Veronica]

I'd better pack some extra tubes for tomorrow's 200k...)

You're gonna need that big bag you've been resisting. Don't forget the rain gear too.

Veronica

[indigoiis]

It depends on how long it takes me to wonder what I'm gonna do.

I mean, honestly. Five miles from the house? Should I call home? Should I change it? Should I walk?

I'm laaaazy.

But once, when I was vrry far from home and no one was home anyway, it didn't take long at all. No one was watching. Maybe 10-15 minutes.

I think proximity to my very skilled husband makes me like one of those stupid women we all love to hate. I mean, I'm not a total airhead but I dunno... and it's not like he encourages this, either. I just get inept or something, when he's around. I wonder if that is like, somethng left over from the caveman days?

[OakLeaf]

Five miles??? Walk your bike in cycling shoes???

Nope. I wouldn't have to think about that one for half a second

I remembered the flat I just described wasn't my last one after all, it was just the last one I fixed on the road. The last one was a quarter mile or less from my car, and that distance I did walk.

[TrekTheKaty]

I bought a wilderness whistle for emergencies. My husband calls it the "come change my flat whistle." Honestly, I begged him to teach me, but he's too impatient.