The Get fit club!

[Mark]

I got a puncture today also..... 4 miles from home. My wife was home but I din't want to stink up the car so I pushed and jogged it home... I was out for the exercise to begin with. Time to get a bag with a spare tube and a couple tools, especially now that I'm taking some longer rides.



I'm leaning towards the CO2 cartridges rather than a pump. Does anyone here have any input on that? I'd prefer not to use the space for a pump when I need another water bottle. I'll probably get a below seat type bag and want to keep it minimal.

Pump mounts the frame whereas CO2 cartridges are yet more space in the saddle bag. Plus they only work for so long, so you need to carry a pump too!

[GridGirl]

We used to have some cO2 canisters. My other half and one of his mates went on a mountain biking weekend in the Lakes and his mate inadvertantly took one of our saddle bags home with him. His mate lives over 200 miles away and next travelled up to see us by plane rather than by car. As a good friend he decided that he would return the saddle bag and its content to us. However, airport security had other ideas and confiscated the cO2 and multitools. I'm not sure what our friend could have managed to do with two cO2 canisters and some allen keys on a 30 minute flight but that day he was most certainly seen as a terrorist threat to the UK. We haven't bothered with cO2 since and just stuck with a regular pump.

Edit: I just remembered that the final cO2 canister was had was used as a jet to unblock our kitchen sink. Useful tip if ever you in such a situatin.

[janneppi]

I just bougth a co2 pump for my road bike few weeks ago. It fits nicely in the saddlebag along with a spare and tyre levers. I have a Lezyne minipump which I carried in a Mount that goes under the bottle cage. Now the pump is in my mountain biking backbag. I bougth the co2 cartridge after pumpin air into the tyre for 15 minutes next to a busy higway

[Mark]

Doing the Great North Bike Ride this weekend. 55-60 miles (noone seems sure on the exact distance for some reason), from Seahouses down the Northumberland Coast to Tynemouth.

First ride in ages which will be relatively flat! Logistics is an issue for this one as all my rides start and end in the same place, except this one

[schmenke]

Doing the Great North Bike Ride this weekend. 55-60 miles (noone seems sure on the exact distance for some reason), from Seahouses down the Northumberland Coast to Tynemouth. ...

You soliciting donations Mark?

[Mark]

You soliciting donations Mark?

Nope . All all consciousness I'd only be asking for donations for something like 100 miles+. As it would be daft to ask for donations for something which is the distance of a normal weekend ride.

[schmenke]

Ah, I was under the impression that the event was to raise donations for childhood cancer research.

[Mark]

Ah, I was under the impression that the event was to raise donations for childhood cancer research.

It is, but it's also just a bike ride

[airshifter]

It is, but it's also just a bike ride

I can't speak for others, but I'd much quicker donate to a charity if the person does anything in exchange for the donation. The fact that you are paying entry fees and such is your part, so I wouldn't feel that you haven't done anything. Lager groups raise awareness and in retun raise money.



As for the pump vs CO2, thanks for the input from all. Now I'm just as confused as before I asked. Maybe I'll do both, but will check out the pumps before the fact. I guess I had some crazy vision of the CO2 making for a 1 minute roadside repair.

I'm also going to experiment with some sealant I have. In the case of yesterdays puncture it was a fairly long small nail. It pierced both the outer and inner part of the tube, and after bending put a third hole in it. I'm going to use that punctured tube and another to see how much the sealant product slows/stops the leaks in the tubes.

On the up side during the repair I rotated my rear tire to the front, which I've been wanting to do regardless. The rear wears much quicker due to the weight balance. I'm hoping now the fresher tire will stay on the center tread more and reduce drag and tire noise a bit.

[Gregor-y]

My front tire was flat on Monday after work. I finally denied my inner Scot and threw away the tube since it already had four patches and it looked like a seam was splitting this time. I usually have an extra tube or two along with a patch kit and pump in my bag.