That first pane realy tells a story, it looks like he kicked the snow or even pounded his fists before he picked up the bike and started walking. Even if he had the tools winter repairs in route are the worst and this time of year no one is going to come along to help.
He needs puncture-resistant tires. It is well worth the extra weight of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres on my Pashley Sovereign Roadster. I’ve never, ever got a puncture so I’ve stopped carrying tools. Which are a lot heavier than the extra weight of the tyres.
Luck you Kevin!
Now wait for the list of minor, disabling faults whose repairs COULD have been done roadside
Just not without tools!
(I vision riders who didn’t do their maintenance and suffer catastrophe as a result)
ie: ‘headset loosening’ causing the sort of steering wobble the tracks suggest?
What disabling faults? Internal hub gears and brakes are ultra-reliable. Aside from initial issues due to overloading the bike’s front end I’ve never had any type of breakdown. And I’ve never had any problems or load issues when my wife rides on the rear rack (they don’t call it a “girlfriend rack” for nothing).
I note that Toronto’s bike culture has people riding on the rear rack “Danish style” rather than “Dutch style.” The differences are set out at:
Where I live, carrying a passenger on a bike built for one person is illegal. Quoting from the relevant laws, Section 32-5A261 (Riding on bicycles):
(a) A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.
(b) No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped.
Toronto’s bike culture also has people riding on the sidewalk and the wrong way in the bike lane, and almost never with lights at night. I hate Toronto bike culture.
Broke my indicator chain the other day for my sachs hub. So much wear on it that it snapped in half. Sucks being stuck in the hardest gear in a hilly town.
I’ve noticed that the newer shimano 3-speed hubs revert to bottom gear if the cable snaps. Also, it pays to carry a few items such as paper clips, wire and cable-ties in your saddle bag. With a little bit of work, it is possible to rig up the indicator spindle and chain so that it puts your hub in middle gear and ride it as a single-speed.
With a three-speed front deraileur, I was able to stick a pencil inbetween the frame and the derailleur, and it kept the bike in the middle gear instead of the lowest gear. I believe I used a rubber band to keep it in place.
Did you use the same tires on your old bike? Based on the distances you listed for your typical bike usage, I’m willing to bet that I ride approximately the same distance you that ride in the year you’ve been riding your bike (from the time bought, minus the time you had to wait while getting the fork fixed) in about a month. So, saying that I’ve “never, ever” gotten a flat in a month of riding is something I can say over and over again (with the occasional flat thrown in after the equivalent of about 6 or 7 Kevin Love Years of riding).
On a commuter/utility bike, I’ll agree. The SMP is a great tire and the extra weight is justifiable. I had SMPs on my old commuter and went 4000 miles without a problem before giving the bike to a friend.
On my new bike, which I also use for brevet/long-distance riding, there’s no way I’m wrapping a nearly 2kg pair of tires on there; no matter how flat proof they are. My 32mm Pasela TG folding tires weigh less per pair than just one 32mm SMP.
The weight of a heavier tire is not the primary factor to consider. Rather, the thicker wall gives rise to higher rolling resistance. It still might be worth it (you get a better workout with more rolling resistance!), but comparing the weight of the tire to the weight of tools is the wrong comparison, unless you are worried about how hard it will be to carry the bike to the shop after something else goes wrong.
“The weight of a heavier tire is not the primary factor to consider.”
On a commuter, maybe. On a brevet bike, it’s a huge consideration. My Pasela TG’s weigh under 800g for the pair. The same size Marathon Plus weighs over 1900g per pair. I do not carry 1100g of repair materials for my tires. Even if I’m bringing a spare tire on a 400k, it’s not that much weight for my whole kit (levers, pump, tubes, tire.) Saving weight on the tires means easier rolling up hills, or more food/water I can carry if there’s a course section with no services (or riding all night when many businesses are closed and you just can’t buy any food/water.)
I’ve used Bontrager Select Invert Ks and recently changed to Continental Touring plus kevlar lined tires on my bikes. I have had maybe a dozen flats in just a bit over 10K in the past 5 years. They are puncture resistant yes, but when you ride all kinds of different street conditions like I do, you’re liable to get something eventually. If you ride enough, nearly any tire will eventually have an issue even if it’s just from wear.
I haven’t had a (bike) flat in years, but I still carry a patch kit, at least one spare tube, and small tool kit on every ride. The weight is too insignificant to be worth the risk of needing something and not having it. Heck, one library book usually weighs as much or more than that.
Goatheads are the Devil’s children. I decided to cut across an empty lot, just riding to work, not even out in the hills and the dirt. My tires were filled with those nasty little goatheads immediately-14 in the front, 12 in the rear.
Just wait. There’s no such thing as flat-proof, and some evening you’ll ride over a really big hunk o’ glass or metal when Curbside is closed, and wish you had tools.
Some of the lighter flat resistant tires aren’t too bad (like Pasela TG) but the heavy duty so-called “commuter” tires probably slow me down more than swapping a tube (who even needs sidewalls that thick if you aren’t riding in a scrap metal yard? Hell, I regularly ride through demolition sites with flimsier tires and no problems). Since I only get a few flats a year anyway once I stopped riding in the gutter and gave up on uber-skinny tires, it isn’t worth it.
A lot of you may not be aware of this, but Kevin rides a Pashley Sovereign. If he gets a flat on the rear tire on that thing, he’s going to need more than just tools. He’s going to need a full-on repair manual. Ever see the back end of one of those things?
I have, and that’s one of several reasons why Dutch style bikes don’t work very well in the real world (even an AW 3-speed hub with no chaincase, like a Raleigh Sports, is enough of a pain to fix at the roadside).
A puncture is only difficult to fix on my bicycle if I remove the rear wheel. Back in the day, before puncture-resistant tires, I was able to fix most punctures by removing the inner tube from the tire, but leaving the wheel on the bicycle.
Fortunately, we now have technology that makes punctures such an extremely rare event that I don’t bother carrying tools. In the very unlikely event of a puncture I would look up and down the street for one of Toronto’s 61 bike shops. If I didn’t see one, I would just take my bike on the subway to wherever I’m going and leave it at Curbside when convenient.
i’d rather spend 5 minutes fixing my flat and riding on than having to take the TTC (costs money, my time, and my sanity), drop off my bike at a shop for a day or more (depending on how busy they are, they probably aren’t going to get to it right away), pay money to get it fixed, and then have to get back to the bike store to pick it up, having had to use transit to get to work, which again, costs me money, time, and sanity.
Take my bike to a shop for a flat? Fix a puncture with the rear wheel still on the bike? Are you serious!?! First of all, I would rather be run over by a bus than have to take my bike to a shop to fix a flat. How embarrassing. Second, have you ever actually tried to fix a puncture without removing the rear wheel? I have. Forgot my 15mm wrench and had to improvise. I can assure you that there is nothing easy about that technique.
I know it can’t be really a law of nature, but it sure seems like as long as I carry the tool bag, I never have a flat or a breakdown…but if I forget the bag, then my chances of a flat or breakdown go up by 99% or more…
For Yehuda, who carries *everything* imaginable, realizing he forgot the tool bag must have been twice as aggravating as breaking down. He does look half frozen as well as embarrassed and annoyed with himself.
This is the way it works out in my world, too. I would lots rather have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it. I have been on two group rides where I was the only one with tools when they were needed.
No, I’ve never needed to try it myself. The idea of packing grass and leaves inside a flat tire never sounded very convincing to me; it doesn’t sound solid enough to make any real difference. But I’d think that with tightly-packed snow, in theory at least, you could get something as sturdy as a solid-rubber tire (at least until the snow melted).
Everyone’s assuming this is a flat tire, with no real evidence to support it other than our own experience of its frequency. I’m guessing it was something that requires more tools, the kind Yehuda usually carries in his handlebar pack. Maybe a fender stay came loose and hit a spoke? Or a cable broke?
Getting a flat in the snow is very unlikely, from my experience. I ride wider tires in the snow, for one thing… Pinch flats in the snow have not been a problem, nor have roadside debris hazards. Potholes will be a factor AFTER the snow melts!
True that. At least with a broken-down bicycle you can walk it home – with a car you have to walk, then find a way to retrieve the vehicle – assuming you don’t have to push it into a side-street and worry whether or not you’ll get a parking ticket for leaving it there!
A friend’s very unreliable old clunker car broke down in a no-parking zone on her way home from work a few years ago. She got another ride home and came back with her husband a couple of hours later. The car already had been towed away by then, and she decided “they can keep it” and never even tried to get it back.
Better World auto club covers bikes as well as cars. They send out a truck to get you and your bike if you have a breakdown. And if you usually commute by mass transit you can get a discount on yearly fees.
I think the lines in the snow tell the story: the rear wheel bolts came undone, the front wheel left a straight line, while the rear snapped left as the chain tugged on it.
Maybe the hub bearings seized up, or he crashed and bent the rear derailler into the spokes, or something else happened that kept one of the wheels from rolling. Or maybe he’s just carrying it inside the shop to avoid leaving wet dirty streaks on the floor.
I hesitate to do this, because it’s rude, but I’m a rude sort of person. And the local public radio station is doing a fundraiser.
I usually don’t post under my actual name, but my contribution is under my real name in the Patron section. And I only contribute $3 a month, so I’m not saying I’m that great.
But I note that there are some folks who make sure to read every day, and post every day, under what seems to be their real name, and yet who aren’t listed as Patrons. Some may not be able to afford it. Some may have a pseudonym they usually post under, as do I. And some may just be getting their priorities all wrong.
I think that if you can take the time to read the strip every day, and can make comments every day, you can spare a few bucks a month for the strip. So pay up.
real world fake world all a cartoon. gots no money. obama sposedtagonna save us. when da money come i spreads da wealth. borrow da interwebnets right now. someday the time will tell. go to the boss if you want results. and be glad i ain’t got no airplane.
Got no plane and I’m not an arsonist. I complain about em, but I pay em. Even went back and corrected some returns on my own, and it cost me plenty. That bonehead didn’t even owe very much, under 30K.
I purchased a new Schwalbe Marathon just the other day – I believe the one it replaced (which actually still has a lot of life left in it) had 25000 km on it – it’s been on the bike since new. The rear was replaced with an SMPlus last summer.
The LBS had both in stock this time, and it felt like the Plus was double the weight of the standard. I hate rear flats, though, so can justify the Plus to myself.
I wonder if this will be ushering the VS back in.
Wierd timing though… My primary bike is in the shop to get the rear wheel rebuilt (the flange where the spokes lace in snapped).
A tool bag ain’t gonna help you with a busted flange…
done this many a time
the walk of shame! noone likes that walk!
yeah :-/
No transit pass?
Suburbia, I doubt there is much transit in Shaker Heights. I could easily be wrong though.
On the contrary!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_and_Green_Lines_%28Cleveland%29
http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SHRT
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Cleveland/SHRT/
Here is the best shot of the shop from a while ago – thanks for the Link Rick!!!
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/images/Cleveland/SHRT/Lynnfield.jpg
That first pane realy tells a story, it looks like he kicked the snow or even pounded his fists before he picked up the bike and started walking. Even if he had the tools winter repairs in route are the worst and this time of year no one is going to come along to help.
Or, it looks like he kneeled/sat by the bike as he checked the bike and tried to start repairs
He needs puncture-resistant tires. It is well worth the extra weight of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres on my Pashley Sovereign Roadster. I’ve never, ever got a puncture so I’ve stopped carrying tools. Which are a lot heavier than the extra weight of the tyres.
Luck you Kevin!
Now wait for the list of minor, disabling faults whose repairs COULD have been done roadside
Just not without tools!
(I vision riders who didn’t do their maintenance and suffer catastrophe as a result)
ie: ‘headset loosening’ causing the sort of steering wobble the tracks suggest?
What disabling faults? Internal hub gears and brakes are ultra-reliable. Aside from initial issues due to overloading the bike’s front end I’ve never had any type of breakdown. And I’ve never had any problems or load issues when my wife rides on the rear rack (they don’t call it a “girlfriend rack” for nothing).
I note that Toronto’s bike culture has people riding on the rear rack “Danish style” rather than “Dutch style.” The differences are set out at:
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/12/galapagos-islands-of-bicycle-culture.html
How do passengers ride where you live?
@ Kevin- Here’s a different view of internal geared bikes.
http://www.rivbike.com/blogs/news_post/192
Where I live, carrying a passenger on a bike built for one person is illegal. Quoting from the relevant laws, Section 32-5A261 (Riding on bicycles):
(a) A person propelling a bicycle shall not ride other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.
(b) No bicycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which it is designed and equipped.
Where I live it is illegal to loan your vacuum cleaner to your neighbor.
People don’t usually use vacuum cleaners on public streets in full view of the police.
Where do you live?
I live in Birmingham, Alabama.
That’s true in lots of places.
Toronto’s bike culture also has people riding on the sidewalk and the wrong way in the bike lane, and almost never with lights at night. I hate Toronto bike culture.
a broken chain would be a disabling fault. except you got spare chain links and the tool.
Broke my indicator chain the other day for my sachs hub. So much wear on it that it snapped in half. Sucks being stuck in the hardest gear in a hilly town.
I’ve noticed that the newer shimano 3-speed hubs revert to bottom gear if the cable snaps. Also, it pays to carry a few items such as paper clips, wire and cable-ties in your saddle bag. With a little bit of work, it is possible to rig up the indicator spindle and chain so that it puts your hub in middle gear and ride it as a single-speed.
With a three-speed front deraileur, I was able to stick a pencil inbetween the frame and the derailleur, and it kept the bike in the middle gear instead of the lowest gear. I believe I used a rubber band to keep it in place.
Did you use the same tires on your old bike? Based on the distances you listed for your typical bike usage, I’m willing to bet that I ride approximately the same distance you that ride in the year you’ve been riding your bike (from the time bought, minus the time you had to wait while getting the fork fixed) in about a month. So, saying that I’ve “never, ever” gotten a flat in a month of riding is something I can say over and over again (with the occasional flat thrown in after the equivalent of about 6 or 7 Kevin Love Years of riding).
Love Years – a new standard unit of mesaurement. Like Diminutive Frenchman Units (DFUs).
On a commuter/utility bike, I’ll agree. The SMP is a great tire and the extra weight is justifiable. I had SMPs on my old commuter and went 4000 miles without a problem before giving the bike to a friend.
On my new bike, which I also use for brevet/long-distance riding, there’s no way I’m wrapping a nearly 2kg pair of tires on there; no matter how flat proof they are. My 32mm Pasela TG folding tires weigh less per pair than just one 32mm SMP.
The weight of a heavier tire is not the primary factor to consider. Rather, the thicker wall gives rise to higher rolling resistance. It still might be worth it (you get a better workout with more rolling resistance!), but comparing the weight of the tire to the weight of tools is the wrong comparison, unless you are worried about how hard it will be to carry the bike to the shop after something else goes wrong.
“The weight of a heavier tire is not the primary factor to consider.”
On a commuter, maybe. On a brevet bike, it’s a huge consideration. My Pasela TG’s weigh under 800g for the pair. The same size Marathon Plus weighs over 1900g per pair.
I do not carry 1100g of repair materials for my tires. Even if I’m bringing a spare tire on a 400k, it’s not that much weight for my whole kit (levers, pump, tubes, tire.)
Saving weight on the tires means easier rolling up hills, or more food/water I can carry if there’s a course section with no services (or riding all night when many businesses are closed and you just can’t buy any food/water.)
I’ve used Bontrager Select Invert Ks and recently changed to Continental Touring plus kevlar lined tires on my bikes. I have had maybe a dozen flats in just a bit over 10K in the past 5 years. They are puncture resistant yes, but when you ride all kinds of different street conditions like I do, you’re liable to get something eventually. If you ride enough, nearly any tire will eventually have an issue even if it’s just from wear.
I haven’t had a (bike) flat in years, but I still carry a patch kit, at least one spare tube, and small tool kit on every ride. The weight is too insignificant to be worth the risk of needing something and not having it. Heck, one library book usually weighs as much or more than that.
And again, Kevin doesn’t live in goathead country. I’ve had ‘em flat motocross tires. Mountain bike tires with liners too.
Goatheads are the Devil’s children. I decided to cut across an empty lot, just riding to work, not even out in the hills and the dirt. My tires were filled with those nasty little goatheads immediately-14 in the front, 12 in the rear.
Just wait. There’s no such thing as flat-proof, and some evening you’ll ride over a really big hunk o’ glass or metal when Curbside is closed, and wish you had tools.
Some of the lighter flat resistant tires aren’t too bad (like Pasela TG) but the heavy duty so-called “commuter” tires probably slow me down more than swapping a tube (who even needs sidewalls that thick if you aren’t riding in a scrap metal yard? Hell, I regularly ride through demolition sites with flimsier tires and no problems). Since I only get a few flats a year anyway once I stopped riding in the gutter and gave up on uber-skinny tires, it isn’t worth it.
A lot of you may not be aware of this, but Kevin rides a Pashley Sovereign. If he gets a flat on the rear tire on that thing, he’s going to need more than just tools. He’s going to need a full-on repair manual. Ever see the back end of one of those things?
“Ever see the back end of one of those things”
I have, and that’s one of several reasons why Dutch style bikes don’t work very well in the real world (even an AW 3-speed hub with no chaincase, like a Raleigh Sports, is enough of a pain to fix at the roadside).
A puncture is only difficult to fix on my bicycle if I remove the rear wheel. Back in the day, before puncture-resistant tires, I was able to fix most punctures by removing the inner tube from the tire, but leaving the wheel on the bicycle.
Fortunately, we now have technology that makes punctures such an extremely rare event that I don’t bother carrying tools. In the very unlikely event of a puncture I would look up and down the street for one of Toronto’s 61 bike shops. If I didn’t see one, I would just take my bike on the subway to wherever I’m going and leave it at Curbside when convenient.
i’d rather spend 5 minutes fixing my flat and riding on than having to take the TTC (costs money, my time, and my sanity), drop off my bike at a shop for a day or more (depending on how busy they are, they probably aren’t going to get to it right away), pay money to get it fixed, and then have to get back to the bike store to pick it up, having had to use transit to get to work, which again, costs me money, time, and sanity.
Take my bike to a shop for a flat? Fix a puncture with the rear wheel still on the bike? Are you serious!?! First of all, I would rather be run over by a bus than have to take my bike to a shop to fix a flat. How embarrassing. Second, have you ever actually tried to fix a puncture without removing the rear wheel? I have. Forgot my 15mm wrench and had to improvise. I can assure you that there is nothing easy about that technique.
I know it can’t be really a law of nature, but it sure seems like as long as I carry the tool bag, I never have a flat or a breakdown…but if I forget the bag, then my chances of a flat or breakdown go up by 99% or more…
For Yehuda, who carries *everything* imaginable, realizing he forgot the tool bag must have been twice as aggravating as breaking down. He does look half frozen as well as embarrassed and annoyed with himself.
This is the way it works out in my world, too. I would lots rather have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it. I have been on two group rides where I was the only one with tools when they were needed.
Yes, it is a law of nature. It’s called “Murphy’s Law.”
I always found that Murphy was an optimist.
It’s not like Yehuda to be so short with Thistle!
Unrequited love.
what a wuss. can’t ride a flat? what is this crap, yehuda?
Riding a flat can damage the tire and the rim. If he had tire levers, he at least could pack snow inside the tire and ride it more safely that way.
Ever had to try it? Packing a tire is only marginally better than riding it flat. Less than 3 miles and I’d walk instead.
No, I’ve never needed to try it myself. The idea of packing grass and leaves inside a flat tire never sounded very convincing to me; it doesn’t sound solid enough to make any real difference. But I’d think that with tightly-packed snow, in theory at least, you could get something as sturdy as a solid-rubber tire (at least until the snow melted).
Everyone’s assuming this is a flat tire, with no real evidence to support it other than our own experience of its frequency. I’m guessing it was something that requires more tools, the kind Yehuda usually carries in his handlebar pack. Maybe a fender stay came loose and hit a spoke? Or a cable broke?
Getting a flat in the snow is very unlikely, from my experience. I ride wider tires in the snow, for one thing… Pinch flats in the snow have not been a problem, nor have roadside debris hazards. Potholes will be a factor AFTER the snow melts!
I agree.
Next month when the snowbanks melt and uncover a winter’s worth of broken glass on wet roads – THAT’S when you get lots of flats.
Sure, it’s a bummer, but can you put a broken-down car on your shoulder and carry it?
True that. At least with a broken-down bicycle you can walk it home – with a car you have to walk, then find a way to retrieve the vehicle – assuming you don’t have to push it into a side-street and worry whether or not you’ll get a parking ticket for leaving it there!
A friend’s very unreliable old clunker car broke down in a no-parking zone on her way home from work a few years ago. She got another ride home and came back with her husband a couple of hours later. The car already had been towed away by then, and she decided “they can keep it” and never even tried to get it back.
Auto club. But not AAA/CAA, they’re fascists.
Better World auto club covers bikes as well as cars. They send out a truck to get you and your bike if you have a breakdown. And if you usually commute by mass transit you can get a discount on yearly fees.
Yeah, but at least with a car you have a place to get oot of the rain, eh.
I think the lines in the snow tell the story: the rear wheel bolts came undone, the front wheel left a straight line, while the rear snapped left as the chain tugged on it.
Bolts? Even Yehuda isn’t luddite enough to eschew quick release on his Coventry.
Erm, Yehuda, why did you carry the bike? Wouldn’t it be easier to just push it, puncture or not? Or are your training for an upcoming ‘cross race?
Maybe the hub bearings seized up, or he crashed and bent the rear derailler into the spokes, or something else happened that kept one of the wheels from rolling. Or maybe he’s just carrying it inside the shop to avoid leaving wet dirty streaks on the floor.
Great, I’m not the only one, with this problem.
I hesitate to do this, because it’s rude, but I’m a rude sort of person. And the local public radio station is doing a fundraiser.
I usually don’t post under my actual name, but my contribution is under my real name in the Patron section. And I only contribute $3 a month, so I’m not saying I’m that great.
But I note that there are some folks who make sure to read every day, and post every day, under what seems to be their real name, and yet who aren’t listed as Patrons. Some may not be able to afford it. Some may have a pseudonym they usually post under, as do I. And some may just be getting their priorities all wrong.
I think that if you can take the time to read the strip every day, and can make comments every day, you can spare a few bucks a month for the strip. So pay up.
I’ll pay when Obama fix the economy. See how that “from each according to his ability to each according to his need” shit play out in the real world.
Stay tuned.
And what has Obama got to do with it?
Leave politics to politicians and leave the real world to us!
real world fake world all a cartoon. gots no money. obama sposedtagonna save us. when da money come i spreads da wealth. borrow da interwebnets right now. someday the time will tell. go to the boss if you want results. and be glad i ain’t got no airplane.
Perhaps if you took a remedial English class you might find your employment prospects improving.
Got no plane and I’m not an arsonist. I complain about em, but I pay em. Even went back and corrected some returns on my own, and it cost me plenty. That bonehead didn’t even owe very much, under 30K.
I purchased a new Schwalbe Marathon just the other day – I believe the one it replaced (which actually still has a lot of life left in it) had 25000 km on it – it’s been on the bike since new. The rear was replaced with an SMPlus last summer.
The LBS had both in stock this time, and it felt like the Plus was double the weight of the standard. I hate rear flats, though, so can justify the Plus to myself.