Bicycle Mechanics - Thanks for the tip(s)

Just want to post a collective thanks to those on bike forums for helping me gain a decent bicycle education. This came in especially handy yesterday when I was over 16 miles from home looking at a tent and heard the boom of my rear tube exploding because of a small hole in the tire sidewall. I had a spare tube and pump along but no spare tire. Thanks to the info learned here, I asked a lady running a rummage sale for change for a $20 so I could use a single as an emergency tire boot. She got a chuckle and I got safely home (spent $50 on an almost new $200 Kelty tent - same rummage sale).

Now I just need to send thanks to those who helped educate me in emergency repair methods and retrieve my dollar bill by changing the tire.

Labrat

Well why not a collective thanks - (could be a Sticky). I'll add that I recently posted about my shifter being mushy. It had no more distinct click and would not release properly to the smaller cogs. I thought the shifter return spring had broken and would have to kick out some bucks for a new shifter. But there were about three separate postings for shifter problems at the same time, so between the three I got my answers.

Instead of just lubing the shifter as I had done, I properly flushed the shifter with PB Penetrating Lubricant using its pinpoint spray, changed the cables and housing to a good quality Jagwire, and wallah. Shifter click is back and gears are shifting fine.

Throw my thanks into the pot with all the others. (And a thousand thank you(s) to the search button and archives.) :thumb:

Paper money does not make a good boot for a high pressure road tire. But if the hole is small enough it will work. There are other materials for making an emergency boot that work better and can temporarily fix a hole in a tire. Foil wrappers, short lengths of inner tube, duct tape, etc. I carry a 3 inch interval of inner tube in my tool bag at all times. A friend of mine totally destroyed $20 worth of paper money before we got him going again by moving the bad tire to the front.

Park makes an adhesive clear plastic tire boot material that I think they call "TB-2". I've used it to get me home...then forgot about it for another year. Seemed to work fine for a cut half a centimeter long, don't know how it works on a bigger slice though.

Back when I worked in a shop we saved many a shifter with that PB Penetrating Lubricant. Great stuff. I couldn't count how many dead and "broken" shifters we resuscitated, but shifters on bikes that had been sitting unused for more than a year seemed to be especially vulnerable to gummed up.

One other note: a new $200 Kelty tent for $50! SWEET DEAL, congrats!

Just to be clear, the tent was used a couple of times but looked new when I pulled it out of the bag and I'm hoping it will serve many years as I go camping with my kids and their Boy Scout Troop.

I do understand that there are better materials for a temporary boot than paper money but that what was mentioned on these forums some time ago, I happened to have some, and it worked. The main point remains unchanged - the knowledge shared on this forum helped save me from the ride of shame.

Thanks to all who have helped a fellow rider,
Labrat

Money is not paper, but a good quality cloth.
You can take the old tire, cut off the beads and cut pieces about 1.5 to 2 inches long for tempory boots.
I have found that 1/32" rubber gasket made for pipe flanges makes a boot that can be super glued into the tire for a permanent repair.