PaulRivers

Well...technically, a full size road morph is $37 on amazon...

PaulRivers

You realize it's usually significantly cheaper to order something like that from amazon, right?

TransitBiker

I am quite aware. I don't buy things like this that i need to rely on unless i can see it in person. Also, it was a simple cursory once-over of the available selection along a route i was all ready on.

There is another shop in doylestown i plan to stop in, and i'm thinking of hitting up EMS in warrington, and if possible i wanna go back to bustleton bikes, since they seem to have the "real" stuff worth looking at. We;ll see what happens, but it's definitely on my list of "need to get asap" as well as a few additional tubes, and some tools. The bags i got will hold all of this stuff, so no need to mount it anywhere, just one less thing to break or get stolen as i can carry the bags with me no big deal.

- Andy

HydroG33r 

You whoule probably learn to change your tubes. I had bought tire levers, tubes and CO2 when I bought my bike but didn't bother to learn to use them until my first flat. YouTube on the iPhone and 30 mins later and I was on my way... And have changed a few flats since.

I did learn the hard way on my second flat change that CO2 isn't foolproof, and I'm sometimes a fool, so I always carry two CO2 cartridges now plus a very small light frame pump. I'm not worried about the few extra ounces when I'm commuting: I often carry 25-30 lbs of gear when I have my laptop, clothes, lunch, and maybe a hard copy report or two...

tjspiel

I would use that first cartridge just making sure the CO2 inflator worked and that I knew how to use it. I'd want to carry at least 2 cartridges so my initial purchase would be a about $26 using your numbers.

A Topeak Road Morph is about $37 so at $3 a flat, the frame pump gets cheaper after about the 4th flat.

Unless you get a lot of flats I wouldn't say that a frame pump is vastly cheaper. It's cheaper in the long run but I don't think there's enough of a difference that cost should play a big part in the decision to choose one over the other, unless of course you get a lot of flats.

dscheidt

I carry a short wrench that's a 15 box wrench and a tire lever. Bought it from some shop that specializes in selling stupid crap to hipsters who ride brakeless fixies. I'ts three or four inches long, and works great. (you can stand on it, if you need more torque.) Because it's sold to hipster idiots who ride brakeless fixies, it's also a bottle opener. (and, more usefully, a tire lever.).

vol

I, too, have bought new tubes and tire levers and watched some videos about changing tubes (also how the shop guy changed my front tube). I'll probably be like you: learn to do it when I have to, as I don't want to break what's not broken .

On weight: again it's not the weight of the pump (super light) but the hassle to take off the bike whenever parking outside. Nonetheless I rarely carry heavy stuffs on my bike, and I wonder if that in a small way contributes to my not getting flats in 3+ years.

P.S. Replies mentioning cell phones reminded me of a thread started by someone a few years ago asking whether he should carry a cell phone with him on a bike

PaulRivers

Same here. College student budget me might have cared, though wouldn't have called it "vastly" cheaper. Has-A-Job me would care about the money cost difference at all, but does care about the inconvenience costs - buying new cartridges, remembering to replace used ones at the end of the ride, stuff like that.

jralbert

And yet here we are in a thread where an IGH owner contemplates leaving their bike locked to a tree and coming back for it later with a car rather than carry the necessary tools. I don't think it's the 'expert biking afficianados' who'd have a problem with pulling an IGH wheel - if I had one, you can bet I'd carry the wrench - I suspect it's the less-expert, more numerous urban short-haul cyclists to whom IGHs are widely marketed...which is the point I was making in the first place.

The increased difficulty of IGH maintenance (more involved flat repair, basically no user-serviceability of the IGH itself), however marginal the increase, will probably lead a lot of those less-expert riders to just outsource all maintenance to the LBS. That's great for them, but it kinda makes me sad; I'd much prefer to have a bike I can (relatively) easily service every part of, because doing my own work makes me feel connected to the bikes that carry me - and for me that means derailleurs and clinchers and caliper brakes. Your mileage will almost certainly vary, and I don't mean to suggest that you ought to do things the same as I would.

jralbert

Yep. It's not that I dislike the idea of CO2, it's that I know sooner or later I'd forget to pack a fresh cartridge, and then I'd be so screwed. It's hard enough making sure I swap the punctured tube out of the seat bag for a good one when I get home after a flat.

Giant Doofus

That was me, so let me just weigh in one more time on this issue. The IGH isn't the main reason I don't do roadside repairs. In fact, it's not really one thing. It's a combination of things: IGH, roller brakes, chain case and nutted axles by themselves would be fine. Add in that I'm in a dress and heels and things get more complicated. The real deal killer for me are the tires -- Schwalbe Marathon Plus. Those suckers take a lot more hand strength than I have to get on and off the rim quickly. So, I lock it or put in on the rack on the bus and go my merry way. I can always fix it in the comfort of my own garage at home.

On your last point: I think you are right that lots of people buying IGH bikes don't want to do any of their own maintenance. They'll outsource even a flat tire to the LBS. I'm okay with that. I'm just happy that they are on bikes at all. I like tinkering with my own bikes, but lots of people just want to ride. I'd hate to think that someone decided not to commute by bike because s/he thought you needed competence in bike mechanics to do it. As long as a person has a workable plan for dealing with a flat and getting to work, I'm happy.

PaulRivers

Lol, haha, I forgot about having to replace the tube...I've ended up with a flat not realizing I forgot to replace the tube more than once. :-( But since I had a patch kit and a pump, I ended up ok...

PaulRivers

I agree totally with where you're coming from - I'm just happy to see people out biking. It's not 1980 - everyone has a cell phone now, if you get a flat you're not stranded hoping there's a pay phone close by like you were back in the 80's.

If they take sensible precautions (like having a flat resistant tire) and they have a backup plan for if they get a flat, I think it's 100% fine to use a bike shop for doing all the mechanical work. I mean that's one reason to earn money - so you can pay people to do things you need done that you find to troublesome to do. I have a service that comes and plows my driveway when it snows in the winter - I could do it myself, but so what? I prefer to pay someone else and not have the hassle. For biking, it's just good to see more people and a wider range of people out biking. :-)

The people I find annoying are the people who don't want to learn to fix things the cheap way, then whine on and on about paying someone else to do it. But those are different than the people who just say "I'd rather pay someone else to do it rather than do it myself". The second one is *fine* - pretty much no one builds their own house from trees they cut down themselves, molts their own nails (for building the house), generates their own electricity, etc etc. We just pay someone else who's more experienced with it to do it so we can concentrate on things that are either more worthwhile for our skills, or just more fun.

P.S. Where I am in Minnesota, they even have a mobile repair service that will drive over and pick up your bike -
https://freewheelbike.com/articles/mo...quad-pg471.htm

Pretty cool. :-)

tjspiel

I tend to agree with GD on this one. If fewer maintenance hassles means more people riding bikes then I see that as a net positive. I also like that there are more neighborhood bike shops opening up. There's one within easy walking distance from my home and another less than 1/2 mile from where I work. There's two more easily accessible from my commute route.

As far as your concerns go (jralbert), well... first of all IGHs aren't some new trend. The first geared bikes I ever remember seeing (back in the late 60's) were not derailleur bikes but IGHs. Secondly, there isn't a lot of user-serviceability when it comes to derailleurs either. You lubricate them and adjust them. Maybe you can replace a jockey pulley. That's about it. With IGH's there's also lubrication and adjustment. Since they do double duty as the wheel hub, there's bearing maintenance too. This can all be done by the home mechanic if they choose.

I also suspect that derailleurs will be around for a long time. So if you really enjoy digging the crud out from between the cogs on your cassette, you will continue to have that option.

bhop

I started carrying my mini pump again after getting three flats in a row one morning a couple weeks ago. I had a huge piece of metal puncture my tube, so I switched it out. Pumped it up with co2, then it instantly went flat.. faulty tube, so I patched the first tube, then used my 2nd co2 cartridge. The patch didn't hold so I walked to work from there (I was around 4 miles away).

I'll still carry my co2 and use the pump as a back-up, but I think it's just not smart to not carry a tube, and not know how to change it out unless you're not riding farther than you're willing to walk.

no motor?

That's how most of us learned. Especially those of us old enough to remember when cell phones weren't ubiquitous.

wolfchild

I say forget about relying on cell phones or kindness of strangers. Cyclists need to take responsibility for themselves. Carry a pump, spare tubes, tools and know how to change a tube...My Lezyne pump is so small and light I can carry it in a pocket of my cargo shorts and not even notice it's there.

dynaryder

Not all IGH's are the same. The shift box comes off my SPTT's DualDrive hub with the press of a button. My old-style Nexus 7 required the patience of Job to put back together.

wolfchild

Thank God for internet, youtube and cell phones...What would modern cyclists do without it ?? ...I was fixing my own flats since I was a kid and that was long before internet and youtube videos.

erig007

Wondering if cell phones can be used as tire lever?

wolfchild

Why even bother ??.. It's just too much work to fix flats.. Pump, spare tube and tire leavers are too heavy and all that extra weight would slow down the cyclist too much..When a cyclist has a flat all they need to do is call and pay a taxi to take them to their LBS and then pay their LBS to fix the flat for them..Or even better yet. Just flag down another cyclist and use their valuable time and get them to fix their flat for them.

erig007

I'm not against that in some way it's good for the economy. If those new cyclists were using cars before those services were there for them as drivers. So as people switch to bicycles car services should switch to cyclists to keep the jobs.

I bet if the cyclist asking for your help is pretty hot you won't mind

dynaryder

Sort of:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...tec-0?mobile=0

wolfchild

Of course I would stop to help out a hot lady cyclist...But if it's a guy then let him walk

loky1179

Almost always works. I found out that the o rings in some pumps can dry out, causing the pump to be useless. Fortunately, the one time it happened to me, I was only two miles from home. Although, walking two miles in SIDI road shoes with Look cleats was unpleasant enough for me to never want to do it again.

I make it a point to check my frame pump at least annually and put a little fresh non-petroleum lube on the plunger / seals.