SlowFlyer

I've gotten much better at fixing flats on the road, but I still can't seem to do it without turning my hands black. I hate eating my granola or fig bars with hands covered in road grime. I've been thinking about carrying some medical gloves with me to put on when I have to fix a tire (yes, I know how weird I'll look, but whatever.) I've also considered carrying a few baby wipes in a ziplock bag. How do you deal with grimy hands after a flat? Just put up with it?

Sledbikes

omg omg omg omg

SlowFlyer

That gave you an orgasm?

Cadfael

I work in a food factory... and medical grade gloves are available from dispensers from various places in the building. I have a few pairs tucked in the bottom of my ruck-sack for the same reason... just in case I need to get dirty fixing a puncture.

Sledbikes... calm down dear, it is only a commercial.

Machka 

Well, you named the one I use ... baby wipes.

I also carry medical gloves, but I don't think I've ever used them.

Sledbikes

i was making fun of you about getting you hands dirty

Stacy

Disposible rubber gloves and anti-bacterial wipes. I got the idea from the guys at the LBS who don't seem to like getting their hands dirty and greasy either

SlowFlyer

Oh. I'm a little slow sometimes

Allen

Snap the fingers like Scully, rubber gloves are the way to go.

mike

I get packs of 100 poly gloves at the Dollar Store for... a dollar. I stuff a couple of those in my saddle pack with the flat-fix stuff.

Baby wipes don't remove road grime. Maybe a pack of orange cleaner with solvent would work. The best idea is to try to keep your hands clean in the first place - ie gloves.

Machka 

Actually baby wipes are incredible at removing grease and road grime. Wetwipes (the really thin ones) aren't very good, but baby wipes (the thicker ones) are great. I get the store brand type - nothing fancy.

They are also good for emergency toilet stops in the ditch, for cleaning the sweat and salt away so that you don't develop rashes in uncomfortable places, and if they happen to dry out, they make great tissues that don't dissolve when you blow your nose.

I've been carrying and using them for years ... and I've got a pack in the garage for when I'm working on my bicycles at home ... I actually need to pick more up on Monday.

DataJunkie

Most excellent idea. Unfortunately for the time being I have white bar tape on a bike. Changing a flat equates to grey bar tape. White bar tape is a horrible idea.

stapfam

Black lycra shorts. Wipe the hands as best you can on grass or a co-riders shirt and then polish on the black lycra- It doesn't show.

Best bet is the disposable gloves but if you are like me- I would carry the baby wipes aswell. In fact even better- Go to a-(I would say McDonalds but that is a dirty word at present)- Fast food outlet and save the prepacked hand wipe and put it in the Saddle bag.

roadfix

Light colored bar tape, when soiled, adds character to your bike. I don't mind my white bar tape getting dirty.

BTW, I only carry a small rag for cleaning up and wipe my hands clean on my black shorts.

Retro Grouch 

Perfect! I can hardly wait for the next time we get a puncture while riding our tandem. It's good that you live in the UK because otherwise my wife would kill you.

bkaapcke

That 'black road grime' is actually a little known Italian spice that makes food taste better. Quit *****ing and get with the program. bk

apclassic9

One might just suppose the dirt factor is the major difference between a roadie & a MTBer?

Is Slowflyer related to the road rage guy who got wet?

East Hill

No, but because he gave sledbike an orgasm, perhaps he's djslvt's manly man twin?

East Hill

SlowFlyer

I had ANOTHER flat today, that will teach me to more thoroughly inspect the tire for sharp things . I tried the glove thing and it worked well. I probably looked a little odd standing over my bike, gloving up like I'm going to check it's prostate, but who cares. I ate a granola bar later and they taste much better without that hint of dirt/oil/rubber/etc.



NO!

-=(8)=-

Also....99% of flats can be fixed with the rim still on
the bike. just break the bead on one side of the tire
and pull the tire. Really cuts down on the grimeage !

cyclezealot

baby wipes on a baggie. Hate the grime on my white handlebars. It helps to once in awhile clean your chain and cogs. Many struggle with getting the wheel out of the drops. Just pull down on the hanger and out it flops.

Stacey

AAA, I don't leave home without it.

Michel Gagnon

I tried thin Nitrile gloves. They are like surgical gloves, but in nitrile rather than latex, which makes them more resistant to oils and solvents. They are great when you need to soak your hands in oil, but otherwise they are sweaty and they tend to get pinched under the tire when you remount it.

Now I use thin cotton gloves that have their inside dipped in rubber. They are not as sticky and breathe a bit more, so it's easy to mount and dismount a tire with them. I carry them with my tube patches, so I always have them for the dirty work.

dekindy

I have a few individually packaged wipes like they would give you at any restaurant in my saddle bag for just such occasions.

Waldo

That's just funny, I don't care who you are.
Seriously, that's what riding gloves are for...and when it's time to eat on the bike I really don't care what I have on my hands.