tube, patch kit, levers, frame pump. tube, patch kit and levers in small wedge bag under the seat.

Try walking at home at night with look cleats, or riding two flat tubulars!

I usually carry one tubular or one tube depending on the ride lenght. Usually after the first flat I head home, and if the distance was too short >10mi I usually grab a different bike or wheel and head back out.

I carry a blackburn frame pump that came from a bike someone donated to our shop for rehab- black and almost bronze color is a close match to the gold decals on my bike. I carry one vintage ea3 Raleigh tube in great shape that someone wanted replaced (for no good reason!) for my three speed, one new boxed road tube for my wife, and a random mountain bike tube in case I meet someone else in need of a fix. Glue type patch kit, 2 pedros tire levers, pocket knife, 8mm-9mm-10mm y-wrench, Raleigh spanner, a single missing link, a few zip ties, some electrical tape, an eyeglass repair kit, and a pencil for reasons unknown to myself. I like to carry mini alcohol wipes for various things like cleaning patch surfaces, first aid, etc, but I have to restock the kit.

The walk of shame? Rather the walk of opportunites!!

Flatted on the bike that never flats, about two miles from home. Passing through a park, a female aquaintance rolled up "hey, I'll walk with you" she said.
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/lj...n-the-park.jpg
We took a longer way back; met a guy who collects vintage motorcycles and got a tour of his collection,
http://images.hemmings.com/wp-conten...00-700x492.jpg
played some tunes on a Piano someone put out for trash,
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/6...d1fac1bde7.jpg
detoured again for an Italian Ice and finally made it back home.
http://thedailyrecord.com/maryland-b...ce-273x300.jpg

It was a great day to have a flat! :thumb:

(pictures are only representations of the day gleened from the internet)

Decided to go co2 on the new bike after years of a full sized frame pump on my other bikes. Had a flat 4 miles into the ride (I also carry 2 new tubes, a patch kit and had 2 co2 canisters). Realized I didn't know how to use the co2. Got a little flustered and put the bad tube back on the wheel. First canister went pfffftttt without even touching the valve. The second worked like a charm but it was then that I realized I switched the tubes and had the bad tube back on... At least I had my cell phone.

My flat story above happened right in front of a bike shop but the shop was closed (ride was at 5:30am and the shop didn't open until 10am).

Sounds like me.

I received a very nifty Lezyne micro floor (hpg) pump for my birthday.

Jewel like.

What a great pump.

Just getting back into longer riding, and I am just a bit paranoid about being stuck "On the Road" even though I am mainly in Urban Areas, just don't want to have to "Make that Call of SHAME"! Earlier this year, did a 50 mile ride on my 50th birthday, FIRST fifty in over 3 decades...23 miles out, had a spoke on the rear wheel let go...drive side of course! Fortunately, I had thrown a few tools in my panier and was able to back off the brake and "true" the wheel well enough to ride the other 27 miles home. On shorter runs, I usually carry nothing but my cellphone. Need to put together a small kit for those intermediates. Great thread.

Cheapie? To my knowledge, Rema patch kits have a reputation as one of the best, and in my personal experience, they are. The only thing cheap about them is that they cost about the same as all the others.

You had to wonder about that? Really?

That's why I don't use CO2, it's also why I carry patches and a spare tube...but I also carry a tire boot and even a spare tire! But I ride more then 7 miles from home, so if I'm out 35 to 60 miles from home I don't want to walk.

So I carry Specialized Glueless patch kit, Park Tire boot, spare tube, spare ultralight racing folding tire, tire irons, pump, schrader to presta converter in case the presta end of the seal in the pump breaks I can flop it over to schrader in the pump head and use the converter to continue pumping air, long touring trips I take a really small mini as a back up pump.

Patch kits only work as good as the person doing the patching!! Most people today can't seem to patch right. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5x7GIc0e6g Make sure you sand an area on the tube slightly larger then the patch will cover. I differ from him in that he applies the glue to the patch, I don't like that, I apply the glue to the tube and spread it thinnly over an area slighly larger then the patch will cover, you don't need the glue on both the patch and tube. There is no need to pull off the plastic cellophane sheet on top of the patch.

Glueless patches work the same except you don't glue. I've been using glueless patches for over 18 years and never had one fail. I've had as many as 13 glueless patches on a 5 year old tube and none of the patches failed over all that time, and it was my main tube I used everyday. I swear by glueless patches but most people fail in the preparation so they swear at them. I turned a friend on to glueless patches and told him how to do it, his failed, I went to his house and did it for him, it held; he now uses only glueless patches. There are people on this forum who like glueless patches like I do as well, so I know I'm not the lone ranger here.


Rema is the best glue on patches, and Specialized makes the best glueless patches.

Tire irons, folding Park chain tool, small park multi wrench, Headset wrench/lockring spanner, tire jack, pedal wrench/bottle opener, spoke tool, patch kit, spare tube, pump.

I think you know the answer to this, no need to get snarky. I was simply opening up some dialogue on what is best to carry on the bike. It was a long walk. I had time to wonder about many things, like how to be a nicer person.

On the commuter / daily rider bike I carry 2 tubes, patch kit, levers, frame pump, plus chain tool and multitool. The bike is already wearing a saddlebag and weighed down with lights, sometimes lunch and laptop, so why not. And I have flatted 2X on one ride in.

On the speedy / fun ride bike I carry 1 tubular, 1 CO2 cartridge (but looking for a good mini pump). I'm usually within 10 miles of home and could easily hop a bus, call a cab, etc. If I ever used this bike for longer rides, I'd carry 2 tubulars, a mini pump, and a multitool.

Seven miles is a long walk, for sure. But it could have been far worse. My last ride got me 50+ miles from home and 30+ miles from the nearest bike shop.

I always carry a patch kit, and on longer rides I make sure I have two, including a new one (with an unopened tube of glue), in case the open one has dried out. Rema are the best, but I go for whatever's cheap. No quality difference means anything if installation is faulty, and I'm not sure there is a significant quality difference anyway. So I would rather have two cheap kits (one with an unopened tube of glue) than one expensive one that may have dried out. And take my time and do the job right. And I carry a pump, of course. I usually carry an extra tube as well, in case I get a puncture that can't be patched.

I have pumps, patch kits and old tubulars that will inflate ... but ... usually I just push off with a cell phone, taxi money and a credit card thinking WTH! And yes, I've walked — 11 Km in cleat shoes being the worst! :o

Congratulations, that walk did a lot for you. Maybe the whole world needs to take a walk!

I get a little abrasive sometimes because I can't figure out why a person would go on a ride and not be more prepared, I understand if your new to the sport but I run into guys who have been riding for years and don't have a clue about fixing a flat! They call their mommies...err I mean wives, and they come get their little boys and take them to the LBS to get their tire fixed. See, there's that abrasiveness again. And I use abrasiveness as a way to wake people up, they get mad at me for it but guess what? they won't forget it!!

I will apologize to you for getting abrasive because it was a simple mistake that you now know better and I doubt you'll repeat.

But we should always try to prepare for the worst, especially the further we wander down the road from home. I also carry other stuff in my seat bag like a mini tool, small folding pliers, zip ties, duct tape, money, etc. I know it's impossible to fix anything that go wrong, but I know with what I can carry with me I can fix most things, and at the very least limp home. Heck I use my tools 99% of the time fixing other people's bikes and even cars! I think it's funny you get the guys riding who are being minimalists and carry nothing or just a tube and a pump, then when something goes wrong and I happen to come along their grateful someone else wasn't a minimalist!

JYL posted he carries two tubular tires as spares, I did the same thing when I used tubulars, but I also carried a tubular patch kit...yup needle and thread and patches. And there were more then several times I flatted both tubulars and had to sit there on the side of some semi deserted mountain road for about 45 minutes unstitching, patching, and re-stitiching one of the tubulars so I could roll again. Pain in the arse to do that but walking would have been a much greater pain the arse.

I hope that this is not "abrasive": :lol::D:p

I know how to fix a flat as well as you do, but I'm a failed boy scout. I seem to spend most my non-velo life preparing for something. My deal in life is that I gotta try and get out once a day every day and ride my ass completely off for an hour to keep my health. Sometimes I'm thrashed after work, and I just want a drink and snooze. Just finding my tights and making sure that good batts are in my lights and the tires up to pressure is about all the preparing I can stand. And in the winter when I have to dress in six layers of cotton and Gortex it's more than I want. Packing pumps, a pound of goodies or a rolled tubular is over the top for this dude. I know that if I flat-out, calling my wife is a good way to get an earful of something sounding like a nuke melting the phone on the other end.

By the time my front tire hits the road I'm all stoked and enjoying myself. My bum-pack contains the urban survival kit — 3000 yen, a credit card, foreigner's registration card, a tiny knife in case of snake bite, a cell phone, some ID with my address and blood-type — in case some moron in a car or on another bicycle kills me. Soon I am riding next to the river, or in the marsh and flood plains. I'm completely UN-prepared for a flat. And ... I'm HAPPY! ... even though I am aware that in the past I've had some walks. All in all, over the years my UN-preparedness has not worked out to be anything worse than all the dreary PRE-parations I've had to do in the rest of my life.

PS: I'm not a moron. If I were in the mountains 30 Km from the nearest Japanese inn, of course I'd have a pump and stuff — duh!

I biked a long distance away from home as a kid and can remember being 40+ miles away on a Sunday and breaking down, had to walk almost 10 miles before I found someone who was able to help me fix my bike so ever since then I tend to over prepare no matter how long the ride.

I carry at least 2 patch kits, something to boot a tire with be it cash or a small section of old tire (fold up), frame or mini pump depending on the bike, levers, screw drivers both kinds, small adjustable wrench + other wrenches that will work on the bike I am riding including a 8,9,10 open ended wrench & socket tool, metric hex keys, sometimes a small pair of Vice Grips, mechanics wire, zip ties, black tape, a rag ( helps to keep the tools quiet when wrapped like a tool roll), a spare master link ( although I don't have a mini chain tool yet), cash & cell phone.. My bag gets pretty heavy, but I hate to walk and will try and fix what ever I need to to get me back home, for the most part I am always helping someone else that has nothing with them when they break down.

Glenn

I don't puncture that often (Conti 4000s are very good for puncture resistance) but I really hate being stranded at the side of the road. So I carry at least two, and usually three, spare tubes. And a patch kit. (I very much dislike patching on the side of the road, but it beats walking.) And a CO2 thingy with three cartridges. And a frame pump. And a multil-tool that includes a chain-breaker. And a multi-gauge spoke tool. And one or two spare Chain insta-links. And a copuple Gu packets, a couple Cliff bars (I especially like to use the mini ones now - perfect size), extra powder or tablets to add to the water bottle after a refill, some Enduralites, and, sometimes aram- or leg-warmers. I carry it all in a Rivendell Banana Bag or copy thereof.

Bigbossman teases me about the "steamer trunk" under my seat . . . . until I have whatever somebody in the group needs to get back on the road. Not only do I not want to be caught short on the road, I like being "that guy," the one who can help others on the road.

Besides a pump on my bike and a phone in my pocket, I usually carry this under my saddle. The items that get most use are the allen keys (for adjusting saddle and/or bar, as I do many test rides), the mini lock (I like to stop and sit down for lunch) and the glasses (to read the menu). The cigarettes are there for that occasion when there's a second flat 20 miles from home and the phone says: "and whose problem is that?"

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-AZIZ6LGY.jpg

Just tubular basics.
 

My first ride out on my restored Peugeot, an old tubular popped its sidewall.
Only a two mile walk, carrying the bike on my shoulder. Not much fun.
Not the first time I had to carry the bike, either.

This is a good thread to get people thinking.

The Blackburn Air Stik works for Presta or Schrader; pumps on both the push and pull strokes; pumps to 160 psi; cost about $30.
The new tubular Servizio Corse cost about $20.
The seatpouch was $5. used.

At least you're laughing about it!!

If I was 30km from the nearest Japanese Inn I would head straight there!!

While on the flat subject....make sure you have levers that will get your tires off. I had one set of tires that would not come off with anything less than a full 1/2 hour mma cage match with steel levers....plastic one did not work. I got rid of those tires (some forte kevalar on cr18 rims for those that are about to ask)

Not sure what your level of experience is but most tires will go on, some harder then others, but not a 1/2 an hour harder. Did you squeeze the bead into the center of the rim as you worked the tire on? Are you using a slightly smaller tube then the tire or slightly larger perhaps? Smaller tubes make it a bit easer to put on a tire. The most difficult tire I ever had was the Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires, those were a pain in the arse to put on. So I got a tire tool called the VAR, it's small enough to go into a seat bag, and it makes installing tough tires a snap; see: http://www.cyclebasket.com/products....3s281p92&rs=gb The single separate tire lever they provide is useless, I chucked it and use Soma steel core levers instead. But that VAR tool you simply use it when you've gone as far as you can get installing the bead then put the VAR over top of the tire and hook the hooked end onto the bead and the U end onto the rim, then just pull the bead on and SNAP it's on.

Keep in mind, tough to install tires are only tough to install when brand new, once their on the rim for awhile they get easier. Also keep in mind that the harder the tire is to get on the harder is for the tire to roll of the rim if you lose air pressure...that's a huge benefit.

Regarding "booting" a tire....
You don't really need anything special like a section of an old tire or something that will just take up more room in your undersaddle bag.
As mentioned, you can use a dollar bill folded up, but you can also use something like a business card.Did that once and it got me home with no problem....

Chombi