The free wheel on my new (to me) ice bike gave out. It just spins fwd and back. Thank goodness it isn't too cold this morning (20 F / -6 C)
I'm currently sitting on the side of the road, waiting for a ride to show up.

Blackberry's are fun
That is all...

On bike forums, stranded on the side of the road. Technology, wow. Well at least you were able to ball for some help.

be thankful it's not very cold............20F................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never had a fixie, but if that ever happens to me, I'm investing in a flip/flop rear wheel for my Diamondback outlook. My Sorrento was fine all the way down to -3F last year. If that's not feasible for you, when you get home you could try refurbing the freewheel/freehub and replacing the goop inside with a light machine oil.

OK. I made it to the office.

Thankfully, one of my collegues that owns a truck was in early today and he came to pick me up. I didn't want to call home to get my wife outta bed as she would have to pack up a 13 month old and our 8 year old to come and get me.


Today's experience leads me to ask; "Does everyone have a contingency plan in case they have a mechnaical faileur on the way to work?"

T.J.

Walk or call my 20 year old son. I only live 3 miles from work, so I'd walk the shorter distance. I do carry a tube, patch kit, a few tools, but if it's more than a flat or loose bolt I'll work on it later.

Well, I have a lighter with me all the time. I don't smoke, but I'm a pyro. In your situation I would have flamed the freewheel to warm it up until it would engage.

I once flatted twice on my way home with 8 miles to go. I used my spare tube for the first one, then couldn't get a patch to hold air on the second flat. I could have tried patching the punctured tube that came from the first flat, but I was lazy. That time, I called my wife to get me.

I have three bikes, and my wife's is a fourth that I could in theory use if all of mine were down and out, but that only works if the mechanical happens close to home. There's also a really, really torturously slow bus that goes right by my apartment. I don't like using it. If I leave on bike as it passes my apartment, I can beat it downtown (14+ miles).

I've gone through a great deal of trouble to make sure I have everything with me to fix almost any mechanical problem that could possibly manifest itself on my commute, at least enough to limp home:

* Park Tool MTB-3 (my review of it is here)
* Hand pump (for my MTB and hybrid) or CO2, Schrader adapter and lots of extra cartridges (for my Road bike)
* Park Tool glueless patches
* At least one spare tube (sometimes 2) carried with me, and a spare tube both at home and in the office)

I've had to do lots of dinky roadside repairs to my bike and others: rigging up an old-ass mountain bike as a ghetto singlespeed when the rider cratered his rear derailleur and snapped his chain. Pedal, spoke, handlebar and seatpost tightening. Tying off broken spokes. Fixing an over-pulled (slipped) brake cable, adjusting shifter stops, flat tires. I'm ready for almost anything. Almost all of that crap (except the hand pump) fits in a medium-size under-seat bag. The hand-pump sits in my backpack, which i only wear when riding the MTB or hybrid.

Luckily , my commute mostly paralled a bus route. The one time I broke down, I was just on a recreational ride. Still, the bus and it's bike rack got me home.

I travel with almost enough tools to completely overhaul a bike as well as spare tubes, patches, pump etc so mechanical problems aren't something I worry about too much.

My winter bike is a fixed gear and besides the fact this is my favourite kind of bicycle (summer or winter) it also does not suffer from the issue of frozen freewheels... I have had to torch a freewheel after having it freeze up at -30 C and that just isn't fun.

If things really went to hell on the commute I am always geared up well enough to hike it (I carry extra stuff in the paniers).

Note to Self: Carry a lighter until I convert the POS Winter Beater into a fixed gear. Thanks Axon for the idea.

The POS winter Beater....

I had that happen last year. It was -25c. There was a whole lotta walking involved. I turfed that freewheel that night and replaced it. Since then, no problems (until water gets in there that is).

Can we really be prepared for all potential problems. The two times i was stranded. Once forced to ride into a debris pile of glass and nails by traffic, when I did not spot the debris in time. The other , my bottom bracket on my older commuter became too wobbly and noisy to peddle. It was the old cup and cone style bb. It was a week day and I was near a bike shop. Luckily not commuting to work. Just took about and hour of my time , plus a little piece of plastic by Capital One. / Can any given tool prepare us for all failures. Replacing bb's are a pretty major repair for the side of the road. . I was like 40 miles from home. / Big believer in an annual bike check up.

"Note to Self:

Carry a lighter until I convert the POS Winter Beater into a fixed gear. Thanks Axon for the idea.

The POS winter Beater...."

This is my first winter riding fixed although I have logged a lot of fixed miles on the pavement and trails and am not new to winter riding.

I have to say that my Kuwie is a far better bike as a fixed gear than it was as an SS running the same gearing as the fixed drive is more efficient, climbs better, and offers far more control when things are sketchy.

That and the fixed cog won't pack it in at -30... I would highly advise using synthetic grease if you are riding in uber cold temps as this will keep things spinning freely.

I just walk to the nearest pub and wait there for help to arrive. After about 4 hours, I call for said help.

Setting in outdoor cafes can be fun. Once, our group stopped at such. The waitress let us feel her butterfly tattoo,just north of her right ankle and she felt up our calves. Some of us even flexed them for her. She had a great butterfly. We tipped her well. She loved cyclists who stopped by and she was one herself.

I do. First line of defence: on-road tool kit. Second line of defence: public transit. I could also take a taxi if I really needed to get somewhere very fast, I suppose.

You're welcome. Make sure it's a torch-style wind-resistant lighter, mine is a 3-flame crack-torch style with a really weak LED flashlight built in. I'll snag a pick of it later. A $0.99 Bic will have a hell of a time staying lit and getting the stuff hot enough to melt.

Uh....

Never mind...

My back up is SEPTA (mass transit) If my bike should go boomn and its nothing I can fix I just jump on SEPTA, they have bike racks mounted on the front of the bus

The standard emergency treatment for frozen pawls (spinning freewheel) is to use a few zip ties to tie your biggest sprocket to the spokes. It won't ratchet at all then, you're riding kind of a fixed-gear with a derailler, but it'll keep you moving.
I haven't had to do this ever, I've not had frozen pawls, but this is what I've read.
In any case, it always pays to carry some zip ties.

That's a novel idea, but make sure you don't try to coast or brake with your pedals, because your chain will slack up on the top and probably get all tangled up.

A good whack(not a full swing) with something solid on the end of the axle works or try banging your rear wheel on the ground a few times. I find the quick tap on the spindle works best for me.

I have a cell phone, and a bus ticket.

I'd practice this in the cold sometime though. In my experience cold (below 0) zip-ties will snap if they bend to sharply, more so if there is presure on them. I think the key would be to do it in such a way that the loops each zip tie form aren't to small. I keep a good handful of zip-ties with me anyway, they are useful for so many repairs.

OP: glad you made it out saftely. Much of my commute is along an MUP which follows a river, worst case scenario would have me a 2 mile walk from somewhere I could have the wife land the Corolla for a dust off. However I'm stubborn enough I'd probably walk to work or home whichever is closest. Last winter I walked 3 miles when the unplowed portion of the MUP was to deep to bike through.

Move further south? I can't recall it ever getting cold enough to get a freewheel to freeze up around here. I normally ride internal gears in the winter with very light oil in them. I suspect under brutal enough cold even they would stick. In which case I would go fixie.

Aaron