tjspiel

There is more than one kind of IGH and some are easier than others to deal with in terms of roadside repairs. GD (Giant Doofus) also has a roller brake in addition to her Shimano IGH plus a chain case. Some people complain about Shimano's shift cable linkage being tricky to remove. There is a trick to it but once you figure it out it takes less than a minute.

If you have a roller brake one end of the arm needs to be bolted to the chain stay. What I did with mine is put a wing nut on it. I carried a small adjustable wrench and that was sufficient for removing the roller brake arm bolt and for loosening the axle nuts. Lots of people prefer axle nuts over quick releases anyway as a theft deterrent so in my case even with the roller brake I didn't need to carry any additional tools over what I need on my fixed gear. If I'm really in a hurry, having an IGH adds a couple of minutes to the process of changing a flat, - if that. Psychologically it seems like a much bigger hassle because there are more steps but in reality it's not that big a deal. Eventually I switched to a disc brake in the rear so I don't even worry about unbolting the roller brake arm anymore.

Now, I don't know what's involved in removing a chain case. I imagine a few screws. My guess is that it makes the task more of a PITA but when all is said and done in terms of actual additional time it's probably not that significant as long as you've done it once or twice before. The other thing to remember is that it's not necessary to remove the wheel to repair a flat though most of us prefer to do it that way. You can patch a tube with the wheel in place.

To me the main advantage of an IGH and the reason I have one is that with a derailleur all the mechanical workings are exposed to the elements. If you spend a lot of time riding in wet, gritty, and/or salty conditions, the operation of that precision device will start to suffer without a lot of maintenance. So I use an IGH on my winter bike.

tjspiel

I have to say this has been an interesting thread. I've been participating in this forum for many years so I don't often see new takes on old problems. I've always just accepted that the "right" thing to do was carry a pump and a spare tube but I've heard what I think are some fairly legit arguments for not bothering. I still think doing so requires such little effort that in most cases one might as well if for no other reason than to be able assist somebody else or to be able to repair a flat on the spot if the situation makes that a more attractive option.

If we were talking about my wife, she can repair a flat if need be but I know she'd do it only as a last resort. Do I think she should carry a pump and tube? Yes. The likelihood of her actually using them is pretty close to zero but even if she calls me to help her out, it might make more sense for me to repair the flat and send her on her way rather than bringing her to work and then having to pick her up later in the day because the flat still needs to be repaired. At least she'd have the necessary things with her.

cyccommute 

I would say that it depends on the circumstance. If someone willfully doesn't carry tire repair supplies and depends on "the kindness of strangers" is different from, say, running out of patches or losing your tool kit. I don't mind helping others when they are in trouble but at some point, people need to be responsible for fixing their own problems. Flats on a bike are a fact of life...no matter how often people tell you that "I've ridden for 400,000 miles and 400 years without a flat"...and a rider should be prepared for them.

An unprepared rider is also depending on me to take the risk of giving them my support materials and leaving me without. I carry tubes and patches in preparation for my own problems but I don't carry enough to supply the world. If I give up a tube, I'm risking not having one when I need it.

alan s 

I'm with you on this. My pump has all the free air in the world, so if you supply the muscle, you can borrrow it. If you don't have a phone, let me know who to call. If you need directions to the nearest bike shop, glad to oblige. But I'm not putting myself in the position you are in by giving you my CO2 or tube. Maybe a stick on patch if you're nice and know how to fix a flat.

tjspiel

I agree but I doubt there are many people out there whose plan for dealing with a flat is wait for a stranger to come by and help. I don't see the unprepared person as a burden because helping is optional not mandatory.

Last night is one example. I had to get home early so I could get my daughter to gymnastics. Normally my wife would be home to take her but she had some other stuff going on and was depending on me to do it. At the same time I couldn't leave work much earlier than normal because a coworker needed me to fix a data issue before I left.

I had to get home quickly. On the way I saw a guy walking with a SS/FG that had a dropped chain. I debated stopping, - most times I would. Unless it was some chain-line issue I probably had on hand what was needed to fix the problem. In this case I decided not to stop because it wasn't fair to my daughter to make her late because this guy wasn't carrying a wrench or didn't know the basic skill of getting a chain back on that I learned when I was probably 8.

Of course maybe the problem was something else besides chain tension. And in retrospect I could have least offered to let him use my phone for a quick call or just tossed him a wrench and went on my way. But I didn't think of that at the time.

My point is that this guy wasn't a burden. He didn't appear to be in any particular distress so I felt I could, and did, choose not to help him.

vol

If I don't carry a pump I'm totally planning to be on my own to deal with a flat (walk, or take bike and self to a subway train, which is plenty) and never expect help from a passing stranger. Oh and I'm in NYC where those who offer help are often tourists (sorry if it sounds offensive to fellow NYers).

erig007

Thank you for bringing a few situations where bringing a repair kit is not enough to not rely on others "out of patches or losing your tool kit ". I also brought the repair one flat then get another flat just after then suddenly is out of glue thing.
My approach is not to expect that i will never have a flat which for sure will happen one day. My approach is to rely on the 1/2" thick rubber to be able to reach my destination without having to repair on the go. Even if my both tires are punctured i still don't need a patch to reach my destination. And don't need to ask for help.
It is like the airless tire


When someone is asking for help you never know why this person needs help by the way. It is pretty much inherent to any situation where someone is asking for help anyway. Give to a homeless guy or not.... Some people may abuse the system like everything else but some may just don't know how to change a tire or what a repair kit is. It would be a good thing in some way as it could means that more people are getting into cycling.

noglider 

Hey, you don't have to help anyone if it scares you so much. If help is provided by people other than people with your outlook, it's still a decent world.

tarwheel 

The Topeak Road Morph G is probably the most often recommend pump for commuters and tourers. It can pump to high pressure, has a foot foot pad and a pressure gauge. It is also reasonably light weight and compact. I actually wish they made a full-size version to fit frames with pump pegs.

Topeak® Cycling Accessories ? Products - Road Morph? G

Lezyne pumps also get great reviews, but I haven't personally tried one.

tjspiel

AAA provides roadside assistance to bikes in some cities. They don't do anything other than transport you and your bike to where you need to go (within 5 miles for basic service, farther for other plans). They won't fix a flat for example.

Some people already have AAA for their cars and it might come in handy if you can't get ahold of anybody else.

noglider 

I have AAA+. Wow, I never thought of this. I'd have to be desperate, though, because it usually takes an AAA-dispatched tow truck over an hour to reach me. Do they send a truck or something else? A truck would be wasteful.

alan s 

They send a guy on a bike with a CO2 inflator, tire patches and levers. Pretty cool!

cyccommute 

I find a long walk in uncomfortable shoes often leads to thinking about how to avoid a long walk in uncomfortable shoes

I think you might be surprised. While not exactly like waiting for a stranger to come along and help, there are a lot of people who post on the forums who have the attitude that all they need to carry is a cell phone. It's the same attitude of not preparing but relying on others to get you out of a jam. You see it in just about any subforum you look at...road, commuting, etc. My personal favorite is that attitude in the touring forum. Who are you going to call when you are 1000 miles from home? My wife would be rather put out if she had to drive 20 miles to come pick me up. I hate to think what she would do if I asked her to drive 1000 miles

Helping others doesn't "scare" me. I help people all the time. But there are limits to my generosity. I suspect that there are limits to yours as well. If there aren't limits to your generosity, how may tubes, patch kits, wheels, cables, chains and other spare parts do you carry around with you on each commute? I carry one tube because that has usually gotten me through any problems. I also carry a patch kit because there have been times when I've had more then one flat.

Someone who willfully leaves home without the proper equipment tests my limits to the fullest...especially in an area like mine where flats occur with much more regularity than other parts of the country. While you might get a flat from broken glass or road debris, you don't have Tribulus terrestris growing every where. Take the flats you can get from debris on the road and multiply it by 100 and you are starting to get to the frequency of flats around here. The original question posed by vol is laughable here in the West.

vol

What I was weighing is between carrying a pump every day for several years with almost 0 chance to use it (in my own case) and having to walk home or take bike on a subway train in the rare case of a flat. I was not weighing between the hassles of carrying a pump and asking for help from strangers. You guys seem to be equating a cyclist walking with a flat tire with no intention/expectation to get help from a stranger to a beggar with a cup in his hand. You are determined not to help even before being asked. In a positive way I take it that maybe subconsciously you associate seeing a cyclist with a flat tire with feeling the obligation to help.

P.S. On my commute route, I seem to be the only bike commuter, one of a handful bicyclists--and without exaggeration the sole bicyclist during the winter (esp. this past winter).

spare_wheel

ILTB sang the praises of a sensible bike with wider tires when it comes to flats. Well I ride ridiculous commuters with 25c tires and it's been ~3 years since I've had a flat on a commute. Like ILTB I've had to patch or replace a few tubes due to slow leaks but the risk of flatting out on any particular trip is incredibly low and the likelihood of running out of C02 is close to zero.

I should note that my frequency of flats while commuting was much higher when I was a newer commuter. I suspect being a lane-taker has something to do with this...

tjspiel

Being in a place where getting flats is a very common occurrence would dictate taking a more proactive approach to dealing with them, - I agree. I also agree that going on a long distance tour that might take you to remote locations without the ability to deal with common mechanical problems could lead to trouble. If your plan is to call your wife or husband, you probably should clear that with them ahead of time and be prepared to have to wait.

But I don't really have an issue with somebody commuting 5 miles whose plan for dealing with a breakdown or flat is a cellphone... with a couple of caveats. The first being that the need for those phone calls is relatively rare. It's OK to periodically call in help from your significant other or a friend as long as it's not every other day and as long as you are willing to help them out when they need it. Another caveat would be the willingness to accept that they may not be able to help you and your next phone call might have to be to taxi service.

In my case I know that I could rely on my wife or a friend or another family member but it's kind of dumb to do so since I can fix a flat before any help I'd call in would get to me.

erig007

I find it a little bit scary personally. The first thing it comes in mind when i hear the word cellphone is no signal and broken cellphone after falling on the ground with a bent wheel

tjspiel

All I can say is that if your cellphone is your emergency plan, you had better make sure that it's charged, that there's coverage on your whole route and that it's reasonably well protected in the event you fall.

But if your wheel is sufficiently bent you are screwed anyway. You probably aren't going to fix that.

The other thing about a 5 mile commute is that you are at most 2.5 miles from either your start or your destination. That's a very walkable distance.

Rudz

I carry a pump, two tubes, two tire levers, patch kit and a Kool Stop tire jack, just in case.

I have been debating replacing the pump with a Co2 system, it would make everything faster.

The Kool Stop tire jack makes removing/replacing the tire very fast though.

caloso

Augment, not replace. CO2 for the first flat, pump for subsequent.

Rudz

Not a bad idea. Thanks

I-Like-To-Bike

Where did you get this incorrect idea? Yes, taking off a wheel without quick release does require carrying a 6" adjustable wrench, OMG! The horror of removing the most common IGH wheels is just an Urban Legend spouted by some self proclaimed expert biking aficionados .

I never have had to spend more than 30 seconds disconnecting and reconnecting the shifting cable/cable box from the Sturmey Archer 3 and 5 speeds, or Sachs 3, 5 and 7 speed bikes I have owned and used daily for the last 40+ years.

noglider 

Certainly there are limits to my ability and willingness to help, but I see that as going without saying. People who are ill-prepared don't bug me somehow. I either help them or I don't.

gsa103

I don't buy that CO2 is vastly more expensive than a frame pump.

CO2 is significantly cheaper to start with with <$20 for an inflator + cartridge. At $3 a cartridge, you're looking at 12 or flats before you're up to the $60 cost of most the recommended frame pumps. Obviously flat rates vary, but its seems like for most people the time horizon is likely to be 3+ years. At that point, I'll just use whatever is more convenient.

No pump, 2 cartridges & cell phone.

TransitBiker

Was looking at pumps earlier in town, did not see any that were workable. There was one model that had a flexible hose extension, but no foot stand. I guess i'll have to keep looking.

- Andy