sd790

Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. To make matters worse, I was close enough to push my bike the rest of the way. I got a flat while walking on the stupid bike path.

By the way, the bike was an old mountain bike. I found out that the Shimano crank had been recalled about 10 years ago. I called them up and they replaced the entire drive train at no cost. New derailleurs, chain, cranks, shifters, etc. huge kudos to their customer service!

ItsJustMe

I got a lot of flats this year because I bought a road bike, and the tires it came with were junk and didn't defend against road hazard at all and I wasn't used to having to check tire pressure very often and so I got a lot of pinch flats. Then I started getting flats because my patching technique was not up to 100 PSI pressures. I eventually got it under control. Changing a tube isn't a huge deal, it's about 10 minutes. On that bike I don't even need tire tools, the tire just comes off by hand.

I also broke a spoke for the first time in years on that bike. It's a factory wheel. The original wheels on my old $300 hybrid were junk and I broke spokes a ton until I gave up and built a new wheel. It's probably telling that as someone who had never built a wheel before I had no problems building one that lasted 16000 miles and stayed dead true, when the wheels that came with the bike broke 12 spokes in < 2000 miles - and the wheels that came with the $1000 BD bike broke a spoke at 2100. The only reason my built wheel died at 16000 was that the axle broke.

Oh yeah, the broken axle. I just rode on the broken axle, I just took it easy. It broke about 2/3 of the way to work one day.

Broken spokes are no big deal, they're almost always on the rear and you just loosen the brake caliper and keep riding until you get home. Spoke replacement on the road is probably possible if you're a tourist (kevlar spokes) but much easier at home, where it takes 15 minutes.

I lost a pedal once. Turns out that aluminum shrinks more than steel in the cold, so when it's -15*F you shouldn't just force the SPD pedals out to put in platforms for boots - it strips out the threads and the next day your pedal just falls out. That was a long 3 miles back to the house.

I threw a chain master link once. I Fred Flintstoned about 3 miles into town, bought a new master link for 99 cents at the hardware stores (the joys of using 7/8 speed chain) and went on my way.

I had a bad rim tape once and didn't know what was wrong, but I flatted 5 times in one day and my wife found me at the side of the road fixing flat #5 2 hours after I left (I have a 45 minute commute). She was not happy and forced me to get a cell phone the next day.

dcbrewer

Hmm. I have had countless flats, which are really not that big a deal, but they do tend to happen in the rain or after dark more often than not. I have also broken my chain (I now carry a chainbreaker tool with me), had a crank arm come loose, worn through the edge of a tire, broken two rims (neither catastrophically, fortunately), broken lots of spokes, and snapped the steering tube on my fork.

KenshiBiker

Not much to tell really. Second or third time using CO2 on the road. Still had some left over in the previous cartridge. Used it to seat the tire on the rim, which to my calibrated thumb brought it up to 30-40 psi. Since I wanted higher pressure than that I put another CO2 cartridge in the inflator, and "let 'er rip". The resulting noise made me glad (1) I was on a busy road in the middle of the day so I didn't have a bunch of folks coming out of their houses to investigate, (2) I had a second spare tube ('cuz my patch kit was going to be useless on the resulting blow out), and (3) I had gone to the bathroom before I left on the ride.

Now I seat the tire using my mini pump, check it, then deflate it before giving it the CO2.

Baytree

The only serious mechanical problem I've had (in 15+ years of bike commuting) was a broken rear wheel skewer. About 5 miles from home on the highway... noticed the bike wobbling funny and when I picked it up to look the back wheel fell off!

Other than that most things have been very minor. Broken spokes you can ride on in a pinch, same for flat tires.

xtrajack

My worst, was a flat one night in a snow storm on my way into work. I didn't want to fix it there in the dark along side the road in a snow storm, so I used my phone to call work, told them I was going to be late, then I walked my bike to the truck stop/convenience store about three miles away. Then I replaced the tube under the well lit sheltered store overhang.

Actually, I rather enjoyed the whole experience of walking my bike in the snowstorm.

pdlamb

Worst mechanicals? Pick one:

Broke a crank at traffic light half a mile from work. Jackass behind me landed on the horn because I couldn't ride. Walked the rest of the way to work. Ride of fame -- I'm tougher than my bike!

Stripped derailler hanger mounting bolt half a mile from home. Walked home and drove that day.

Broken frame half a mile from home (same bike, within a block or two of the hanger spot). Walked home, called wife for a ride.

Pedal bearing failed, Frog pedal came off pedal shaft ~3 miles from home. Put pedal body in pocket, limped home on shaft (nice lady in a car honked at me when the body fell out of my jacket pocket at light!). Changed bikes and rode to work an hour late.

noglider 

Well, gee, of course I get flats and mechanical breakdowns on the road. Is this a surprise? If bikes were as reliable as cars, they'd be too heavy to ride.

MEversbergII

Only thing I've ever had were flats, really.

M.

vol

Scary! On the highway! So what did you do, then?

I wonder how you were riding to have got these failures? Were you usually very fast? I'm a "lukewarm" (leisure speed) rider so I guess I'm unlikely to have these kinds of problems?

Bill Kapaun

Does breaking a couple bones in your leg count as mechanical failure?

harshbarj

I had a shimano inter-7 fail catastrophically on my way home from work one day. It started clicking loudly then just locked. I could not turn the wheel or pedals. I had to walk the last 4km by lifting the rear wheel. It was an OLD hub though, likely over 15 years old. What was sad was it had not given me any problems up to then outside of the occasional (perhaps once every 2 weeks) skip while pedaling.

mstraus

So far just flats for me (way to many till I replaced my old tires with some Gatorskins). One of my friends broke a chain recently, but I don't have personal experience with any other major issues.

dramiscram

Talking abut flats, I had my second this morning in the last 6 days.

Papa Tom

Flats and other "simple" mechanical failures are easy to recover from if you leave enough extra time AND bring:

1. Tools!
2. A pair of rubber gloves
3. A rag

The first is obvious. The latter two will save you the hassle of trying to scour the grease off your hands and clothing so that you are presentable when you arrive at work.

rpclark

In the 21st century when cars have become spectacularly reliable and flats on legal-tread tires are rare,
why are flats on bikes still issues?

MNTC

Drivers don't have to push their heavy tires up hills with their legs. A massive amount of rubber is in a car tire compared to a bike tire, it's apples and oranges.

Nerdanel 

2 flats a couple of weeks ago. There are only two intersections on my commute where the traffic light won't change because the wire embedded in the road can't detect a bicycle. One traffic-heavy day at one of these I rode over to press the walk button then rode across about 5 feet of grass to get back on the street. When the light changed I rode across the intersection then spent the next 30 minutes pulling goat head thorns out of both tires. To no avail--both tires were flat by the time I got to work. I had one tube with me and probably a patch kit somewhere in my pannier, but whatever. I called my DH for a ride home.

rpclark

That's obviously the reasoning of bike and tire makers.

noglider 

rpclark, see my comment above!

vol

Thanks for a simple but very useful tip. I promptly stuffed a rag under the saddle.

devianb

One time the bracket holding my seat up split and half and I had to ride a mile standing up. Another time on an older bike the bottom bracket fractured and the cranks separated to the point I could not pedal it.

ben4345

Not really a bad experience but more ironic... My girlfriend and I were handing over to our LBS because they had some Continental tire event; see how they are made and talk to a rep. and enter to win a free tire. On my way there, my rear tire shot all it's air out from a puncture. It so happened to be a conti. Gatorskin.
Me and my girlfriend made it there so we entered, to your amazement, she won a free tire.

pdlamb

Right, they call me the Monster Machine! (*)

No, it's usually the combination of wear, age, and somewhat spotty maintenance. For instance, I'd rebuilt the pedal and didn't use Loctite on the nut, so after a few weeks it unscrewed. Broken frame had 12,000 miles on it, but I don't really know why it broke; manufacturer warranteed the frame. I guess the crank had over 10,000 miles on it; it's replacement has 20,000 miles plus.

You ride long enough, often enough, in all kinds of weather, and things wear out. You can buy a new bike every year, or a new car every 50,000 miles; or you can fix things when they break.

(*) BTW, who bought the Weather Channel? I thought it was weird enough that they were doing their own Ice Road Trucker routine the other week, last night they had a Modern Marvels type of segment on mining in Michigan.

deeth82

It does, Sir, but I'm sorry to say it's not covered under your warranty.