Sunday 22 August 2010

It's Puncture Time!


I've had a ridiculous spate of flats this past month so I thought it was time to update the old puncture repair kit. Afterall, it's impossible to do-it-yourself if you don't have the right tools for the job!

Things you might need:
  • repair kit which should contain, in order of use; a crayon to mark where the hole is, a small piece of sandpaper or other rough material to prepare the inner tube, rubber patches, rubber vulcanising solution (glue that sticks rubber together) and a little bit of chalk or talcum block to stop sticking to the tyre afterwards. Sometimes kits come with tyre levers, if not...
  • at least two tyre levers, maybe three if you have a tough tyre to get off
  • spare inner tube if the old one is beyond repair
  • 15mm spanner  to take off your wheel (most rear axles use this size, sometimes the front will need a 14mm. You can use an adjustable spanner if that's all you have but you will cause excessive wear on track nuts after a while.
  • then of course you will need access to a pump to inflate the darned thing again...

What every cyclist should know about flat tyres is a useful article if you're unsure of where to begin but expect a Femme Pedale guide to fixing your flats to follow! x

N.B. Pink was the available colour in decent tyre levers, this was not intentional to match my bedspread.

3 comments:

  1. Loving those pink things! I had one this morning and moaned about it on my blog - http://bit.ly/aNs9Lt - so quite comforting to know that others are in a similar boat! I would add that another useful element to fixing a flat is - no rain! Or at least a bit of shelter. Otherwise the blessed sticky thing won't stick! KC

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  2. Nice blog - you are putting us to shame with your regular posts! Can sympathise with the old putting too many clothes on and dying a warm and sticky death en route issue but like DC I now live five mins from work and will have to find extra cycling time!

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  3. Thanks Jess - the posts are really just thinly disguised form of therapy to keep me from going completely mad and they allow me to get a host of normally remarkably tedious issues off my chest. But it is lovely when someone reads something and engages a bit.I very much like what you're doing up there in Birmingham - more strength to your arm! (or, in fact, calf muscles!)

    re living 5 minutes from work ... that one's a bit tricky. Short of moving house so as to be deliberately further away, perhaps your only solution is ... leisure cycling!

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