Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
-
- Posts: 1193
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:16 pm
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby NASHIE » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:30 pm
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:11 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby daidaidai » Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:12 pm
I'm still riding the same wheels no problems, straight as the day I first rode them.
Of course if it occurred early in the commute, I'd be ringing my wife or lugging the bike on the train; wouldn't feel much like riding home for three hours. I ditched the tube, but kept the tyre on each occasion. Cheers
- bychosis
- Posts: 7269
- Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:10 pm
- Location: Lake Macquarie
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby bychosis » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:17 pm
Yup. If it's nearly flat, keep riding - with caution. If it's dead flat, it's time to stop and repair or walk. Sag wagon is a last resort. The worst I did was about a 3km walk, after a cautious bit of riding, to a mates place for a puncture repair rather than 10 or more km home.NASHIE wrote:Riden a few times on flats (2-3km). Maybe not if on set of $2000 wheels and new tyres, but training wheels and older tyres at 10kph so what, saves waiting around and inconveniencing others.
Or that time I popped my rear tyre after a massive skid about 8km from home with no shoes and no money at age 14. It was a BMX sized tyre, so riding it downhill under brakes was a way to reduce the walk.
-
- Posts: 1193
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:16 pm
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby NASHIE » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:45 pm
What's this nearly flat !! is that like only flat on the bottom . The few times I've been caught out are from not fully removing object that caused puncture (glass, wire) etc and getting the second flat with no spare. Last was a rear that I rode about a 1k on. Out of the seat leaning forward, slow ride, rim and tyre fine. Haven't patched a tube for at least 30yrs. Puncture=new tubebychosis wrote:
Yup. If it's nearly flat
-
- Posts: 501
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:57 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby Philistine » Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:34 pm
My logical side says this is the way to go, but my parsimonious streak kicks in when I have to make the call on binning a tube. When I first took up cycling (a long, long time ago) I owned 2 tubes - one on each wheel - and I expected them to last the life of the bike. The idea of buying a pack of 10 tubes (plus another pack of long valve tubes for my aero wheels, and a pack of 26 inch tubes for my MTB) would have seemed the height of extravagance. I would only consider replacing a tyre when the canvas (which was a different colour in those days) was showing through the tread in a continuous line. I doubt if I averaged one puncture per year (I wasn't keeping score).NASHIE wrote:Haven't patched a tube for at least 30yrs. Puncture=new tube
But we were happy then, even though we had nothing.
-
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:51 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby TheWall » Sun Feb 04, 2018 9:47 pm
I was further "bemused" to find I had the opportunity to test the hypothesis today with a slashed rear tyre. I rolled down Montville hill leaning on the front wheel for a couple of kilometres. And, for the record, I am 93kg.
I can confirm that further damage to the tyre ensued and the and the 2nd tube is now unusable but no damage to the rim.
What I do for science on behalf of this forum!
-
- Posts: 1193
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:16 pm
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby NASHIE » Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:09 pm
A-You ride with flat againTheWall wrote:I have been reading this thread since its inception and have Ben been bemused by all the to and fro.
I was further "bemused" to find I had the opportunity to test the hypothesis today with a slashed rear tyre. I rolled down Montville hill leaning on the front wheel for a couple of kilometres. And, for the record, I am 93kg.
I can confirm that further damage to the tyre ensued and the and the 2nd tube is now unusable but no damage to the rim.
What I do for science on behalf of this forum!
B-You would walk
C-You would phone a friend
D-Swap flat to front and learn to ride one wheel wheelie
Was the tyre a bin job anyway as it was slashed ?
- Nate
- Posts: 3209
- Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:49 pm
- Contact:
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby Nate » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:17 pm
super slow & careful, grass where i could
didnt even think to look at the tube, tyre was OK & rim was ok.
it was a 32/36 spoke rim, 2 speed jobbie from Cell thats been bulletproof.
Tyre was a GP4000 i think
I would not recommend you do it - but it has been done!
after that all was OK after replacing tube & pumping it up.
- uart
- Posts: 3212
- Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:15 pm
- Location: Newcastle
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby uart » Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:09 pm
I did make it home last week with a "slow" puncture by just stopping every km or two to pump it up. Luckily I was nearly home when it happened so I only had about 5 km to ride. I was carrying spare tubes but I figured it would be easier to just repair at home, and I only had to stop three times to add a bit more air.
That was a front puncture however, and I definitely don't recommend riding too fast like that. Even though mine was never total flat, on my last stretch I let it go a bit too far and it felt like the tyre almost rolled off the rim as I braked and took the last turn off the cycleway for home. To make matters worse, I've been riding this stupid bike I'm restoring which has the brake levers reversed (rear on right) and in the few seconds I had to brake, after noticing that I'd let it go down too far, I couldn't remember which was which. So I ended up doing most of the braking on the wrong tyre (the flat one). Grrr, I've got to get those levers swapped over.
-
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:51 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby TheWall » Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:04 pm
Yep. Tyre was a write-off Nashie. I was going down hill so the vast majority of the weight would have been on the front tyre. A-did that. B-did that. C-if I was further from my destination...absolutely! D-I wish I was that skilled ha haNASHIE wrote:A-You ride with flat againTheWall wrote:I have been reading this thread since its inception and have Ben been bemused by all the to and fro.
I was further "bemused" to find I had the opportunity to test the hypothesis today with a slashed rear tyre. I rolled down Montville hill leaning on the front wheel for a couple of kilometres. And, for the record, I am 93kg.
I can confirm that further damage to the tyre ensued and the and the 2nd tube is now unusable but no damage to the rim.
What I do for science on behalf of this forum!
B-You would walk
C-You would phone a friend
D-Swap flat to front and learn to ride one wheel wheelie
Was the tyre a bin job anyway as it was slashed ?
-
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:57 am
- Location: The Dandenongs
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby djw47 » Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:52 pm
You can pick up spare tubes for a couple of dollars on ebay, why bother with the hassle of a repair? I've had heaps of repair kits where the vulcanising solution goes off before I need to use it which makes them useless, a spare tube lasts for years.vodafone_au wrote: should I better get a new tube (and tyre?) instead of using the puncture patch?
- Thoglette
- Posts: 6621
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:01 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby Thoglette » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:56 pm
<pedant>djw47 wrote:You can pick up spare tubes for a couple of dollars on ebay, why bother with the hassle of a repair? I've had heaps of repair kits where the vulcanising solution goes off before I need to use it which makes them useless, a spare tube lasts for years.
You can slap up an opinion a couple of weeks after the thread dies, why bother with the hassle of a reading the thread?
(Nashie and Philistine had this discussion already). Or any of the other threads over the last decade or so which adequately discuss this and the relative merits of the $2 tubes.
</pedant>
<old-phart>
And why bother with the hassle of working out how to store glue properly? (I repaired a tube last night with a tube I opened at least four months ago, possibly in 2016)
</old-phart>
Finally, as someone here said: punctures are like London buses, there's never one until, suddenly, three turn up.
..but we were happy then.
"People are worthy of respect, ideas are not." Peter Ellerton, UQ
-
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:57 am
- Location: The Dandenongs
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby djw47 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:09 am
Apologies, I didn't realise there was a time limit on contributing to threads on a message board, I've failed at the internet... Well done for being so good at both the internet and storing glue.Thoglette wrote:<pedant>djw47 wrote:You can pick up spare tubes for a couple of dollars on ebay, why bother with the hassle of a repair? I've had heaps of repair kits where the vulcanising solution goes off before I need to use it which makes them useless, a spare tube lasts for years.
You can slap up an opinion a couple of weeks after the thread dies, why bother with the hassle of a reading the thread?
(Nashie and Philistine had this discussion already). Or any of the other threads over the last decade or so which adequately discuss this and the relative merits of the $2 tubes.
</pedant>
<old-phart>
And why bother with the hassle of working out how to store glue properly? (I repaired a tube last night with a tube I opened at least four months ago, possibly in 2016)
</old-phart>
Finally, as someone here said: punctures are like London buses, there's never one until, suddenly, three turn up.
..but we were happy then.
- bychosis
- Posts: 7269
- Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:10 pm
- Location: Lake Macquarie
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby bychosis » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:31 am
Why waste an otherwise perfectly good tube when there is a well tried and tested method of repairing? I patch mine, often several times before binning. The only time the get binned without considering a patch is if the failure is at the valve.djw47 wrote:You can pick up spare tubes for a couple of dollars on ebay, why bother with the hassle of a repair? I've had heaps of repair kits where the vulcanising solution goes off before I need to use it which makes them useless, a spare tube lasts for years.vodafone_au wrote: should I better get a new tube (and tyre?) instead of using the puncture patch?
-
- Posts: 9810
- Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:48 am
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby human909 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:58 am
Agreed. If you don't have time, then sure swap the tube over and patch later.bychosis wrote:Why waste an otherwise perfectly good tube when there is a well tried and tested method of repairing? I patch mine, often several times before binning. The only time the get binned without considering a patch is if the failure is at the valve.
-
- Posts: 1193
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:16 pm
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby NASHIE » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:36 am
Fully understand your comment, but don't think many fit into your 'lower' spectrum of care and concern, just because one replaces a new tube maybe once or twice a year. Old tubes get reused over time around the house and garden for various duties in our house. Well done if you manage to keep a spare or 2 patched and ready for use.human909 wrote:Some people care about things like the environment, waste, etc, others do not, some simple care less. As can be seen by those throwing away tubes, gel packs etc on the side of the road. (Not suggesting that if you don't patch tubes you are a litterer, just pointing out there is a spectrum of care and concern.)
Agreed. If you don't have time, then sure swap the tube over and patch later.bychosis wrote:Why waste an otherwise perfectly good tube when there is a well tried and tested method of repairing? I patch mine, often several times before binning. The only time the get binned without considering a patch is if the failure is at the valve.
- Thoglette
- Posts: 6621
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:01 pm
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby Thoglette » Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:56 pm
(The secret with glue seems to be keeping the threads clean. And it helps if you keep it in a sealed container)djw47 wrote: Well done for being so good at both the internet and storing glue.
"People are worthy of respect, ideas are not." Peter Ellerton, UQ
-
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:57 am
- Location: The Dandenongs
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby djw47 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:11 pm
Simple: time spent fixing something as inexpensive to replace as an inner tube is time wasted - if I convert my hourly rate of pay to the time taken to fix a tube (remove, repair, test, replace), I'm more out of pocket than the cost of a replacement tube.bychosis wrote:Why waste an otherwise perfectly good tube when there is a well tried and tested method of repairing? I patch mine, often several times before binning. The only time the get binned without considering a patch is if the failure is at the valve.djw47 wrote:You can pick up spare tubes for a couple of dollars on ebay, why bother with the hassle of a repair? I've had heaps of repair kits where the vulcanising solution goes off before I need to use it which makes them useless, a spare tube lasts for years.vodafone_au wrote: should I better get a new tube (and tyre?) instead of using the puncture patch?
-
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:57 am
- Location: The Dandenongs
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby djw47 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:19 pm
I care about the environment but don't fool yourself that repairing tubes is environmentally friendly - the glue including all those noxioushuman909 wrote:Some people care about things like the environment, waste, etc, others do not, some simple care less. As can be seen by those throwing away tubes, gel packs etc on the side of the road. (Not suggesting that if you don't patch tubes you are a litterer, just pointing out there is a spectrum of care and concern.)
Agreed. If you don't have time, then sure swap the tube over and patch later.bychosis wrote:Why waste an otherwise perfectly good tube when there is a well tried and tested method of repairing? I patch mine, often several times before binning. The only time the get binned without considering a patch is if the failure is at the valve.
solvents and chemicals that have to be manufactured somewhere, the patches made out of plastic/rubber, the packaging associated with all those repair kits...
- bychosis
- Posts: 7269
- Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 1:10 pm
- Location: Lake Macquarie
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby bychosis » Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:49 pm
Different strokes for different folks. I actually enjoy fixing stuff. I don’t enjoy throwing away my hard earned on something that can easily be given an extended life.djw47 wrote: Simple: time spent fixing something as inexpensive to replace as an inner tube is time wasted - if I convert my hourly rate of pay to the time taken to fix a tube (remove, repair, test, replace), I'm more out of pocket than the cost of a replacement tube.
Don’t count the time to remove and replace in he cost of a tube repair, you have to do that with a new tube too whacking a patch on can take less than 5min and if you do it at a convenient time by keeping a few repaired tubes on hand it ‘costs’ even less.
- ldrcycles
- Posts: 9594
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:19 pm
- Location: Kin Kin, Queensland
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby ldrcycles » Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:12 pm
Yes it is perfectly safe to ride on a flat tyre (with caution, or what used to be known as common sense). It is unlikely to cause any damage to the wheel, but the tyre and tube will have a good chance of being toast after a short distance, hence it is the absolute last resort.
On one occasion I had run out of spare tubes, and couldn't arrange a lift, so rode 14kms on a flat. Not enjoyable by any means, but faster than walking, and while the tyre and tube went in the bin (the tyre was slashed anyway) there was no damage at all to the wheel.
-
- Posts: 9810
- Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:48 am
Re: Riding flat tyre. Still safe?
Postby human909 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:31 pm
ldrcycles wrote:Deary me there are some silly comments on this one!
Yes it is perfectly safe to ride on a flat tyre (with caution, or what used to be known as common sense). It is unlikely to cause any damage to the wheel, but the tyre and tube will have a good chance of being toast after a short distance, hence it is the absolute last resort.
Common sense isn't so common...
And yep when I've done it I've pretty much accepted that my tyre and tube might be toast afterward. But every time the tyre has survived and sometimes even the tube. (Helps not to have decent tyres.)
Return to “General Cycling Discussion”
- General Australian Cycling Topics
- Info / announcements
- Buying a bike / parts
- General Cycling Discussion
- The Bike Shed
- Cycling Health
- Cycling Safety and Advocacy
- Women's Cycling
- Bike & Gear Reviews
- Cycling Trade
- Stolen Bikes
- Bicycle FAQs
- The Market Place
- Member to Member Bike and Gear Sales
- Want to Buy, Group Buy, Swap
- My Bikes or Gear Elsewhere
- Serious Biking
- Audax / Randonneuring
- Retro biking
- Commuting
- MTB
- Recumbents
- Fixed Gear/ Single Speed
- Track
- Electric Bicycles
- Cyclocross and Gravel Grinding
- Dragsters / Lowriders / Cruisers
- Children's Bikes
- Cargo Bikes and Utility Cycling
- Road Racing
- Road Biking
- Training
- Time Trial
- Triathlon
- International and National Tours and Events
- Cycle Touring
- Touring Australia
- Touring Overseas
- Touring Bikes and Equipment
- Australia
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- ACT
- Tasmania
- Northern Territory
- Country & Regional
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users
- All times are UTC+10:00
- Top
- Delete cookies
About the Australian Cycling Forums
The Australian Cycling Forums is a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.
Bicycles Network Australia
Forum Information
Connect with BNA
This website uses affiliate links to retail platforms including ebay, amazon, proviz and ribble.