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Punctures and How to Avoid Them

Most cyclists have at some time had a long walk home due to a puncture.  With many years of experience as a rider and in the bike repair business, here is my view of how to improve your chances of riding home, rather than walking:

• Tyres: Make sure your tyres are in good condition and free from bits of glass etc stuck in the tread.  Old, worn or perished tyres can allow small flints, thorns and such like to work their way through to the inner tube, leaving you with that sinking feeling.  I recommend Schwalbe branded tyres for good puncture resistance at a reasonable price...available in a variety of sizes and tread patterns they cost from £14 each.

• Inner tubes: Again, old tubes with numerous patches will soon let you down.  If in doubt, replace them.  Conventional tubes start from £4 each.

• 'Slime' tyre sealant:  This is an excellent product that I use myself.  Most punctures are caused by thorns and other small items which cause very small perforations of the inner tube.  9 times out of 10 a Slime-filled tube will seal these sorts of holes before any noticeable pressure is lost, allowing you to finish your ride.  If the tyre does go down, just spin the wheel to redistribute the Slime and pump up...the tyre will very often stay inflated.   As part of a service, I can retro-fit Slime to most inner tubes with car valves for just £4 per wheel.  Presta valve tubes cannot be retro-filled, but I stock Slime tubes with presta valves in common sizes at £9 each.

Prolonging the life of your chain and other transmission components

When the chain on a bike wears, it appears to stretch due to the cumulative wear in each link.  The worn chain will also wear the teeth on the cogs at the rear and front, and in a bad case the chain itself can snap, possibly causing you to have a painful accident!  When replacing a chain, it is generally best to replace the rear cogs (freewheel or cassette) at the same time, or the new chain will wear prematurely on the worn cogs, or may even jump depending on the degree of wear.  It may also be necessary to change one or more of the front cogs (chainrings) as well, again depending on the degree of wear.  This can add up to being an expensive repair!

As part of an initial inspection, I routinely check chain wear using a Park chain checker, and can advise you accordingly.

A chain will wear eventually no matter how well maintained the bike is, but you can prolong the life of the chain and hence the other transmission components using the tips below:

• Clean and oil the chain regularly, especially in wet or wintry conditions.  A chain that has dried out can wear very quickly.  In the winter, grit put down to salt the roads spells death to chains!  Off-road, the worst stuff is sand, closely followed by gritty mud.  As soon as you get back from a ride in such conditions, clean off the transmission components, then dry and lube them.  While you've got the oil can out, put a drop or two on the pivots of the front and rear derailleur.  There are lots of high-tech cycle lubes available.  In summer just using a dry lube should be fine, but in winter a wet lube is best as it won't wash off so easily.  The worst thing to use is nothing at all!
• Avoid chain crossover.  For bikes with derailleur gears, this is when the chain is in the biggest front chainring and the biggest rear sprocket.  If you look at the chain from above you will see that it is badly flexed, which will accelerate wear.  You will get a similar gear by being in a smaller chainring and a smaller sprocket, which will keep the chain much straighter.  Similarly, keeping the chain on the smallest front chainring and the smallest rear sprocket is to be avoided for the same reason.
• Use a spread of gears.  For derailleur geared bikes, riding in just one or two gear combinations will soon wear the cogs used most.  Your chain will generally last longer if you use most of the gears (but see advice above about chain crossover)