Don't ride in groups or we will be stopped cycling completely.

[Ming the Merciless]

Went out for a family sanity/exercise ride this evening. 16 miles of towpath and country park trails and I decided to live dangerously. Rather than my usual toolkit, chain links, puncture kit, spare tubes and pump, I just packed the pump and an inner tube. Based on previous experience that would be more than enough.... We lived to tell the tale

You devil 👿 you!

 

[Dogtrousers]

In reality you've got more chance of winning the lottery than having a catastrophic breakdown that means you can’t get back home. Even completely broken drivetrain you can still scoot your bike much faster than walking.

Unlikely, true, perhaps very unlikely, but not in lottery winning level of unlikelihood. Chances are1 in 45 [corrected] million for 6 numbers. Unless you count lesser wins like 3 numbers which is only 1 in 56.

For example: Damaged wheels. I've twice had to walk to railway stations with an unwheelable bike*; Broken handlebars. I've seen a bloke on the roadside with broken bars. Fortunately he was uninjured, but I wouldn't fancy trying to ride a bike with half bars. Not in the 1 in 14 million class.

* It's possible that in one of those cases, someone with wheel truing black art skills could have made the bike wheelable/rideable but I don't know how long it would have taken.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Unlikely, true, perhaps very unlikely, but not in lottery winning level of unlikelihood. Chances are1 in 14 million for 6 numbers. Unless you count lesser wins like 3 numbers which is only 1 in 56.

For example: Damaged wheels. I've twice had to walk to railway stations with an unwheelable bike*; Broken handlebars. I've seen a bloke on the roadside with broken bars. Fortunately he was uninjured, but I wouldn't fancy trying to ride a bike with half bars. Not in the 1 in 14 million class.

* It's possible that in one of those cases, someone with wheel truing black art skills could have made the bike wheelable/rideable but I don't know how long it would have taken.

How many broken bars are there out of all the bikes be ridden many miles? What’s the chance a a wheel randomly failing to the point of not being rideable? What’s the chance of this happening if you regularly check your bike and don’t ride like a loon through every pothole out there?

 

[CanucksTraveller]

agree - walking thro the woolwich foot tunnel nattering to a cyclist (2 m or more apart) he said he was severely limiting rides because of concerns about mechanicals.When i asked what he was worried about, he said a rear mech issue for instance. Made no sense to me. Even i could sort a perfectly rideable bodge. And most of london is of course flat.

Absolutely, I mean, even with a rear mech issue the chain is still driving the wheel.. perhaps noisily, perhaps not in the gear you wanted? But the bike moves. Same with a front mech. Same with a lot of things, snapped brake cable, broken spoke, the bike moves.

I've been cycling day rides since my teens and I'm late 40s now, in that time I've never, not once, had a mechanical that stopped me riding the bike home. It's a truly bizarre worry.

 

[ColinJ]

Absolutely, I mean, even with a rear mech issue the chain is still driving the wheel.. perhaps noisily, perhaps not in the gear you wanted? But the bike moves. Same with a front mech. Same with a lot of things, snapped brake cable, broken spoke, the bike moves.

I've been cycling day rides since my teens and I'm late 40s now, in that time I've never, not once, had a mechanical that stopped me riding the bike home. It's a truly bizarre worry.

Major mishaps DO happen...

I broke a crank on a ride. I had to ride home one-legged, fortunately only about 4 miles because it was exhausting.

A friend broke a crank on a ride with me. I lent him my bike to ride 5 miles home to get his car and drive back to pick up his bike.

The same mate had his seatpost snap and had to ride 15 miles home standing up, which he found extremely tiring.

I had a saddle clamp break, so I had to ride home standing up with my saddle in my jersey pocket. Fortunately I was less than 2 miles from home at the time and at the top of a hill, so I just freewheeled back.

I had a handlebar stem fail. I was able to stop safely but unable to ride the bike back. Lucky again - a mere 2 mile walk home.

I had a spoke break on my rear wheel, which went so far out of true that it would NOT turn until I removed the rear brake blocks AND released the brake cable. The wheel didn't feel safe to ride any further than a SLOW 12 miles to Blackpool station and a train home.

I had the sole start coming off a cycling shoe during bike event. Fortunately, I was able to limp back to event HQ before it failed completely.

I met a guy out on an audax ride who was walking his bike. Not a good idea to carry on riding this...

I know people whose frames have broken on rides.

I have seen tyres fail completely. If you are not carrying a spare tyre (and how many cyclists do?), then that is a real show-stopper.

I had a jockey wheel bolt fall out, which left me with an unusable rear mech. (I searched the road but could not find the missing parts!) I could have taken the rear mech off and tried to improvise a singlespeed bike but without horizontal dropouts that would probably not have been workable. I was only 5 miles from home so I scooted the bike back to swap bikes and restart my ride.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Major mishaps DO happen...

Oh I don't doubt it! You're obviously living proof!

I was merely suggesting that in a lifetime of cycling my critical failures have been zero so I'm confident to currently go ten miles out with the minimum tools and tyre repair kit and I'm always confident I'd get home. The unseen disaster could happen, of course, but it's vanishingly unlikely.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Indeed a meteorite may strike as well?

 

[ColinJ]

Oh I don't doubt it! You're obviously living proof!

I was merely suggesting that in a lifetime of cycling my critical failures have been zero so I'm confident to currently go ten miles out with the minimum tools and tyre repair kit and I'm always confident I'd get home. The unseen disaster could happen, of course, but it's vanishingly unlikely.

Oh yes, I am still venturing that far from home but some of my usual routes take me 10 miles away from a phone signal, to summon a taxi from 15 miles away to take me to a station 20 miles further away for a 30+ mile train journey home. I'll give those a miss for now...!

 

[Dogtrousers]

How many broken bars are there out of all the bikes be ridden many miles? What’s the chance a a wheel randomly failing to the point of not being rideable? What’s the chance of this happening if you regularly check your bike and don’t ride like a loon through every pothole out there?

Failure likelihood is low. Very low even. Very jolly low. But it's not even in the same ballpark of unlikely things as 6 numbers in the lottery or being hit by a meteorite. These are another level of unlikely altogether.

You quite often read on the cycling web of catastrophic frame or similar failures. But how often have you read of astronomical phenomena ending a ride? I can only think of @ColinJ 's struck-by-lightning story which isn't quite astronomical but ...

 

[ColinJ]

I can only think of @ColinJ 's struck-by-lightning story which isn't quite astronomical but ...

I do have a nearly-struck-by-lightning story...!

(I saw the storm coming and took shelter to avoid it.)

That's a false argument because most people have enough sense to avoid being in exposed places in torrential rain and thunderstorms! If you worked out how many people who did stand out in the open on hilltops in thunderstorms got hit, you wouldn't fancy doing it!

I was in Oxenhope village once when a thunderstorm blew over Cock Hill, 2 miles away on the climb that I was supposed to be going up, I stayed down in the village and watched lightning bolts zapping the road and fields either side of it. I am pretty sure that I would have been hit if I had ridden up there because my head would have been among the highest objects for miles around at the summit.

 

[derrick]

Major mishaps DO happen...

I broke a crank on a ride. I had to ride home one-legged, fortunately only about 4 miles because it was exhausting.

A friend broke a crank on a ride with me. I lent him my bike to ride 5 miles home to get his car and drive back to pick up his bike.

The same mate had his seatpost snap and had to ride 15 miles home standing up, which he found extremely tiring.

I had a saddle clamp break, so I had to ride home standing up with my saddle in my jersey pocket. Fortunately I was less than 2 miles from home at the time and at the top of a hill, so I just freewheeled back.

I had a handlebar stem fail. I was able to stop safely but unable to ride the bike back. Lucky again - a mere 2 mile walk home.

I had a spoke break on my rear wheel, which went so far out of true that it would NOT turn until I removed the rear brake blocks AND released the brake cable. The wheel didn't feel safe to ride any further than a SLOW 12 miles to Blackpool station and a train home.

I had the sole start coming off a cycling shoe during bike event. Fortunately, I was able to limp back to event HQ before it failed completely.

I met a guy out on an audax ride who was walking his bike. Not a good idea to carry on riding this...

View attachment 517957

I know people whose frames have broken on rides.

I have seen tyres fail completely. If you are not carrying a spare tyre (and how many cyclists do?), then that is a real show-stopper.

I had a jockey wheel bolt fall out, which left me with an unusable rear mech. (I searched the road but could not find the missing parts!) I could have taken the rear mech off and tried to improvise a singlespeed bike but without horizontal dropouts that would probably not have been workable. I was only 5 miles from home so I scooted the bike back to swap bikes and restart my ride.

You need to find a proper bike mechanic..

 

[lazybloke]

<SNIP>
Not in the 1 in 14 million class.

If you're talking about the lottery, I believe the odds were lengthened some years ago.

 

[Edwardoka]

To the people who are going "well I've never experienced a ride-ending mechanical so obviously they don't happen" - is it a medal you're after

Some novice riders - and those who have recently taken up cycling during lockdown are novices - don't even know how to change a tyre, and with social distancing they're unlikely to get roadside assistance from passing riders.

I've ridden more than a few sketchy bodge jobs to get me home (inc. 10 hilly miles on a flat tyre after I hit a pothole and dented my rear rim so badly that it shredded any tube I put in it) but have also seen a number of ride-ending mechanicals, particularly with the terrible roads around here which have a penchant for eating wheels.

 

[anothersam]

I've ridden more than a few sketchy bodge jobs to get me home (inc. 10 hilly miles on a flat tyre after I hit a pothole and dented my rear rim so badly that it shredded any tube I put in it) but have also seen a number of ride-ending mechanicals, particularly with the terrible roads around here which have a penchant for eating wheels.

How did you manage that? I’m in awe, especially as I once pushed my bike for 20 miles after a puncture.

 

[Edwardoka]

How did you manage that? I’m in awe, especially as I once pushed my bike for 20 miles after a puncture.

Very slowly! It was my rear tyre, the roads were only damp. If it had been the front or properly wet I'd have had no choice but to walk, any time I hit water or road markings the back end would try to squirm out from under me.

Mostly standing with my weight as far forward as possible, lots of freewheeling. Had no feeling in my hands by the time I got into the office well over an hour late. Ruined the tyre, but the rim was surprisingly ok after all the sharp dings were filed off and the dent was straightened out by the LBS.

I was a much braver/idiotic rider in those days.