Old folding tyre = spare tyre

[ColinJ]

Up until now, I haven't carried a spare tyre but tubbycyclist wrote off a tyre on a recent forum ride in the Yorkshire Dales and it got me thinking about the subject. There were about 15 of us and we didn't have one spare tyre between us. If a volunteer hadn't driven back to pick up tc, it would have meant a long, expensive taxi journey for him, or a very long wait for his partner to drive up from Hebden Bridge to pick him up. I don't have anyone to pick me up, and I can't afford long taxi journeys so I need to be self-sufficient.

I decided to carry a spare tyre on longer rides from now on. I have an old Michelin Krylion tyre which is at least 80% through it's working life, but it is still usable. It had a flat worn on it and a small but significant cut but it is definitely up to emergency spare tyre duties. I patched the cut and have folded the tyre up as tight as I can and ziptied it to stop it unfolding. It doesn't weigh much and fits neatly in the Camelbak bag which I always use on rides.

Of course, I will probably end up carrying the tyre for the next 20 years and never actually need to use it, but it is there if anybody on my forum rides has a similar problem again - aren't I thoughtful!

So there you go - what to do with old tyres which are slightly too good to scrap. (Another thing you can do is to relegate them to turbo-trainer duties - why wear out good tyres on the turbo?)

 

[Banjo]

I started doing the same on longer rides especially in remoter places.

I only ever had one tyre fail and luckilly was very close to home at the time. Like you I strongly expect to carry it millions of miles and never need it now.

I am surprised how many dont carry a chain tool and quick repair link. Seen a few people break a chain ,the last guy was lucky, 3 of us cycling together 2 on 10 speed had a repair link the guy whos chain broke was on a 9 speed and didnt.

By amazing luck we were within about 3 miles of a bike shop at the time, probably the only lbs in a 20 mile radius of where we were.Cant be unlucky all the time.

 

[numbnuts]

I split a tyre a few years ago, I managed to patch it up to get home, but after that I bought a folding one and up to now used it four times now a very good investment if you do long rides away from towns ect.

 

[monnet]

I am surprised how many dont carry a chain tool and quick repair link. Seen a few people break a chain ,the last guy was lucky, 3 of us cycling together 2 on 10 speed had a repair link the guy whos chain broke was on a 9 speed and didnt.

By amazing luck we were within about 3 miles of a bike shop at the time, probably the only lbs in a 20 mile radius of where we were.Cant be unlucky all the time.

I was on a winter training ride last year when one of my mates chain started to look a bit dodgy - I had a chain tool and power link in my seat pack (unfortunately 10sp where he was riding 9). So he decided the best course of action was to head home (it was a hilly ride and he didn't fancy the chain snapping on a climb with people behind/around him). He turned off rode up a slight rise and then his chain promptly snapped. Mercifully for him, he then had a downhill drop for a couple of miles into Stroud, which took him right to the door of Halfords. Lesson learnt!

 

[david1701]

ok ok ok I'll buy a chain tool

 

[fossyant]

I've run tyres close to their end of life as a youngster, but have had something to patch or 'boot' the tyre. Never had a tyre go completely ever.

Just bad luck, as Schwalbe had problems with there Ultremo's a year or two ago - that would have been a call for someone to pick you up.

In 25 years I've never needed to call home, and I used to ride with tubes and puncture kit - no allen keys or multi-tools. I carry a good multi-tool now though.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

When MTBing I carry some home made tyre boots. Will need to thing about making and doing the same on the road bike. I always carry a basic tool-kit though.(Chain Splitter, multi tool, small pliers, cable ties, PPK, tubes and tyre levers)

 

[fossyant]

Touches Wood !!!!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Touches Wood !!!!

 

[andrew_s]

I've used a spare tyre twice.
One was an old & worn one that got donated to someone else.
The other was a new one, on tour when I ran over something that put a 30-40 mm cut in both the front and rear tyres. The spare repaced the front tyre, and I cut a 6" section out of the dead front tyre to boot the back tyre.

An advantage of using a mostly worn out "get you home" tyre as a spare is that giving it away costs you nothing, and if you do group riding, it's always likely to be someone else that needs it.

 

[dan_bo]

I last ripped a tyre near Ramsbottom on a Sunday morning. Few years ago. Stuffed it with grass and slid my way back down to Bury where Leisure Lakes was still open.

They gave me tick on a Vittoria Corsa (they knew my face from when I bought a M2000 from them 15 years earlier) and I phoned up and paid when I got back home. Lucky dodge.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Since Mille Pennines 2017 I've been carrying a well used spare 4000Sll folded and taped under my Brooks for all rides over 300. As @andrew_s says costs nothing except 250g and a bit of space (which goes otherwise unused for me in the Brooks carcass, yet above my 1 litre under-saddlebag).
Besides offering an immediate solution to a sidewall fail (however caused) if I do get a puncture I can change tube and tyre without spending time at the roadside trying to find what's caused the puncture. Note how the tube and tyre were aligned. At the next stop, there's time (concurrent with eating/drinking (and if night, light)) to find what caused it (assume still lodged in tyre).

 

[iluvmybike]

If you have a Strava subscription one of the 'perks' is they cover you for up to £30 for a taxi if you break down
if I am touring I will carry a spare foldable tyre but otherwise not

 

[Milkfloat]

Many years ago I used to carry a spare tyre under my saddle, never had to use it and I stopped carrying after I realised that it had been rubbing on something under the saddle and had a hole in it. I have had to boot a tyre a couple of times, but never had anything that was not rideable.