Only one good tire - where should it go?

[ExBrit]

A few months back I was riding a fire road on my touring bike. I ran over a broken bottle and slashed both tires. I only had enough stuff with me to repair one tire and tube - one replacement tube and a tire boot. Neither tube was patchable. I had a 12 mile ride to the nearest bike shop. I decided to put the one good tire and tube on my rear wheel. Steering was a challenge, especial back on pavement. Would you have put the good tire on the front or back? The bike was fully loaded for touring.

I've since heard that you can tie a knot in a tube. Has anyone tried that? Would it work with a 2" cut in the tube?

 

[Arjimlad]

instinctively I feel that a loss of control of the front wheel would be harder to correct, and possibly more hazardous than a loss of control of the rear, so I would vote front. Riding 12 miles on a borked tyre is not appealing though and I'll be interested to see what others say. I have no experience of this.

Stuffing the tyre with grass or other foliage is something I have heard of in extremis.

 

[markemark]

I would have just ridden slowly enough that it didn't matter and swore all the way.

 

[DCLane]

I'd have put it on the front: it's possible to ride with a flat rear tyre, but very difficult to steer with a flat front one.

Yes, it may mean you have to ride out of the saddle a lot but you're still moving. I've had to do that with a blow-out on an extended commute, which saw me needing to ride 10 miles with a flat rear due to a) the time of day, b) where I was riding from/to and c) I had an imminent class.

Tried the grass approach previously and I clearly hadn't stuffed enough in since it didn't help much.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Tried the grass approach previously and I clearly hadn't stuffed enough in since it didn't help much.

A friend of mine and I, finding ourselves in a place with a huge pile of cut grass and sundry bike wheels handy spent a merry sunny afternoon trying to stuff tyres with grass. We both failed utterly, despite having the whole afternoon and a garage full of tools to use as improvised stuffers.

 

[ExBrit]

A friend of mine and I, finding ourselves in a place with a huge pile of cut grass and sundry bike wheels handy spent a merry sunny afternoon trying to stuff tyres with grass. We both failed utterly, despite having the whole afternoon and a garage full of tools to use as improvised stuffers.

I've always assumed that's an old wives tale. Or even an old cycling widow's tale. The knot thing seems real though.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've always assumed that's an old wives tale. Or even an old cycling widow's tale. The knot thing seems real though.

Yes, I have heard second-hand of the knotted tube method working. So it might be worth a try in extremis. I wouldn't bother with grass tho.

As to what I would have done. I'd probably have put the good one on the front. I'm not sure why.

 

[Sharky]

Good tyre on the front and put all your weight over the front wheel.

Had to do that once when I rode tubs. Not very good for the rims though.

 

[Cycleops]

Got a 700c mono cycle?

 

[DCLane]

Alternatively, stick it on the back and wheelie the whole way ...

 

[classic33]

I'd have put it on the front: it's possible to ride with a flat rear tyre, but very difficult to steer with a flat front one.

Yes, it may mean you have to ride out of the saddle a lot but you're still moving. I've had to do that with a blow-out on an extended commute, which saw me needing to ride 10 miles with a flat rear due to a) the time of day, b) where I was riding from/to and c) I had an imminent class.

Tried the grass approach previously and I clearly hadn't stuffed enough in since it didn't help much.

Something that might help is twisting the grass into a "rope", then placing it in the tyre. Just stuffing grass in doesn't work.

 

[Brandane]

I would have cursed my luck, and cursed a bit more about whoever had left the broken bottle there, and settled in for a 12 mile push. Better option than trashing whichever wheel.

 

[EckyH]

Good tyre on the front and put all your weight over the front wheel.
Had to do that once when I rode tubs.

Same here few months ago. Fortunately for just 1.5km. Riding very, very slow helped to minimise the damage of the rear rim.
And it brings back to mind why the BMX guys are such strong riders: they ride out of the saddle effectively all the time.

E.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Good on the front. If the front goes it often means you are going down if at speed. The rear going, you can generally come to a stop still upright.

As to knot in tyres. I haven’t done that, but have put a 622 tube in a 406 tyre, where you overlap the tube in one or two adjacent sections. It lasted 4 days and about 300km by which time I had been able to get some spare 406 tubes.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Good on the front. If the front goes it often means you are going down if at speed. The rear going, you can generally come to a stop still upright.

As to knot in tyres. I haven’t done that, but have put a 622 tube in a 406 tyre, where you overlap the tube in one or two adjacent sections. It lasted 4 days and about 300km by which time I had been able to get some spare 406 tubes.

Some years back I was out cycling and came across a guy on a mountain bike with a puncture and no spare tube. I offered him one of my - totally the wrong size, wrong valve tubes as a get-you-home. I pointed out to him how stretchy tubes are and how big they get if you inflate them outside of a tyre it would just expand to fill his tyre but he wasn't having it. He looked at me like I was mad. I donated a packet of instant patches (he was completely un-equipped) and advised him to try fixing his punctured tube with them and left him to it. I doubt he bothered, I think he'd already decided to call a lift.