Stopping and helping a fellow cyclist.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
I usually just ask if folk are OK the last time I actually stopped was when I saw a bloke carrying his bike over his shoulder. It was only a p'ture and I offered to help. He had no tools . No worries we will get you on your way in 5 minutes. He insisted though that he was just walking to where he could get phone signal to phone his wife :wacko:
 

T4tomo

Legendary Member
I always stop and offer help, and have sorted stuff for people. Occasionally you get the odd one who says 'no don't worry I've phoned the missus to pick me up'.
I stopped in the car once and stuffed a bike with a broken chain in the back and it's grateful rider in the front.
 

Gillstay

Veteran
Mate is a paramedic and after completing one job they had to wait a few min's before they left, so mended a girls new birthday bicycle who was waiting to watch them take off. That i thought was class.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
I have occasionally helped out cyclists with breakdown problems, but the one that gave me the most satisfaction was fixing a puncture for an old bloke pushing his disabled wife in a wheelchair along a country towpath.
I would hope that cyclists carry some basic tools/kit but I would doubt that wheelchair users do.
What else would bicycle repair man do :smile:

I often stop and try to help if I see someone having prob here. The trouble is bicycle maintenance is a low priority for most as usually the problem is the part or parts are knackered.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
simongt

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
Is amazing the number of people that go out with no tubes, no tools etc then rely on the kindness of others!
My experience of this is that such folk only need their cellphone so all they have to do is ring the 'GLW-come-and-collect-service' - !:rofl:
 
OP
OP
simongt

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
but 30 years ago I went out for all day cycles to areas with poor public transport and didn’t take as much as a pump.
I did similar fifty or so years ago. Just never occurred to us that we might get a puncture or otherwise break down. But were bikes simpler and more reliable with tougher tyres back then, or were we simply lucky - ? Also cycled from Larne to Rosstrevor and back in the late sixties and I don't recollect taking any particular breakdown precautions. But being of Irish descent, maybe the wee folk were looking after their own - ! ^_^
 
OP
OP
simongt

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
Always ask if someone is ok when passing. If they say they are, leave them to it.
My simple philosophy too. :okay:
 
Location
Wirral
Always ask if someone is ok when passing. If they say they are, leave them to it.
I always ask, and mostly it's yup we're good, but I've donated tube/scab/repair kit and left them to it if they have a clue (but not the bit needed) if I can't hang around (leading a group etc), but it usually only takes 10 minutes to fix anything fixable - or certify that recovery is needed. I have on occasion demonstrated p*ncture repair to the victim of the fairy and to my group.
 

bruce1530

Guru
Location
Ayrshire
Always slow down and ask if all OK, unless a large group has stopped.

Only ever had the offer taken up once - someone had puncture, and had spare tubes - but they tried to pump up tyre, and their pump separated into 2 bits....
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
But as an aside, I was reminded the other day of a super effective way of getting dirty oil stains off of your skin, after mechanical work..

Vegetable oil - of any sort , rub it in well, and the ingrained black oil stains just lift right off and then all you need is soap and hot water to wash off both...:okay:
I think that's junk, like putting white wine on a red wine stain: all it does is dilute the black oil stain with "clean" oil and if the black oil has enough black matter mixed in, you then just have a bigger slightly-less-black oil stain to clean up. If it manages to "just lift right off", there wasn't that much black matter in it anyway.

The way to remove oil is soap, which suspends the oil in water so it can be washed off. Mechanically, soap with some small solids in, to help work it into the small dents and gaps, such as Swarfega Orange (which has couscous-like granules in), is slightly more effective than soap alone.
 
Like most people I always offer to help. I slow down and ask "got everything you need". I've handed out numerous bits and bobs, tubes, instant patches, a chain link once - and loaned tools (pump, chain tool).

Only once have I had a slightly bad experience with this. I had a problem, one that was a bit of a fiddle to sort and which was peculiar to my bike. A jogger stopped by to ask if he could help. I politely declined, as I knew what I had to do. Turned out he was an insufferable busy body, and came close to trying to physically push me to one side so he could interfere, keen to tell me all about what a keen cyclist he was and how much he knew about bikes. "You don't want to do that". I managed to stay polite ... just.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYiDcnrM0Mo
 
Top Bottom