Spare Tube Transportation

I ride with a CamelBak, be it on road or MTB... Kathmandu laptop backpack if commuting...

usually carry a glueless patch kit, small Gary Fisher pump, and a spare tube for the bike I happen
to be on...

my mobile phone goes in the right hand pocket of my jersey, and my walkman in the left hand pocket
if i'm riding alone... centre pocket is usually empty, as the backpacks both sit there...

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Went for a ride on saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't know
when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since I
didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

I am guessing that this tube was 1.5 years old at the most (yes I haven't flatted in that long).
It has always been folded since coming out of the box that way. The only difference was that I
replaced the "stock" black rubber band with a regular rubber band (the abrasion was not near the

rubber

Quoted message said:

band). The valve was also in the center of the fold, and appeared to have no affect on the
abrasion. This was a good tube (Continental).

I don't think the abrasion was a result fo movement of the tube in my back pocket (or was it?).
Anyone had similar troubles? Needless to say, I was lucky I didn't flat that day.

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

Kerry

In article <[email hidden]>,

Kerry Nikolaisen' f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t said:

How do you carry your tubes?

One discrete way is to wrap it within a plastic bread bag or some other improvised stuff sack, and
jam it between the underside of the saddle and the rails. That way, it always stays with the bike.
It's a forgetproof approach.

cheers, Tom

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Kerry Nikolaisen said:

Went for a ride on Saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't know
when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since I
didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

There are tubes that are made of a crack prone "rubber". They are often glossy and somewhat
plastic rather than elastic. I have run across them and toss them out because the onset of cracks
is apparent.

There are many ways to fold a tube to be carried as a spare but they all require some tight folds,
folds that a reasonable tube can take and for a long time. Get a new tube (or two) and re-fold it to
your liking after taking it out of the box.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

Spare Tube Transportation

Sadly, I have been carrying mine around my waist!

Working on NOT carrying a spare tube (at least an extra one!)

members.aol.comfoxcondorsrvtnsOpen ↗ (Colorado rental condo)

members.aol.comdnvrfoxOpen ↗ (Family Web Page)

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

On the mountain bike, I throw all of my gear into the Camelback. On the road bike, I use a seat
pack. To prevent the tube and toolkit from rattling around, I wrap all of the gear into a shop
towel. This also gives me something to wipe my hands on after I change a flat.

-Buck

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

Tubes can easily have holes abraded in them if they bounce around. I found a seat wedge pack (Zefal)
that has a draw cord zig-zagged along the zipper that compresses the pack to keep things from
rattling, works very well. The other nice thing about this pack is that it uses a bar shaped fitting
which hangs the bag from the saddle rails, together with a velcro strap around the seat post, there
are no adapters, so the bag easily moves from bike to bike.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

Went for a ride on Saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't
know when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since
I didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

There are tubes that are made of a crack prone "rubber". They are often glossy and somewhat
plastic rather than elastic. I have run across them and toss them out because the onset of cracks
is apparent.

There are many ways to fold a tube to be carried as a spare but they all require some tight folds,
folds that a reasonable tube can take and for a long time. Get a new tube (or two) and re-fold it
to your liking after taking it out of the box.

Thanks Jobst.

The interesting thing is that I have the same tube in the rear tire (approx.
1.5 years) and it appears to be doing well. Perhaps the abrasion/cracking has more to with the
folding of the "material" than the material itself.

Come to think of if - this did appear more "shiny" than the others. Strange because I hold
Continental (esp. tires) in high regard. The tires that I have used from them are long lasting and
bomb-proof.

Kerry

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Went for a ride on saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't know
when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since I
didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

I am guessing that this tube was 1.5 years old at the most (yes I haven't flatted in that long).
It has always been folded since coming out of the box that way. The only difference was that I
replaced the "stock" black rubber band with a regular rubber band (the abrasion was not near the

rubber

Quoted message said:

band). The valve was also in the center of the fold, and appeared to have no affect on the
abrasion. This was a good tube (Continental).

I don't think the abrasion was a result fo movement of the tube in my back pocket (or was it?).
Anyone had similar troubles? Needless to say, I was lucky I didn't flat that day.

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

In the past 6 months, I haven't ridden with a spare, patch kit, or tool kit.

They were lost in the move and I haven't bothered replacing them.

🙂

a.

In article <[email hidden]>,

andrew smith said:

In the past 6 months, I haven't ridden with a spare, patch kit, or tool kit.

They were lost in the move and I haven't bothered replacing them.

🙂

The half-year of living dangerously :-)

cheers, Tom

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[point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Denver C. Fox) said:

Spare Tube Transportation

Sadly, I have been carrying mine around my waist!

That's just insulation and reserve fuel ;-)

cheers, Tom

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[point] bc [point] ca

I prefer a camelbak for hydration, so I don't use my water bottle cage for water. I keep a spare
tube, patch kit, and plastic tire levers in a widemouth bottle in the cage on the frame. It's
waterproof and there is no abrasion problem. I also keep my toolkit in a second bottle.

- Dave

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

Went for a ride on saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't know
when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since I
didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

I am guessing that this tube was 1.5 years old at the most (yes I haven't flatted in that long).
It has always been folded since coming out of the box that way. The only difference was that I
replaced the "stock" black rubber band with a regular rubber band (the abrasion was not near the
rubber band). The valve was also in the center of the fold, and appeared to have no affect on the
abrasion. This was a good tube (Continental).

I don't think the abrasion was a result fo movement of the tube in my back pocket (or was it?).
Anyone had similar troubles? Needless to say, I was lucky I didn't flat that day.

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

Kerry

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

I find that if my butt is wide enough, it effectively dampens the rattle sound. Thank goodness for
those Christmas cookies. :-(

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Spare Tube Transportation

Sadly, I have been carrying mine around my waist!

Working on NOT carrying a spare tube (at least an extra one!)

members.aol.comfoxcondorsrvtnsOpen ↗ (Colorado rental condo)

members.aol.comdnvrfoxOpen ↗ (Family Web Page)

Oh yeh, good one! LoL

Mark

Buck said:

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

On the mountain bike, I throw all of my gear into the Camelback. On the road bike, I use a
seat pack.

This is what I do too.

Quoted message said:

To prevent the tube and toolkit from rattling around, I wrap all of the gear into a shop towel.
This also gives me something to wipe my hands on after I change a flat.

This is a good idea. Rivendell was even selling a canvas "tool wrap" for this purpose. I've never
had a tube rot or crack, but I've had a few get chafed through while in my seat bag. Be careful what
the tube rubs against. It's too easy to forget and leave the tube in a seat bag for months, only to
find it chafed through when you finally need to pull it out.

I always thought packaging tubes in neat little cloth bags would be a great marketing gimmick.

Matt O.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sadly, I have been carrying mine around my waist!

That's just insulation and reserve fuel ;-)

Well, that makes everything just a mite better!

Just depends on your perspective!

members.aol.comfoxcondorsrvtnsOpen ↗ (Colorado rental condo)

members.aol.comdnvrfoxOpen ↗ (Family Web Page)

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

Kerry

Get rid of the rattle by wrapping everything in the bag in a bandana or a rag. It makes an easy
to handle package. If you unwrap it on the ground, all the bits are on a ground sheet and clearly
in sight. Use a small wedge bag that buckles round the seat rails and velcroes around the seat
tube - available all over the place for $10 - $20 CAD. re: wear on the tube - that happened to me
too. Solved the problem by packing the tube (and nothing else) in a ziplock sandwich bag). Stay
warm! Bernie

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 22:45:11 -0600, "Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s

@ c h a r t e r . n e t said:

How do you carry your tubes? I don't think I can be sold on a seatwedge pack. The rattle drives
me crazy.

Kerry

There is no reason that a decent seat wedge should rattle if you pick the right size for what you
are carrying, and cinch it up tightly.

Within the seat wedge, I wrap up the spare tube in an old sock to prevent other objects in there
from abrading it. I also carry a patch kit, tire levers, a couple of allen wrenches, a small wallet
with ID, and my keys. Everything fits snugly enough that there's no rattle, and it isn't too likely
that I'll lose anything.

Kerry Nikolaisen said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Went for a ride on Saturday, and looked at the tube before I put it in my back pocket. Don't
know when the last time was I looked at it, and it wouldn't make any difference this time (since
I didn't have an extra), but there was an obvious crack or abrasion along where it was folded.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There are tubes that are made of a crack prone "rubber". They are often glossy and somewhat
plastic rather than elastic. I have run across them and toss them out because the onset of cracks
is apparent.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There are many ways to fold a tube to be carried as a spare but they all require some tight
folds, folds that a reasonable tube can take and for a long time. Get a new tube (or two) and re-
fold it to your liking after taking it out of the box.

Quoted message said:

The interesting thing is that I have the same tube in the rear tire (approx. 1.5 years) and it
appears to be doing well. Perhaps the abrasion/cracking has more to with the folding of the
"material" than the material itself.

Quoted message said:

Come to think of if - this did appear more "shiny" than the others. Strange because I hold
Continental (esp. tires) in high regard. The tires that I have used from them are long lasting and
bomb-proof.

As you say, the flattening and folding of the tube causes a high stress area or line. Rubber that is
stretched deteriorates far more rapidly than relaxed rubber. The tube in use, unless it is a lot
smaller than the tire in which it resides, is in a low stress. The tire casing supports the
pressure, not the tube. That is why tubulars can use condom like latex tubes.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

I just leave the spare tube in the box.