When to carry a spare tyre?

[quixoticgeek]

On every ride I carry spare inner tubes, and a tyre boot. But I noticed on the 300k audax I did that there were a few spare tyres bungeed to a few of the bikes.

What criteria do people use for when to carry a spare tyre and when not? Do you carry an identical spare to those you're running, or something lighter?

J

[Cudzoziemiec]

Is dangletyre the next step up from danglemug?

[Frank9755]

I've never carried one.  I have needed to buy new tyres on a couple of long rides but, both times, I was able to ride to a shop.  I've never had a tyre fail so badly that it couldn't be patched up or booted

[Kim]

The bikes I'm likely to ride the kind of distances that would justify this have wheels of different sizes.  Two spare tyres is just silly, so I've never bothered.


I suppose if you're running waffer-thin racing tyres, the chances of a catastrophic failure are higher, and the penalty of carrying a spare is relatively low.  Unlike spokes - where it makes sense to have a few extras, and the best place to carry them is in the wheel - waffer-thin racing tyres plus a spare in your luggage probably does make you significantly faster than sturdier tyres and no spare.

[ElyDave]

I plan on carrying a 28mm folding tyre and a temporary spoke on my summer tour.

[Moleman76]

at Cascade 1200-2015, one rider had a very tightly coiled spare tire tied into the space between seat tube, seat stays, and read fender/mudguard.  No idea if he used it or not.

[grams]

I've carried a Brompton tyre when travelling as these are a rare size in non-Bromptony places, and some batches of Schwalbe Marathons have a habit of catastrophic sidewall failure.

I had a spare tyre cable-tied between my saddle bag and seat stays for LEL. Mostly out of wanting to feel prepared for anything.

In both cases they were basic lightweight folding bead tyres I happened to have on hand.

[Brucey]

BITD I used to carry a (lightweight folding) 27" spare tyre when riding on the continent, because that tyre size wasn't common there and I might get stuck in the event of a failure. I needed it once; I guess I could have booted the failed tyre and ridden a few miles on it, but I would have had concerns if I had to ride it further.   So as others have suggested there are several factors that might push you towards carrying a spare;

1) that your tyres are a funny size that you would not be able to replace easily
2) that your tyres are relatively flimsy and might easily fail
3) that you can carry a spare tyre easily (maybe as part of  kit shared between others)
4) that a tyre failure on the road might be exceptionally inconvenient (eg because you are riding in the middle of the night, or far away from the shops, or backup help/transport)
5) that you are riding on roads that are more than averagely likely to trash you tyres

If you do carry a spare tyre in an event of some kind, a common result is that you will end up giving  it to someone less prepared who is in a bit of a pickle.

cheers

[quixoticgeek]

Thanks everyone for the insightful replies. I do tend to do a lot of riding at night as I am rather slow and thus a full value rider...

Maybe I should get a GP4000s ii to bungee to my bike for my next 200+...

J

[Samuel D]

On the 300 km audax, maybe some of the tyres you saw were tubulars, i.e. the only option for fixing a puncture.

I don’t usually carry a spare tyre, but I’m planning to do so on an upcoming group ride to London, starting from Paris in the middle of the night. We’re a small group with regular road bikes, so one tyre – the one I carry – will do for the whole group. No bike shops open at night. Ferry to miss if a failed attempt at repair slows us down too much. Affected rider to bail if repair not possible. Lightweight tyre. Seems like a good idea for these reasons.

[giropaul]

I often carry a spare, but typically a very light and easily foldable one like a used Veloflex or Vittoria cx. It looks like a spare tub when we used to carry those. It will easily pack in a medium saddle pack, along with a couple of tubes and a minitool.
I’ve used the spare a couple of times, usually after a sidewall failure, and I’ve lent one out quite a few times. I always make sure I take a spare when I’m abroad or away from known rescue options ( local shops, mates etc).

[Frank9755]

On the 300 km audax, maybe some of the tyres you saw were tubulars, i.e. the only option for fixing a puncture.

Does anyone use tubs on an audax?  Why?

[Samuel D]

Don’t know, but there are people in Paris who commute on tubulars. Their reasons are not objectively sensible, but that applies to a lot of other gear that is popular with cyclists … including audax cyclists.

[The French Tandem]

Maybe I should get a GP4000s ii to bungee to my bike for my next 200+...

A spare tyre on a 200 seems a bit over cautious for me, unless you know you will ride on especially poor surfaces, in which case, a GP4000 is probably not the best choice. We only carried a spare tyre on the tandem  on 1000+ km ride, and never used it. Better start a long ride with newish tyres rather than realize in the middle of the ride that the tyre is worn out beyond any hope!

[quixoticgeek]

Maybe I should get a GP4000s ii to bungee to my bike for my next 200+...

A spare tyre on a 200 seems a bit over cautious for me, unless you know you will ride on especially poor surfaces, in which case, a GP4000 is probably not the best choice. We only carried a spare tyre on the tandem  on 1000+ km ride, and never used it. Better start a long ride with newish tyres rather than realize in the middle of the ride that the tyre is worn out beyond any hope!

Sorry should have been clearer, >200. On a 200 I'll risk it.

My tyres have just over 1000km on them currently...

J

[Chris N]

Only ever carried a spare as group kit between three of us on one long remote audax years ago.  I can't remember if we used it or not, and I've not bothered carrying one since.  Never had a problem that couldn't either be ridden as is or fixed with a tyre boot.

Inspect your tyres regularly and keep your gear in good condition and you shouldn't need it.

[Thing2]

We carry a spare tyre on most of our tandem rides at the moment even though we inspect tyres before every audax and replace before they get worn (especially for long rides). We've had to replace tyres on rides a couple of times in the last year, most recently on a 400 when the bead failed on a gatorskin.

[quixoticgeek]

We carry a spare tyre on most of our tandem rides at the moment even though we inspect tyres before every audax and replace before they get worn (especially for long rides). We've had to replace tyres on rides a couple of times in the last year, most recently on a 400 when the bead failed on a gatorskin.

Do tandems put a higher load on tyres than a single seater?

J

[Thing2]

Tandems generally carry more weight on the same number of wheels, so yes. We are not a heavy team, but we do seem to get more tyre issues than solos.

[Paul H]

A tyre is only one of a number of things that might leave you stuck, I'm not sure it's more common than any other mechanical I've seen cut peoples rides short, including my own three - two gear related and one snapped handlebar. Being at the back I sometimes come across those stranded, failed pumps (2) have been more common than tyres (1), that isn't a huge sample and the tyre was easily fixed with some roadside waste.   
When to carry?  When it gives you peace of mind.

[zigzag]

i've been able to boot all (i.e. a handful) tyre slashes and cuts so far and did not worry enough to carry a spare tyre (although carried it on the first tcr and one ride in sweden). if the bike has disc brakes all you need is a length of duct tape to wrap around both rim and a damaged section of tyre - this will get you pretty far.

[quixoticgeek]

A tyre is only one of a number of things that might leave you stuck, I'm not sure it's more common than any other mechanical I've seen cut peoples rides short, including my own three - two gear related and one snapped handlebar. Being at the back I sometimes come across those stranded, failed pumps (2) have been more common than tyres (1), that isn't a huge sample and the tyre was easily fixed with some roadside waste.   
When to carry?  When it gives you peace of mind.

How do you snap a handle bar? Aluminium with metal fatigue?

I've spent a lot of time trying to decide which bits could fail, how they could fail, and how I can bodge a get me home. I guess this thread is really a thread about likely failure modes of a tyre that can't be fixed with a tube or boot...

Giving me lots to think about.

J

[Samuel D]

If your pump fails, chances are you can wait a few minutes (or at worst hours) and another cyclist with a pump will come along. The same doesn’t apply to tyres as this thread shows.

You can also reduce the chance of a pump failure to almost nothing by getting a good one (i.e. not an ultra-light mini-pump), cleaning and lubricating it, and checking it regularly for perishing rubber seals. That 99% of cyclists aren’t interested enough to bother doesn’t prevent you from doing this.

Handlebar failures can also largely be avoided by getting good ones in the first place (e.g. Nitto with a sleeve) and checking them for cracks periodically.

Tyres, on the other hand, are prone to misadventure at any time. This is especially true for lightweight tyres, which have enormous performance benefits unlike lightweight pumps or handlebars. So if you’re going to ride through the night far from home, I think carrying a tyre makes more sense than carrying many other items that others often carry, such as a second rear lamp (a reflector is enough insurance for me if my rear lamp fails).

[Paul H]

A tyre is only one of a number of things that might leave you stuck, I'm not sure it's more common than any other mechanical I've seen cut peoples rides short, including my own three - two gear related and one snapped handlebar. Being at the back I sometimes come across those stranded, failed pumps (2) have been more common than tyres (1), that isn't a huge sample and the tyre was easily fixed with some roadside waste.   
When to carry?  When it gives you peace of mind.

How do you snap a handle bar? Aluminium with metal fatigue?

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=102153.msg2144557

Probably started with a crack from a minor accident, hidden by the stem.
It's not common, neither is at as rare as I'd thought, I've since heard several stories of it happening to others.

[quixoticgeek]

If your pump fails, chances are you can wait a few minutes (or at worst hours) and another cyclist with a pump will come along. The same doesn’t apply to tyres as this thread shows.

You can also reduce the chance of a pump failure to almost nothing by getting a good one (i.e. not an ultra-light mini-pump), cleaning and lubricating it, and checking it regularly for perishing rubber seals. That 99% of cyclists aren’t interested enough to bother doesn’t prevent you from doing this.

I carry a topical road morph G. I had a pump fail on me in winter due to cold. Hence getting this one that is much better. I also have Presta to shraeder adaptors, so I can worst case use a petrol station air supply.

Handlebar failures can also largely be avoided by getting good ones in the first place (e.g. Nitto with a sleeve) and checking them for cracks periodically.

Tyres, on the other hand, are prone to misadventure at any time. This is especially true for lightweight tyres, which have enormous performance benefits unlike lightweight pumps or handlebars. So if you’re going to ride through the night far from home, I think carrying a tyre makes more sense than carrying many other items that others often carry, such as a second rear lamp (a reflector is enough insurance for me if my rear lamp fails).

I have three rear lamps. One is dynamo based, all three have integrated reflectors. I have the three as I needed two for RatN, and the third one isn't that great but I've not been bothered to remove it.

I like the duct tape idea mentioned up thread. Another (tho obscure) advantage of disc brakes.

Do you carry spare cables ?

J