8GETTING HOME WHEN SOMETHING BREAKS
Unless you’re going for a short ride in the neighborhood, or you can walk home or call someone to pick you up if something breaks, you should never go for a bike ride without the following emergency equipment:
◆4mm, 5mm and 6mm Allen wrenches, used to tighten various clamping bolts that may loosen
◆Patch kit and a spare inner tube
◆Tire levers
◆Tire pump or cartridge inflator with correct head to fit your tire valves (see Section 6.G.2)
◆Some kind of identification (so people know who you are in case of accident)
◆A couple of dollars in cash (for a candy bar, cool drink or emergency phone call)
1.If you get a flat tire: Depress the tire valve to let all the air out of the tube (see Section 6.G2). Remove the wheel from the bicycle (see Section 6.A.3 or 4). Remove one bead of the tire from the rim by grasping it at a point opposite the valve stem with both hands and, at the same time, lifting and peeling one side of the tire off the rim. If the bead is on too tight for you to unseat it with your hands, use tire levers to lift the bead carefully over the tire rim. Remove the valve lock nut (if the valve has one) and push the valve stem through the
wheel rim. Remove the inner tube. | 73 |
