But his spare tube turned out to be punctured, too.
He realized that his seatbag was so crammed with stuff that it was rubbing against the tube, and caused it to tear.
I had to admit, that happened to me once, too. I was using a small bullet-shaped bag that could barely hold my tube and multi-tool. But I also had jammed a patch kit and tire levers in. The multi-tool’s edges got my tube, and I had to sag in during a semi-supported ride.
I’ve dealt with the issue since then by ditching the small bag and putting on a larger one. And my spare tube is now parked in an old sock. I cut the toe area off the sock, because that’s all you need to store a tube. It’s worked like a charm — I haven’t had any more tubes damaged in an overloaded seatbag.
Some folks I know use a Ziplock bag for their tubes, and a second bag for other stuff. How about you? Any tips for keeping your biking necessities safe and organized? I’m always looking for better ideas.
I solved this by using a second bag, and keeping the tube in the little cardboard box it came in at the shop.
The tube in your photo looks quite thick, is it the thorn resistant variety?
Ordinary tube.
Like Chris, I keep my spare tube in it’s box. A saddle bag with enough room helps in general. I have an old Cannondale on that actually has a second zipper to allow it to expand another 50%. I rarley need to use it.
I used to keep the spare tube in the box, but felt it took up too much room in the bag.
when i first started riding, i had a hybrid for which i’d bought a spare thorn resistant tyre. The box for that was huge. for the regular road bike tyres, the box is as small as my wallet, but i still “crush” the edges. seems redundant to me to take the tyre out of the box, only to put it into something else.
I like the small saddle bags, so this is something I’ve been dealing with as well. What I ended up doing was cutting a piece of cardboard so that it fits lengthwise down the middle of the bag. On one side I put a tube, on the other I keep my tool, levers, and patch kit. Of course, I’ve been thinking of carrying two tubes, so think the sock might be a better choice.
Wow, a mechanical engineer.
I’ve used ziplocks to keep my metal tools dry. I realized one day that everything in my saddle bag was getting a light coat of rust on it. I like the sock idea for the tube.
I use cut sections of tube around CO2 cartridges to cut down on rattle. Never thought about protecting a spare tube, though.
The bag from a mini bottle of Crown perfectly fits a 700×23 tube.