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How to Fix a Flat Bicycle Tire

I made this comics-based instruction sheet in collaboration with Common Cycle. Please download it, print it, remix and distribute it however you like! Knowing how to fix your own flat is an important first step towards becoming a self-reliant urban cyclist.

If Dog can do it, so can you! :)

I admit I have a mild addiction to Craigslist. I’m on it EVERYDAY and I look at the free, bicycles, motorcycles, tools and even the RV section. Why? I feel that if I don’t look, I might miss out on a great deal or some sort of opportunity to get something super rare or unique.

Now that I’ve justified my addiction, I wanted to share a few stories and perhaps suggest some ideas that has worked for me in either selling or buying.

My first story, I had a woman who wanted to look at a bicycle I had for sale. She agreed to meet me at my home at 4:30pm. After making those arrangements with her, I received another inquiry for the bike and went ahead to schedule another buyer at 6pm. I figured, if I didn’t sell it at 4:30pm, that would give me enough time to call and cancel the appointment, right? Well buyer #1 decided to show up at 5:15pm…I’m a bit ticked but I still show her the bike.

She said she’ll take it and wants to pay with a check. I told her that I won’t take her check. Then she goes into this long explanation why I should and that she works for the Veterans Administration, so her check is good. I tell her no and after a few minutes of it, she huffed and asked where the nearest Wells Fargo was. I said that I didn’t know, but there’s a Union Bank across the street. She then got stern with me and says, “I SAID I NEED A WELLS FARGO!” I responded in the same tone and repeated my first answer. She begrudgingly gets in her car to try and find a bank.

She’s gone for at least 40 minutes and at 45 minutes, the second buyer shows up. She gets out of her van, looks at the bike, and hands me the money! She didn’t even bother riding it. She loaded it up and at the same time, buyer #1 shows up! Mind you, I did try to call buyer #1 as buyer #2 loaded up the bike. But buyer #1 didn’t give me a valid cell #, she gave me her office #…

Buyer #1 sees what’s going on, I tell her I tried to call her and then she starts to cuss me out…using all sorts of F-bombs left and right. Then she peels out in her car as she’s waiving me the middle finger…Ugh.

Second Story:
After that fiasco, I learned that I should never meet people at my home. So when I was selling another item, I met the guy at a fast food joint down the street. Before the sale, he agreed to pay me my asking price for the item, $90. He looks at the item, then says, I only brought $40, will you take that? I said no, and walked away. Then he says, “Wait wait wait! I was just kidding, I just wanted to see if you’d give me a deal.” I explain to him that my item is the lowest price that he’d find and that new it was over $350…” He still asked for a discount. Again, I said no and walked away. Then he asked me to stop and agreed to pay my full asking price.

Third Story:
I was selling my wife’s old mountain bike frame. In the ad I explained that the suspension pivot needs to be rebuilt. I even provided the part #, cost and explained that it could be ordered from any KHS dealer. The buyer calls me and asked if I’d take $180 since it needs a the suspension pivot rebuilt. I say no. Then he says, “Ok, let me ask my wife if she will let me buy it at your price.” Shaking my head…he said he’ll call me back. A few hours later he calls me and explains that he spoke to his wife, but he was too embarrassed to say what she wanted him to ask me…he finally did. She told him to ask me if I’d take $150. I’m starting to get annoyed and I simply said no. He mulls it over and says that he’s going to see if he can look for the money and get the bike at my asking price. He calls me a few hours later and asked if I’d be willing to take $200, I agreed.

We meet the next day and he takes his sweet time looking at the frame, and keeps bringing up the pivot issue. He asked me if I’d be willing to take $180. Annoyed with him, I say, “No, besides I’ve already explained to you about the pivot and it’s not like I didn’t mention it on the ad. I agreed to $200.” He still mulls it over. I ask him, “So what is it you’re so hesitant about?” He said he’s not sure if he can fix the pivot. By this time I realized he’s trying to wear me down and that the pivot concern he has was his tactic to get me to lower the price. I stick to my price and I finally said, that I had to go to my daughter’s soccer game. That’s when he said he’ll take it.

But here’s the best part of the story. A few days later he sends me a text that read, “Hey bro, I know you have connections with KHS, do you think you could get them to rebuild the pivot for me?” OMG! I was soooo annoyed. This guy saw some articles that I had published on MtnBikeRiders.com about me taking that frame to KHS and having it serviced. He even asked “How tall was that white guy who was riding this bike in the pictures?” He saw an article where Jack was riding it…he brought it up because the bike was going to be his son’s and he wanted to make sure the bike would fit.

Ok now that I’ve shared some of my stories, let’s get down to some things that I’ve learned from and have been putting into my current Craigslist dealings.

1.Meet in a public location. I typically will meet someone in a bank parking lot. That way if they say they’re short on the cash, they can just walk over to the ATM and get the extra. Plus banks have cameras pointed to the parking lot. So if I were to be murdered for the item I was selling, they’d at least get a glimpse on who it is, right? Besides you don’t want a buyer coming back to your home asking for his money back.

2.As a seller, you should be flexible on the price, but never go down to half of what your asking price. For example, if you have an item for $100, don’t even entertain a $50 offer. I usually respond to those requests with a witty comment, “sure I’ll take your $50, but throw in another on top of that, then we have a deal!”

3.Learn to say NO to low ballers. If you’ve had an item for sale for a long time, don’t get desperate. Eventually you will sell your item. I listed my old car once and I had 3 people come to see it. After a month of not selling it, one of the people offered me near $1500 less than what I was asking for. I almost caved in, but my good wife reminded me not to take it. Sure enough a week later a guy wanted to see it. Offered me my full asking price! So be patient, you’ll sell it.

4. Cash only. Don’t take Paypal, checks or goats. Cash is king, don’t let them offer to pay you through Paypal or a check. If you use Paypal, you can get charged fees for that transaction. Checks from strangers…you might as well kiss your item good bye without getting paid. Checks are more likely to bounce. Bottom line, cold hard cash.

5. Try and have your transactions done during the day. If you’re a buyer, you want to make sure you see everything in good lighting…the sun so you won’t have buyer’s remorse the following morning. If you’re a seller, it’s just safer to sell during the day.

6. Buddy system. I once sold my scooter to two guys, but I had my buddy Officer Ben with me during the transaction. It helps to prep your buddy to be your hype-man to help sell your item. For example, Officer Ben would say, “This scooter runs so well, we’ve done 80 mile rides with it!” Comments like that help instill confidence with the buyer.

7. Put all the info on your ads. Don’t leave out any details. For example if you’re selling a bike, list the size, year, components and color. This will avoid multiple emails from the potential buyer. Besides if you have small frame, but a buyer wants an XL frame, then you’ve wasted his and your time.

8. List your item in multiple cities. Search for items in multiple cities. This broadens your reach and elevates your potential in finding the item you want to buy.

I know I may have missed some things, feel free to give you suggestions. I’m sure our readership would appreciate it. I’m not claiming you should absolutely follow my suggestions, but they have worked for me and I’ve been buying and selling things through Craigslist for years and I’m still alive! haha.

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From the Surly Blog:

Over the weekend I saw a posting from an online bike dealer that caused some chamois to bunch up. They posted the image below with a tag line You don’t get legs like this pushing a gas pedal!

Click here to see Surly’s own renditions.

A post at reddit asked the question "What is the creepiest thing your young child has ever said to you?" There are over 12,000 responses! And more are being added even now. Buzzfeed culled some of the weirdest to present to you, including a couple that hint at reincarnation. If you are intrigued by them, you might want to go back and check out the original thread for more creepiness. Link

Over the weekend I saw a posting from an online bike dealer that caused some chamois to bunch up. They posted the image below with a tag line You don’t get legs like this pushing a gas pedal!

Commenters took them to town for posting a waifish pair of legs in strappy high heels leaning up against a toe cage clad fixie. I copied some of the comments below for context:

 “Or riding a bike”

“You get legs like those from not eating”

“I would look stupid with legs like that.”

“If you WANT a woman with legs like that you must never want to ride bikes with women. Real cyclists have real muscles. Not toy Barbie legs.”

“Your Art Director needs to go back to Cosmo.”

“Those are not cyclist legs, nor is she gonna ride that bike with toe cages and high heels. I'd actually like to see her on it, and see what happens when a slight grade appears. That would be funny.”

“Cigarettes and cocaine”

“I suppose she rode that fixie to the shoot in those heels too right? Give me a break. #chickenlegs”

Needless to say this was a pretty big swing and a miss on connecting with their intended audience.

I could go on about the tiny thighs, unforgiving-plastic-looking-painted on pants, strappy high heels and such but in all reality, does it really matter? Being someone who has ridden a dirt bike in a mini skirt and strappy sandals, I am not one to judge someone else’s choice in ride gear.

I did feel moved to gather my very own collection of rider legs since I am swimming in material on a daily basis.

Here are a few pics of my co-workers, friends, and random cyclists who happen to work close by. Some are thin, some are thick, some are short, some are tall, some are hairy, some are smooth, some tattooed, some with freckles, some scarred, some are oddly unblemished, but one thing I know for sure – all ride bike

Now untangle from the internet and go ride your bike. There is nothing to see here anyway.