Quote Originally Posted by Graham Breeze View Post
I have never festooned the Bianchi with a saddle bag of any kind. Why would you buy something of beauty to ride and then make it look like something from Woolworth's? So "stuff" has to be carried on my person - which I dislike marginally less. I used to carry a "tool pod" where the second bidon would go but that obviously doesn't work on a two-bidon ride. A small rucksack is OK but then I fret about wind resistance. Problems problems!

Anyway I bought a new pod big enough for tools/tube/levers and so without the 'sack tested it to touch 43 mph on a nearby descent. I have convinced myself that is due to less wind resistance - rather than me suddenly finding another 50 watts - I am sure Newton or Einstein would agree.
I have said this before, but it may be worth mentioning again ...

In my 42 years of riding a collection of racing bikes, from the very cheap to exotic pro-grade machines, I have only had 1 puncture that wasn't a 'hisser'. I discovered, at the age of 15, that a half roll of insulating tape and a pump was sufficient to get me home. On rides of less than 50 miles (which is pretty much all my rides) this is all the equipment I take.

For those who are interested, the technique is to flatten the tube to around 20psi and then wrap the insulating tape across the tyre and around the rim several times. Then pump the tyre up hard, so there is a dip in the tyre where the tape crosses. The inner tube, when pumped up hard, will press the punctured part against the restriction reducing the air loss to a trickle. The tyre will require re-pumping every 5-10 miles dependant on a variety of factors. For those who use rim brakes, just remember to brake on the other wheel.

The one non-'hisser' puncture I have had was a total front wheel blow-out on a Clément tubular (exotic racing tyre). These have a very thin inner-tube stitched inside an outer casing. The inner-tube had a hole in it the size of your thumbnail, and the outer casing (with the tread on it) had a 40mm rip on it diagonally across the tyre.