Bike Roadside assistance

[Jake Kassen]

I'm curious if anyone had an experience with one of the bicycle roadside assistance companies or plans. Have they actually shown up when called? (Specifically in rural areas or at strange times.) What do they provide? Worth the money?

Jake

[Ramsey Hanna]

I have used AAA gold several times with differing levels of success. Technically they only do bicycles in specific areas but I have gotten around this by just saying “I have a bike” and they assume it’s a motorcycle, and then they come help me and are surprised how much easier it is to move a bike as opposed to a motorcycle,

Ramsey

On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 8:05 PM Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org> wrote:

I'm curious if anyone had an experience with one of the bicycle roadside assistance companies or plans. Have they actually shown up when called? (Specifically in rural areas or at strange times.) What do they provide? Worth the money?

Jake

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[Josh Brown]

Equally helpful from anyone replying would be what mechanical issue (issues ) you couldn't get out of before calling AAA. These experiences are very important to hear imo.

Josh in NYC 

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[Ramsey Hanna]

So far, I have only had to bail on a ride for three mechanicals. rear hub bearing going completely bad (I actually managed to get into a town by walking uphill and riding downhill for like 8 miles), derailleur going into my wheel and breaking all my spokes (this was cause by a plastic bag…I know), and a bent chainring from a loose bolt, 

Ramsey

[Emily O'Brien]

I once sheared my chainring into two concentric pieces on a climb. Since it was a fixed gear I only had the one chainring, and I was fortunately able to call for a ride home. If I had needed to, I could have made it to a commuter rail station by walking up the hills and coasting down, or maybe lowering my saddle and riding velocipede-style. Faster than walking and possible, but I did appreciate being able to get a ride instead of resorting to that. 

Emily

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[Jake Kassen]

Trying to split the thread about the bike pickup services from ride-ending mechanical problems. I'm still interested in the experiences with services such as Better World. It might worth $45/yr but only if they actually follow through.

I've only had one problem were I couldn't finding a way to keep moving. One Sunday late afternoon I riding back from an overnight trip, heading down a steep descent, when something got wedged between my rear fender and the tire. The fender ripped off and in the process shredded the tire.

Someone saw me at the side of the road and asked if I needed help. He drove home, found an old tire, and came back. So very kind! (Actually, he was the 2nd person to stop. The first just drove off when I said I needed a tire.)

The more interesting stories might when a failure was overcome-

A friend was riding to a conference when he had a flat and was out of tubes. Down an embankment at the side of the road was an old, trashed BMX bike. Amazingly, he was able to extract the 20" tube from the bike and stretch it to fit his 700c wheel. It held air and he kept going.

On a hilly VT 300k, Emily was riding with a woman who had a crank arm snap. She pushed the woman for the final 20 miles.

Jake

> -------Original Message-------
> From: Josh Brown <joshm...@gmail.com>
> To: Ramsey Hanna <rambora...@gmail.com>
> Cc: Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org>, Randonneurs USA <randonn...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [RUSA] Bike Roadside assistance
> Sent: 19 May '24 20:14
>
> Equally helpful from anyone replying would be what mechanical issue
> (issues ) you couldn't get out of before calling AAA. These
> experiences are very important to hear imo.
>
> Josh in NYC
>

> On Sun, May 19, 2024, 8:08?PM Ramsey Hanna

> <rambora...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have used AAA gold several times with differing levels of success.
> > Technically they only do bicycles in specific areas but I have
> > gotten around this by just saying "I have a bike" and they assume
> > it's a motorcycle, and then they come help me and are surprised how
> > much easier it is to move a bike as opposed to a motorcycle,
> > Ramsey
> >

> > On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 8:05?PM Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org>

[Kerin Huber]

Hi All,

We are members of Better World Auto Club.  About 15 years ago I was on a ride, screaming down a hill, when I came across an entire box of utility knife blades spilled on the road.  I did my best to dodge around them, but one slashed my rear tire.    Better World sent out a big tow truck, which took me to the nearest bicycle store so I could buy a new tire.  I still remember the look on the face of the bike store employee as a 30 foot flatbed tow truck with a bicycle strapped on the back pulled up to the shop.

Kerin

On Sun, May 19, 2024 at 5:05 PM Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org> wrote:

I'm curious if anyone had an experience with one of the bicycle roadside assistance companies or plans. Have they actually shown up when called? (Specifically in rural areas or at strange times.) What do they provide? Worth the money?

Jake

[Jas Dembinski]

Most notably, I had a power pedal stiffen up on a 600k until it would no longer turn.  We were passing through a lively city at night.  One of the (very experienced) riders with me suggested I strip the pedal off and wire my foot to the spindle.  Of course!  Sure.  Then envisioning myself permanently tipped over by the side of the road hoping a motorist might notice a squirming man under a bike blanked the mojo on that notion quickly.  I was able to get an Uber to the sleep control and there was given a ride back to the start by the organizer.  

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