Bike road side assistance recommendations?

Most cyclists carry a spare tube, tire levers and air to fix a tire. This is 95% of breakdowns. It is easy to change. Your local LBS can show you how to do this.

Tip: Pedro's tire levers (it's just a brand) are way easier to use than any other brand.

jhanleybrown wrote: »

Tip: Pedro's tire levers (it's just a brand) are way easier to use than any other brand.

Schwalbe are my favorite (thin enough to get in when it's too tight for any other levers I own, including Pedro, Crankbrothers, Park,...).

Which country are you in Eric?
International rescue might not provide an appropriate response time!

My primary roadside assistance is me and the few tools and spares I carry.
Backup is a credit card and mobile phone to call for a pickup.

I usually ride solo, so another item I carry in addition to bike tools, cellphone, etc., is a Road ID bracelet worn on my wrist. On the nameplate is my name and DOB info, as well as names and cellphone numbers for my wife and kids. I sure hope I never need it, but the bracelet makes this info readily available to others who may need it to help me in an emergency.

This seems shammy...I'm an avid cycling and mountain bike enthusiast, and I've never heard of this being a thing for either myself or my cycling peeps. Carry a spare tube, tire lever, CO2 inflator, and a bike tool. The number one issue cycling is flat tires, so it's good to know how to change a flat.

NorthCascades wrote: »

Where are you riding? Do you have cell coverage?

I'm an avid cyclist and have never heard of anybody riding with road side assistance insurance.

There aren't that many things that are going to go wrong on a typical ride, especially on a well maintained bike. Flat tires are the #1 issue road cyclists encounter. The standard practice is to carry a spare tube (two for a very long ride), a pump or CO2 inflator, and tire levers. You can even get by without the levers. Fixing a flat is a very good skill to have, you should practice it in your living room where it's warm, dry, and comfortable.

It's also wise to carry a little bit of duct tape, if you pop a spoke, you can use the tape to immobilize it for the limp/ride home or back to your car.

For everything else, there's the call of shame. Either to a spouse, friend, etc, or to Uber or Lyft.

Agree all above, some extras.

I tend towards self-sufficiency for "routine/minor" things, esp. if you're out in the boonies somewhere. Flats, chain, minor mech (brake and derailleur adjustments, for instance). Many bike shops offer Park Tools courses, REI has courses ranging from Trailside Maint to various mech (chain/derailleur, gear/brakes, tire, etc.). I knew a lot of this stuff from my "bike life #1" decades ago, but coming back into riding as an old guy, had to relearn it for the new tech. There's also a bunch of halfway decent videos out on Youtube for a variety of topics.

If you ride solo, obviously you're carrying everything you need, but this needn't be all that much (e.g., a spare master link weighs nada). I carry a mini frame pump plus CO2, a spare tube, and a little patch kit. Duct tape wrapped around an old hotel keycard. A couple of other goodies, a bike multitool, tire irons, cash - it all fits in a small undersaddle kit. When my wife rides with me, she relies on me for some parts and tools, but carries her own tube and a couple of items. She's a Schrader valve, I'm Presta. In a steady group situation, it's possible to divide up some of the carry items, but most riders carry all their basics anyway.

Why carry BOTH a pump and CO2? Well, in the old days, with small tires, even at 110 psi, I could use a frame pump and get the tube inflated pretty well. I tried this on my 29x2.35 tires, which I keep at about 50psi, as a test of the mini frame pump when I bought the bike. 450 strokes later, I was up to the usable 40psi range. I went out and got the CO2. But, CO2 may fail, or be used up, with multiple punctures same ride, so the pump is always there. CO2 is a "get home" remedy, as it leaks away through the rubber in a couple of days or less.

You'll find more and more locales are positioning repair kiosks in parks and on trails. They vary somewhat, but typically you can pump your tires and tighten bolts and such with the tools - presumes you know something of the basics (but also, they have a scan code to use with your smartphone that will give directions, too). Sometimes the kiosks are vandalized or simply suffering from exposure to the elements, but they are there. I volunteer as a Bike Ambassador in my local national park, and one of my "patrol duties" is to monitor the status of the kiosks and perhaps lend some guidance to users.

Finally, you can call for help if you're within range. Some areas have mobile repair services. For instance, we go to the Ottawa area fairly often for family, and they have something called Velo-Fix which might come to you. In NJ where I live, there are a couple of local-area folks that do that too. You have to research where you live. AAA, believe it or not, has bike roadside assistance built into membership, but you need to have your AAA card with you to use it. And then, there are the insurance companies such as you've asked about. Like AAA, their performance will depend on their local support network.

Long reply, sorry. But hope it helps.

ritzvin wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

As others have suggested... this seems odd to me.

What are you hoping for from or expecting to use the service for?

I'm wondering if maybe it's a normal bicycle insurance company (ie theft /accident coverage) with that as a secondary feature.

Yep. Just googled it... It's under Markel.

NorthCascades wrote: »

Where are you riding? Do you have cell coverage?

I'm an avid cyclist and have never heard of anybody riding with road side assistance insurance.

There aren't that many things that are going to go wrong on a typical ride, especially on a well maintained bike. Flat tires are the #1 issue road cyclists encounter. The standard practice is to carry a spare tube (two for a very long ride), a pump or CO2 inflator, and tire levers. You can even get by without the levers. Fixing a flat is a very good skill to have, you should practice it in your living room where it's warm, dry, and comfortable.

It's also wise to carry a little bit of duct tape, if you pop a spoke, you can use the tape to immobilize it for the limp/ride home or back to your car.

For everything else, there's the call of shame. Either to a spouse, friend, etc, or to Uber or Lyft.

Same here.

I pre-check my bike and carry the above in a seat pouch. Made sure my kids could fix the basics before going out on their own.

eric2light wrote: »

jhanleybrown wrote: »

Most cyclists carry a spare tube, tire levers and air to fix a tire. This is 95% of breakdowns. It is easy to change. Your local LBS can show you how to do this.

Tip: Pedro's tire levers (it's just a brand) are way easier to use than any other brand.

Which ones do you recommend?

* https://smile.amazon.com/Pedros-Downhill-Bicycle-Tire-Lever/dp/B000IZEHC4/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=Pedro's+tire+levers&qid=1583566923&sr=8-12
* https://smile.amazon.com/Pedros-Bicycle-Tire-Lever-Pair/dp/B000IZGFCE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Pedro's+tire+levers&qid=1583566923&sr=8-2

Personally: neither..I find the plastic Pedro is too fat to use with at least 1 of my tires, and a metal one runs a larger risk of puncturing the tube so I wouldn't go with that as my first option (unless a really hard-to-fit tire/rim combo that is otherwise troublesome). The plastic Pedro's are pretty popular though, so they might work well for a lot of tires (just not mine).