Tonight we 4 ladies were struggling to get a stubborn tyre off a wheel, to change an inner tube. None of us are of a big build, so many tyre levers later, lots of swearing and sweating the offending thing was finally prised off.
Now in these days of equality would you, male or female offer to help?
I find it quite odd that a biker passed us and never even asked if we were o.k. To me it’s just manners.
I would ask a group of males or anyone for that matter, even though they would probably laugh me off the face of the planet ( my mechanical skills are dreadful).

Yes we did get the tyre sorted in the end, but it took ages to get back on. 🙂

Are they all gay round your way?

whenever i pass a cyclist at the side of the road i always say ‘ok?’ and would stop if they said ‘no’ be they male/female/mtber or roadie, it’s just manners innit

Or are you all munters? 😉

Chivalry and equality?

What RoCkeTdOg said. Always stop and ask anyone if they’re ok, need any parts or help or anything. Twice now I’ve given out free tubes, and twice I’ve had one left behind the counter at the nearest LBS.

what rocket dog said – i’ve been the one to punture and realise that i’d left the pump in another bag/ on another bike / lent to a mate / at work etc.

i would have flexed my pecs and offered to do it for you.
i am a gentleman 😀

Are they all gay round your way?

What’s that got to do with getting a tyre off a wheel? 😯

limp wrists make changing tyres hard work…

limp wrists make changing tyres hard work…

RudeBoy – Member

> Are they all gay round your way?

What’s that got to do with getting a tyre off a wheel?

Way to miss the point…..

i’ll check if it’s a single rider and would stop if there was any indication of real trouble. but c’mon? there was four of you and collectively you couldn’t get a tyre off?

MTFU 😉

And the point was…?

I ask anyone who’s stopped at the side of the trail if theyre ok, have given away many innertubes and powerlinks to people in need of them 😀 so no, it isnt dead.

I think if i saw 4 people i’d assume there was enough comptence in the group to sort the problem out.

Aw thanks Ton.

Kramer- we are all stunners, which is hard to tell under helmets, sweat and mud. Next time i’ll stick my trim ankle out ( to trip him up).

proteus- do you mean wtfu?

I would always ask if they were ok – however if I had had to stop and sort the tyre ‘cos four women couldn’t I would have taken the p unmercifully.

druidh – Member

RudeBoy – Member

> Are they all gay round your way?

What’s that got to do with getting a tyre off a wheel?

Way to miss the point…..

Think I’ll hang around for 10 minutes while Fred writes a dissertation on homophobia and the rest of the world smiles wryly at the humerous comment.

As RD says, I’ll always ask if anyone I see stopped on a bike to check they’re OK. However…..

I am blessed with anti-karma. Every single time I do provide assistance to someone, something bad will happen to me later in the ride. Every single time. Usually it’s proportional to how much help I give.

For example. I fixed a broken chain for a chap doing the coast to coast once. Took me about five minutes, got a puncture at the bottom of the hill.
Another time I dragged a snapped chain and mech out of a guys wheel, set everything up to provide him with a temporary SS setup to get him home and my frame snapped later on.

RudeBoy – the point being that in what is generally a fairly male dominated sport, the opportunity to help out, impress, and maybe even chat up some lovely lady with whom you share an interest is fairly rare and it is surprising that some red blooded bloke didn’t take the opportunity to make the most of the situation.

Strange, I haddunt accused anyone of being homophobic. Just curious as to why being Gay had and bearing on the ability to help someone change a tyre.

[edit] Kramer has offered an attempt at an explanation for their comment, so no worries. Although wooduv been clearer had they suggested a Straight bloke might be more likely to help out a group of wimmin.

Don’t think stopping to offer help has owt to do with wether you’re Gay, Straight or anything, mind…

Quick “Everything alright” whenever i pass people who look like they may need help.

Trouble is these days i get the feeling your damned if you do and damned if you dont. I read threads where woman arrange rides on this site and sometimes they come across as really condescending to men tbh. We dont want men to come on our rides, we dont want them being childish and we definately dont want them to look at us. All well and good but the other side of the coin is that we also dont want to overstep the line when we arent wven riding with you. The line seems to move subject to whatever way the wind is blowing.

If you want men to help you, why not ride with men?

Well said (Dr.) Kramer. Yes I know who you are. 😕

Oh, and if a group of 4 people, regardless of gender or sexuality, can’t get a bloody tyre of a rim, then you’re all rubbish! 😉

All of my gay friends would definitely struggle to get a bike tyre off a wheel. They are all far too obsessed with fashion and cool bars to be interested in that kind of thing. However posing the question ‘can you fix a cylindrical rubber device over the rim of a friends ride and then pump vigorously’, could result in a very different answer.

TLH. Are you mixing us up with BM.
I said anyone, not just men. Tonights ride just ended up all women.
Also I do believe any man would have struggled too with the tyre. We’re all experienced riders and this was a first.

Bunnyhop, who am I? More to the point, who are you?

Did you swear at it enough? Very important, to swear a lot, with difficult mechanical tasks that aren’t going smoothly.

I say something every time I pass someone with a problem, mechanical or otherwise. “got everything you need?” or “everything ok there?”
Quite rude to pass 4 ladies changing a tube without a word. Having a gf who rides (and a high chance she’ll see this post…) I know my assistance would be needed asap!

Ah, I am the wife of one of your skiing chums.

Bunnyhop, I’ve got one tyre that’s an absolute bitch to get over the rim without liquid soap (and pretty bad with it). It’s tubeless ready, and thank god, so far I’ve never had a puncture in it.

least you might be quicker next time after the practice 😉
and yes I would have asked if all was ok

Fred the swearing was a match for any mans on here.

Bunnyhop, one of the ones from Man Chess Tor?

Is Chivalry like the opposite of Chavalry? 😆

Oooh a difficult one Bunnyhop! I had a bit of trouble last week on the trail but basically a very nice man stopped and asked if he could help. So cue fluttering eyelashes “yes please”.

My mantra is that I may ride bikes but still like to be treated as a woman 🙄

At the end of the day we all have different skill sets, the nice man worked out what was wrong and as he was a newcomer to the area, I was able to direct him to the best trails 😀

To be fair, if I see folk that appear lost or are reading a map, I always ask if I can help.

if you needed help, why didn’t you ask?

A week ago on Sunday, a woman stopped and asked me if I needed any help with my bike.