Do I really need to carry a spare tire?

[litespeed]

"Just to clarify for others.  You do not have to carry the exact same spare tire as you run normally."

If you're doing some serious touring in the middle of nowhere, such as Nevada, and destroy a tire it would be best to have a good sturdy spare tire - the same as you're using. A doubled-over and taped-together tire forms a circle about a foot in diameter and can be stuffed into a rear pannier without taking up too much space. Put the tire in first then other stuff. This avoids having to wait for a new tire to be ordered in the next good bicycle shop which might be hundreds of miles off. A light folding tire might not make it under a heavily loaded touring bicycle or heavy rider or both.

[ptaylor]

Russel's comments prompt me to tell you a story of my experiences.

On my commuter bike, I left work one evening, only to discover I had a flat. Since I don't carry a 'flat kit' on my commuter, I put it on a bus rack, and rode the bus home. At home, I repaired the tube, and could find nothing in the tire that would have caused the problem.

Next day - same thing.

Third day same thing! So I threw away the tire with a mighty heave!

New tire. No more problems. The moral of this story is: I give up - what?

Paul

[Kelly]

In Montana during 2005 my tire was sliced by a piece of glass. Our best attempts at booting it lasted less than a day. The ACA map listed a local bike shop - the owner, Joe, drove a new tire out to me for a very modest fee. Emergency road service for bicycles!

Lesson learned. In Oregon during 2006 I carried a new spare - Schwable Marathon. I again had a tire sliced. But I was prepared. I didn't hurry to replace this spare. Bad move. I picked up something that kept giving me multiple, multiple flats. My nightly entertainment was  checking the same 4" of tire over and over again, both inside and out. Had I been able to toss that tire and start again I would have.

So my advice would be to carry the spare and replace it ASAP if you use it.

BTW, I actually carried 3 sizes of spares. 16" for the BOB trailer, a 20" front tire for my RANS Stratus recumbent and a 26" for the Stratus rear.

Kelly

[razor]

I have gone on a few longer trips " 500 + miles " and would suggest the spare tire on anything over a day trip. Changing a tire in the pouring rain makes it tought to find that darn thorn/wire/nail or whatever. Also a dollar bill has worked as a boot for me also,but if there is no ATM around and you are bonking you don't want to worry about the tire or haveing a Hostess Twinkie.