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I saw a guy at the Tulsa Tough crit fix a broken derailleur hanger with a zip tie and a rock
We were at the corner of 6th and Boulder, last lap chaos, and a rider went down hard. His hanger was snapped clean. This mechanic from a neutral support car didn't even open his toolbox. He just grabbed a big zip tie from his pocket, wrapped it around the frame and the derailleur body, and used a smooth river rock from the gutter to tighten it as a makeshift pivot bolt. The guy finished the race in his small chainring. It was the jankiest, most brilliant field repair I've ever seen. Made me rethink what 'essential' tools really are. What's the most out-of-the-box fix you've pulled off trackside?
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vera_murphy2d ago
Man, that's wild! Terry_thomas is right, it's all about knowing how stuff works under pressure. I once saw a guy use a shoelace to lash a cracked saddle rail back together for the last ten miles.
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terry_thomas2d ago
That "makeshift pivot bolt" idea is clever, but the real skill is knowing a zip tie and a rock could even work. It shows the best tool is often just understanding how things actually function under stress. Sometimes the right part is less important than the right idea.
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