Punctures Are Not Your Problem

Marianne Prowse · 26 June 2026

One of the quiet pleasures of hired bikes: the mechanical failure is somebody else's to fix.

What to Do

Stop, end the hire where you are if it is safe and legal to leave the bike there, and report the fault in the app. Then find another bike or walk.

Do not attempt a repair. On most schemes you are contractually not permitted to, and on all of them you will be doing it at the roadside with no tools.

Getting the Charge Reversed

Report the fault before ending the hire where the app allows it, because the fault report is what links the charge to the mechanical problem.

If you are charged anyway, the fault report and a photo are usually enough. Operators are generally reasonable about this and unreasonable about almost nothing else.

The Wider Point

Puncture resistance is why scheme bikes are heavy. Thick tyres, sealed hubs and solid rims are chosen so that this does not happen often.

It is a good trade. A slow bike that works is worth more than a fast one that is out of action.

When It Is Your Problem

Riding on a flat is the exception. It wrecks the rim, and a wrecked rim is damage rather than wear, which is the point at which an operator will reasonably come after you for it.

Get off and push. It is a shared bike and there is another one somewhere.