Sidwell Cycles

The Claud Butler San Remo racing bike - cost £320 - has been parked in the flat for bloody four months now, despite my five efforts to fix the puncture.

I've bought and ruined about five new inner tubes, all at about £4.49 from Halfords. Cheaper than they used to be but annoying when you keep buying one after another. Unfortunately, the bike has narrow, 700x25 tyres which are virtually impossible to fix using a puncture repair kit. The patch simply will not adhere to the tube.

Similarly, the narrowness of the tyre seems to make it very difficult to fit to the wheel, meaning it's impossible to do so without levering (with a spoon or fork) very hard thereby ruining the new inner tube.

So, now it's along to Sidwell Cycles (140 Sidwell Street, Exeter) to get them to fix it. Then I'll be back on the road (hopefully).

Indeed, this is where I actually bought the bike, back in July, five months ago. The bloke in the shop - the proprietor? - welcomes me (not by name, unlike old Turley in Rusthall), and gets an assistant/mechanic from out the back to see to me.

They do a new type of puncture-resistant inner tube called "Slime", but Sidwell Cycles don't appear to have any. I settle for a normal, simple new inner tube which I know will puncture in no time.

Collect the bike on Thursday.