first trip, first puncture

bice

First time I have used Trek 1.7 in the country and I get a puncture. I thought pressure was good, as I haven't got a gauge on my stirrup pump. But it felt pretty firm. A piece of flint washed on to road with the rain gave it a slow puncture, so I got home.

Then I mangled the repair on Specialized Armadillo tyre. Nylon tyre levers could not get it off, so used a metal motorbike one. Patched puncture, struggled to get the thing back on, shredding bits of rubber from the outer tyre. Hours later it was flat. Something did not work, but with same procedure getting tyre off again, I put big rips in the inner. Also, bent outer a little and scuffed up the wheel rim as well!

This is a big undertaking compared with fixing an ordinary 700x28 hybrid, tourer puncture, which I have done many times and in the dark. Plastic tyre levers obviously useless and motorbike lever, which I use on other bikes, is too brutal.

This is absolutely not something I want to repeat: are these Armidillos 700x25 any good at all? Presumably, it is possible to fix these punctures on the road, in spite of deep rim wheels and massive effort needed to get the tyre off?

Next weekend I am doing 25 miles with a friend, and I am tempted to take the hybrid instead. At least I can repair a puncture.

craker

Ah well I had two punctures and one spare inner tube (and broke my chain twice). Not particularly a nice day for standing atop a hill waiting for the repair glue to dry...

No idea about your particular tyres, mine are brand new a quite tricky to get on and off; technique is quite important though; after failing to get more than a single plastic lever in I went all the way round the wheel pressing both sides of the tyre bead into the centre of the rim. Hey presto, more slack and the tyre came off quite easily after that.

You're not using levers to get the tyre back on are you? That shouldn't be necessary.

bice

Yes, I used levers to put the thing back on, which you can get away with on less fancy tyres.

Since my first post, I read this http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... yre+levers.

I have now put in a Specialized 700x20/28 inner tube, without a long valve. I worked it in like drying a towel at the end as thumbs are not strong enough, checked for pinches and inflated.

I think the inner is a bit fat for a 700x25, but not that much and the shorter valve was enough to get a holding ring and to inflate. Is this really the wrong inner?

My technique before was obviously too basic and brutal. makes me think the mechanics of road bikes compared with iron horses is probably a different league.

Doing this at home, in the warm and dry was utterly exhausting. How guys fix these f...ers on the road beats me.

fatherted

"Doing this at home, in the warm and dry was utterly exhausting. How guys fix these f...ers on the road beats me."

A tube change on a q/r wheel on the roadside should take 5/6 mins.

balthazar

Some tyre and rim combinations, having been manufactured at the opposing limits of their tolerances, can be pretty desperate to fit together. I've always found it possible, however, and virtually always with bare (not abnormally strong) hands.

The key, which many people miss - I don't know whether or not you did - is to make sure that the tyre bead is dropped entirely into the well around the centre of the rim (where the spoke nipples are). Sometime rim tape (covering the spoke nipples) can obscure the well. This slight reduction in wheel circumference is designed to be just enough that you can lift the bead off the rim, without levers.

eridani

Tape up your thumbs with electrical tape or sticking plasters, sit on your sofa with your front wheel and practice getting the bead on and off. There really is a knack to it and it's far more skill than strength. My preferred method for changing a tube is as follows:

Unhook one bead off the rim
Remove tube
Partially inflate new tube until it's round - I just blow into it with my mouth
Insert valve stem through rim
Tuck tube up into tyre
Starting at the valve stem, lift bead over rim
Grip each end of the untucked bead with a thumb and chase the bead around the rim
With the wheel resting against your knees, force the last bit of the bead over using a twisting motion in your wrists and pressing in with your upper body weight - imagine that you're trying to twist the rim.

I have arms like wet spaghetti but I have no problem even on narrow rims with 23c tyres.

The specialized tube you're using should be fine. I've used them on my tourer with 25c tyres and never had any problems. Keep an eye on the bead as you're going round to make sure the tube isn't bulging out anywhere.

bice

Thanks for replies. Yes, I can see it is technique not strength and when i thought about it - rather, when I read the post on how to do it - I put the tyre on without too much difficulty. But for years on more basic bikes I have been putting tyres back on with levers with no problems. Road bikes are obviously more refined - and I haven't yet had to adjust the front mech or re-calibrate gears