changing a flat.

mattl80
mattl80 Posts: 80
edited July 2011 in MTB workshop & tech
well i've got my first slow puncture, not bad going really since i've had the bike for a year now.

I kind of feel embrassed asking this as I used to change punctures all the time when i was a kid.

i used to get the tire off by using the back of a spoon and just sliding it round to get the typre out of the rim and then pull the tube out. I then used to do the reverce for putting it back in. Is there a more grown up way of doing this? as i don't want to really damage anything on my posh new bike :lol:

Comments

  • ricardo_smooth
    ricardo_smooth Posts: 1,281
    same method...... just use a plastic tyre lever instead. Cheap enough from a bike shop
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Deflate the tube fully first, and push the tyre bead into the center well of the rim. The central well has a smaller diameter, which gives the tyre some slack. The tyre should then pop off without problems. Use plastic tyre levers though - they won't damage your rims.

    To get the tyre back on, stick the tube in, then to re-seat the tyre, start at the valve, and push the bead into place. Work your way around the tyre, pushing the beas into the center of the well the whole way round. You shouldn't need tyre levers to get the tyre back on in almost all cases.
  • mattl80
    mattl80 Posts: 80
    thanks man, i will go and ask my lbs for a plastic shoe horn : )
  • 1mancity2
    1mancity2 Posts: 2,355
    you can usually get the tyre of with no tools, Place the wheel on the floor and start with your hands at 12 o'clock, slowly push and rotate your hand down the wheel (6 o'clock), you will see the tyre starting to gather until you have enough spare to pop the tyre of the rim.

    May depend on what type of tyres you have to how good this method is.
    Finished, Check out my custom Giant Reign 2010
    Dirt Jumper Dmr Sidekick2
  • zacadebo
    zacadebo Posts: 15
    I tend to put a little bit of air in when putting the new tube in to stop me pinching it when putting the tyre back on.
  • mattl80
    mattl80 Posts: 80
    thanks for the good advice gents. 8)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    1mancity2's right, it can be removed without tyre levers, but my own experience is that one tyre lever is almost always needed. This depends however, on your choice of rim, and tyre etc etc.
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    If you're stuck in the field for a tyre lever, although often quite thick, the lever handle on a QR can be used. I've even done this at home when I mis-layed the tool.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Chunkers1980, something you may not have noticed, since I've not specifically seen it mentioned on any packaging at all, but the lever that locks the pump in place (on the last 3 or 4 pumps I've had), is actually shaped like a tyre lever.
    Strange but true, and useful :D
    It's a ffaff to use it, but can get you out of those otherwise tricky situations.

    I have no idea how common that is, but my Serfas pump is like that, and the Blackburn one I had before, and whatever I had before then. Might be even more pumps, but that's about the time I realised it - and that's already going back a looooong time :lol:

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