First punctures and first new tubes

sev112

So after 6months of cycling I got my first flats today
Coming through traffic lights, car accelerated behind me to get through so I swerved to avoid and went into puddle, which turnd out to be a pot hole
Bang bang, front and back wheels punctured

Luckily only 1 mile walk home, but it was still p*****ingbdown, as it had been for the previous hour,

So just replaced my first tubes.
Seem to be a success
Still have a nightmare getting back wheel back on bike, even with chain on small ring
Had difficulty keeping the new tube inside the rim on the second one, and have some nice grazes on my inner arm from the cassette as a result
But they' re back on
Tomorrow will tell whether I've got any of the tubes twisted or stuck when I go for a ride
Might try and repair the tiny punctures on the two other tubes later

Mikey23

A rite of passage! Really bad luck having both puncture at the same time ...

Gizmodo

Bad luck, but walk home? You really should carry enough on your ride to repair 2 punctures, otherwise you could find yourself 40 miles from home in the rain. Practice changing a tube and you can get it down to 5-10 minutes - better than waiting for wife/husband/partner/taxi to come find you.

sev112

Gizmodo wrote:

Bad luck, but walk home? You really should carry enough on your ride to repair 2 punctures, otherwise you could find yourself 40 miles from home in the rain. Practice changing a tube and you can get it down to 5-10 minutes - better than waiting for wife/husband/partner/taxi to come find you.

I had 2 tubes with me but it was absolutely throwing it down, so I opted to walk home in 15 minsnwhebi could get changed and change the tubes in the dry

thefd

I would suggest you check your tyre pressure. Sounds like they were not pumped up enough if a pothole burst both. Where they snake bite punctures?

Gizmodo

sev112 wrote:

Gizmodo wrote:

Bad luck, but walk home? You really should carry enough on your ride to repair 2 punctures, otherwise you could find yourself 40 miles from home in the rain. Practice changing a tube and you can get it down to 5-10 minutes - better than waiting for wife/husband/partner/taxi to come find you.

I had 2 tubes with me but it was absolutely throwing it down, so I opted to walk home in 15 minsnwhebi could get changed and change the tubes in the dry

Fair enough, it's good that you went out prepared.

Dandelionclock30

I used to have problems with getting the back wheel on all the time.I overcame this by practicing taking it on and off on my drive.
Also get a cheap headtorch as it helps as you can see what your doing if you have to change an inner tube in the dark.

sev112

I've looked at various videos on YouTube, but I haven't seen one that really shows you how to fit the "cap/bolt" end of the qr skewer in around the rear derailleur

danlikesbikes

I'm a lefty tend to stand facing the rear of the bike with it on my left hand side & lean over and push the end of the derailleur downwards to give more clearance and slack in the chain I find that the wheel then just slots in with very little need to do much more as when releasing the derailleur the chain pushing down on the block helps to pull the wheel into the drop outs, if that helps.

sev112

Danlikesbikes wrote:

I'm a lefty tend to stand facing the rear of the bike with it on my left hand side & lean over and push the end of the derailleur downwards to give more clearance and slack in the chain I find that the wheel then just slots in with very little need to do much more as when releasing the derailleur the chain pushing down on the block helps to pull the wheel into the drop outs, if that helps.

Thanks - will give that a try - is the bike upside down or upright when you do that; I have tried both and have not a lot of success and curious grazes and grease marks to prove it

danlikesbikes

Bike is the right way up. I'm stood as if I am about to get on it backwards so facing the rear & at 90 degrees to the frame, then just lean over with your body to the right of the seat post and you can then get the seat post wedged in your armpit & the seat sits on the back or your arm/back supporting and lifting the rear of the frame off the ground leaving you both hands free to sort out your wheel.

simon_masterson

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Bike is the right way up. I'm stood as if I am about to get on it backwards so facing the rear & at 90 degrees to the frame, then just lean over with your body to the right of the seat post and you can then get the seat post wedged in your armpit & the seat sits on the back or your arm/back supporting and lifting the rear of the frame off the ground leaving you both hands free to sort out your wheel.

Sounds about like what I do (though I have to do some minor springing apart on the main bike as the current rear wheel is 122mm and the spacing is 120). You should almost never need to turn the bike upside down, which is just as well as drop bar bikes don't balance like flat bar ones do...

Also, because no-one's said it yet, a little (not much) pressure in the tube helps with getting it in the tyre.

sev112

Simon Masterson wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Bike is the right way up. I'm stood as if I am about to get on it backwards so facing the rear & at 90 degrees to the frame, then just lean over with your body to the right of the seat post and you can then get the seat post wedged in your armpit & the seat sits on the back or your arm/back supporting and lifting the rear of the frame off the ground leaving you both hands free to sort out your wheel.

Sounds about like what I do (though I have to do some minor springing apart on the main bike as the current rear wheel is 122mm and the spacing is 120). You should almost never need to turn the bike upside down, which is just as well as drop bar bikes don't balance like flat bar ones do...

Also, because no-one's said it yet, a little (not much) pressure in the tube helps with getting it in the tyre.

Yes was having fun with how much air needed.
Did front tyre easily
Back wheel was more fun and spent ages putting aIr in and or taking it out, cos I couldn't get the tube to stay in the rim all the way round - there would always be a section kept popping out again