Changing a flat tire, the most simple and yet crucial part of beginning the journey to cycle commuting, it is simple and in doing it becomes easier to do time and again.
On more then one occasion, I have been out there pounding the pedals on a road I may not of followed previously, enjoying the scenery and the feeling of exhilaration that is par for the course when riding a bike. I am cruising along, got my flow going, pedaling is easy, cadence is high then suddenely woosh, a flat tire in the middle of a backroad, my flow is off, pulling off to the side of the road, now what?
Well you really have a couple of choices, you can either step off the bike and start walking back to the closest town or get off the bike and make the fix. It of course depends on you, and the awareness of how to make the fix, which is the objective of this article.
My first suggestion is to always carry an extra tube with you on the bike ride, because often that is the easiest fix, you carry an extra tube and pump and you are set. At the very least carrying a pump and a patching kit is the most basic necessity of anyone who is travelling at distance and even locally.
If you just decide on carrying a patch kit the process is relatively straightforward, in the patch kit there is usually, rubber patches, a buffering metal and some rubber cement depending on what type of patch kit it is. The better patch kits usually also contain what is called tire irons, which are basically plastic with something that looks like a hook on one side and the other part of it that looks like a crowbar usually rounded. Both sides have a purpose, one side is to help take the tire off the rim, because as you will see it is not as easy as you might of thought. The tire iron is as important as having a good patch kit. The other side of the iron is the hook in itself it helps the process depending on how tight the tire is to the rim. For now though we will just focus on the lesser side because most tires should come off easy enough when using that side of it. The changing of the flat also depends on whether it is on the front or the back.
Many of the bikes purchased today, have what is called quick release on the front and the back tire. The way you can tell is if you look at the back wheel or the front wheel on the left is what looks like an angled bolt that can move back and forth. The idea behind the quick release is to enable a quick change of a tire when taking the wheel off the bike. Once the wheel is off you can search for the puncture by putting it near your air after putting air in it with a pump to see if can find where the puncture is. Once you locate the puncture, you use the buffer to clean the area around the puncture, because the rubber glue works better on a smooth surface. So you buffer the area, place the glue on the patch and press and hold there for about 30 seconds making sure there is no gap between the patch and the tire that air can escape from.
That is only one option, and could work in some situations, but my own personal experience, when you puncture a tire it is easier to just replace the tube with a new one that of course your carrying with you right? The reasons for following that procedure instead of the other one is simply because patches are not always that effective. Certainly with enough practice you can become an expert, though you want to get back on the bike as soon as possible right? The search for a puncture the placement of the glue and finally the patch and then putting the tire back on and hoping that it will hold takes time, and may not be effective unless properly done. For anyone who is just starting out in bicycling and even those whom are nearly experts, it is just easier to carry an extra tube and replace it, fill it up with air and keep on riding. The extra tube does not add much weight to the overall ride, and with the advent of quick release it just becomes many times easier then the traditional approach.