Changed my first *&^)_&&^%$ tire

[staceysue]

GRRRRRR! UUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!! (Those are screams of frustration)

I had to change my first tire. Thank God it was a front tire. The house probably wouldn't be standing if I'd tried the rear tire.

First, I got all my cold weather clothes on and went out expecting to go on a nice bike ride. I hooked up my shiny new bicycle pump with the built-in pressure gage to check the tire pressure (first mistake - I'm pretty sure I've been hooking it up wrong all along) and, like always, it said "20 lbs" and then when I pumped the pump it felt like air wasn't even going in but then the gage read 200 lbs after, like, 2 pumps. So I pumped it 6 more times or so (all the while thinking - 'this thing doesn't feel like it's pumping right) and when the little needle settled around 110 I pulled it off. Then I noticed the little wire thing at the end of the presta valve was bent (the part that the tiny little thing screws up and down on) and I thought "ah! That's why the pump isn't acting right!" so I tried to bend the wire thing and it broke off.

So I thought "time to change my first tire" and brought the bike in the house where I could take my time.

1. Since the valve was broken I had to find something to poke in the middle of it to let out all the air

2. then I used my tire levers to start taking off the tire and getting the inner tub out and realized I needed to take the wheel off first.

3. So I opened my break and then opened the "quick release" to take the tire off. It was not "quick" and took all of my muscles to release the $#&^ thing.

4. Got really hot and sweaty and changed out of my cold weather clothes.

5. Took out the skewer and a spring fell out- not sure which way it was in.

6. Took the wheel off and took out the inner tube.

7. Blew a little air in the new inner tube and got the tube in without twisting it and started feeling very sure of myself.

8. Got the tire back on the rim - yay! But noticed it was kind of hard to get the edge tucked back in around the presta valve.

9. Put the wheel on and put the skewer through and stuck the spring on there (hope it's in the right place) and screwed the little nut on the end of the skewer.

10. Turned the "quick release" lever nice and tight while I was holding the nut on the other side and then started trying to close the $*%^@$ (*&^%$# lever (remembering that the lever must line up with the fork). I used all of my arm muscles until they were quivering - jamming the bike's stem up against the corner of a wall and shoving with all my might. No success. So I layed on the floor and tried to press with my feet. No success. So I unscrewed the lever one revolution and then VOILA!!! I was able to close the lever using only my hands!

11. Examined the dent I left in the corner of the wall.

12. Closed the brakes.

13. Pumped up the tire.

14. Said "What a good girl am I!!!!"

15. Looked at the back tire for comparison and realized there was a bolt on the valve stem, holding it tight to the tire rim - realized I'd left the bolt on the valve and it's now inside the $&)*)$#@& tire.

16. Sat down to write you.

So - tomorrow I'm going to do the whole thing over again and get the stupid bolt out of the stupid tire. I didn't get to ride my bike and now I have to get ready for work, and I won't have time to ride it tomorrow because I'll be putting myself through this again!

UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! :D

[DebbieDowner]

I feel your pain. I know my time to change a tire is comming soon and it make me a little nervous. I make sure i take cell phone and cab fare incase I cannot do it alone.

;)

[ninerfan]

It might not be a bad idea to go through the process of fixing a flat before you actually have one. I mean physically take the tube out, etc. so that when the real flat comes its old hat and you already have the experience of taking the tire off the rim and so forth. It's much easier to fix a flat in the comfort of your own home. :D

Practice makes perfect!

[indigoiis]

This is a good how-to video on changing a tire. Pop some popcorn and enjoy! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5K-DXt9djA

[azfiddle]

Oh- I feel your pain. I am a recent returnee to cycling (long hiatus since high school) and had to relearn about flat tires, presta valves, pumps etc. My first flat on the new bike also showed up at home. I had already watched two videos and my dh was on hand to walk me through it, but it still interrupted ride plans. I have had about 5 flats in the last month or so because I live in the desert and we have thorns everywhere. So I now have gator skin tires with kevlar and have high hopes to avoid getting any more. (was going to make a bad pun about having those hopes deflated by more punctures....)

[lph]

:D sorry to laugh but that was a pretty hilarious description of one's first tube change :D Well done! You've made about half the mistakes you can make, don't have to make them again, but can move on to the remaining half!

[oxysback]

Ahhh, good times, good times. The first time I changed a tire was to switch the nobby tires on my old hybrid to smooth road tires. I was doing pretty good and was proud of my work, so I called hubby in so he could tell me what a good job I did all by myself. Well, turns out that I didn't know that certain bike tires are like car tires. Due to the tread, they have a little arrow saying which way they're supposed to roll. What are the chances that I'd put both of them on backwards? 100%. So off they came again so I could turn them around. After I got them both back on, I went in the house...and not 2 minutes later there's a loud BANG! Yep. The tube had gotten pinched and popped. I changed 5 tires total that day. By then it was too late to ride. :D

[Biciclista]

I was doing ok until you got to #15. WHAT BOLT?

you're ahead of me. Every time I've done it, i've needed help.

[Biciclista]

Dear Stacy
I sent this to my husband because he's had lots of encounters like yours.
He laughed so hard (sorry) that he was in tears.

[OakLeaf]

I was doing ok until you got to #15. WHAT BOLT?

Nut. It's a nut. Most people leave them off - maybe whoever's helped you each time has tossed it out before you even saw it. It can be useful in keeping the tube aligned with the hole while you're mounting the tire.

Stacey, are you sure you didn't take the nut off before you packed the tube up? Easy way to tell: if the stems on both your tubes are the same length, then they should be protruding the same distance from the rim. If the nut's inside, it would be keeping that much of the stem inside, too.

Anyway, good job and great sense of humor! :D I wish it were as easy as lph said though. Sometimes people just get in a hurry and make the same mistakes over and over, no matter how much better they know. Not that I would know a-a-a-nything about that :rolleyes::cool:

[tulip]

Good job, stacysue! For all of you reading this and dreading when it will happen to you, I have some unasked for but very valuable advice, should you decide to bite...

The winter is the perfect time to learn how to change a tire and tube, and to practice so that come spring, you'll have nothing to worry about. So call up your cycling buddies, make some pizza or cookies, and have a Flat Tire Party or two. Everybody brings their wheels and tools and learn together.

[AllezGirl]

What Tulip said. Practice, practice, practice! Another good reason...tires can be very hard to get back on the first couple of times. The bead loosens up quite a bit after a couple of changes. It also took me a few (ok...a lot) of tries to be able to get the rear wheel back on fluidly.

[Ange]

Staceysue, that's awesome! You made me laugh so hard (in a good way). That was nearly verbatim how my first tire change went! My first tire change didn't have a bolt to get lost inside the tire, but my third tire change (three days ago, on my daughter's 20" wheel) resulted in a tire exploding in my face. However, don't give up! It gets easier! In between those two, my second tire change (her front 20" wheel) went beautifully.

Aren't those skewer springs a pain? I *think* they go big-side-toward-the-fork, but you'd better get confirmation on that. :)

[tjf9]

Sorry you had a tough time, but thanks for sharing!!! That was great!

BTW, did you take the skewer all the way out of your wheel? You don't have to do that, you just need to loosten it enough to allow it to pass out of the fork. (Although I have also loostened too far, losing the bolt and spring in the process - no fun!)

Hope you have better luck next time. :)

[yetigooch]

Great job......However, get rid of the nut....it's not necessary. It's just one more thing you have to remove. Another tip.....coat your tubes with talcum powder....this prevents your tubes from sticking to (or becoming one with) the tire. You'll impress your hard core bikers if they saw that you did this....also it is a good gauge if your LBS is worth their weight in service.

Happy riding!

[staceysue]

Glad I could provide some entertainment! :D

Update: I skipped doing my hair and makeup so I could get the stupid nut out of the stupid tire. It wasn't too too bad - I didn't have to take the wheel off to do it. Everybody at work was wondering why I looked so awful, though.

Tomorrow I'll try to ride the thing. Hopefully everything's on right!

[krisl6]

I feel your pain too. For some reason something always seems to go wrong when I have to fix a tire. I can do a patch job ok, but I'm terrible at replacing tubes. Can never seem to get enough strength out of my spaghetti arms to get that last bit of the tire on. Very frustrating!!!

[papaver]

I feel your pain too. For some reason something always seems to go wrong when I have to fix a tire. I can do a patch job ok, but I'm terrible at replacing tubes. Can never seem to get enough strength out of my spaghetti arms to get that last bit of the tire on. Very frustrating!!!

Hey Krisl there is a Flemish cycling forum where there's a thread about which tubes go well with which types of wheels. Very handy!

http://www.wielertoerist.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=20961

[Crankin]

I have no problem replacing the tube, getting the tire back on. It's putting the rear wheel back on. I have been to at least 3 classes, where I manage to do it, and practice every winter, but the last time I practiced, my DH came home to find me sitting on the front step, crying, with my bike in pieces.
Yea, I know the tricks (putting the chain on the biggest cog, big chain ring), but I can't manage to lift the bike with one hand, pull back the deurailler with the other and get the chain back on. More than once, I've hurt my back trying to do so!
Well, I have had only had flats twice while out on the road in ten years. Thankfully I was with someone else at the time. Pretty much, this is why I don't do long rides alone. And I pump my tires every time I ride, don't ride in the rain if I can help it.
I know, I'm hopeless.

[OakLeaf]

Oh goodness, it's putting the chain on the smallest cog to take tension off the chain/derailleur springs, and have the derailleur closest to the dropout.

No wonder you're having trouble!

Try it that way next time...

[krisl6]

Hey Krisl there is a Flemish cycling forum where there's a thread about which tubes go well with which types of wheels. Very handy!

http://www.wielertoerist.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=20961


Wow that is very handy! Thanks for the tip!

[Crankin]

No, I just wrote it wrong.... I know which cog to put it on.
I am trying everything I can to avoid working on my part of a group therapy simulation I have to do for a class, so my mind is kind of jumbled. In fact, I think I am going on a group ride and will do my work afterwards!

[OakLeaf]

Hmmmmm...

Learning to trust people you might not ordinarily interact with.

Mutually allowing each other into a position to do each other serious harm, trusting that they won't.

Learning to set appropriate boundaries, getting very close to get the "job" done, but not so close that you get interlinked and bring the whole group down.

Letting other see you at your worst.

Is that group therapy, or a paceline? ;)

[Biciclista]

My consolation is that my commute is 4 miles and I've already walked it a half dozen times this year; so if I do get a flat, I can push the bike up the hill and get to my nice warm house to attempt to fix a flat (or wait for DH to get home!)
ps if i didn't have DH, I'd go to the LBS for flats, probably!

[Crankin]

Very funny, Oakleaf. My co-leader and I are doing a simulated group for teenagers (14-15) of deployed parents in the military. We have developed a good activity, developmentally appropriate, based on research, blah, blah, blah. I have to write up the rationale, which is the biggest part, and I have some good sources. It's just sitting down to do it. Of course, who knows how the people playing our clients will react. I just have to remember to make my process comments. It's not for another month. Oy, I sound like a therapist and it sounds weird.
I went on the group ride and kept saying to myself, "I can leave at any time," since the ride was never more than 7 miles from the start (although it was a 35 mile, fairly hilly ride). I did not go to the lunch, though, as it was at the local bagel place, 3 miles from my house. I rode home and led a few others back.
OK, now I have to work. After I shower, etc.
And I will practice the tire changing again.

[MartianDestiny]

Sorry you had a bad first time! Sounds like most of your trouble was with the quick release axle. A few (hopefully helpful) hints on that front: 1) you don't need to unscrew the nut and take the axle out of the wheel. Pop your quick release open (yes, it's not fun) unscrew 2-3 turns and pull your wheel straight out. This allows you to leave the axle in the wheel and not worry about the little nut or spring going flying (and is why it's called a quick release). 2) when you put it back on don't tighten it all the way and then try to flip the lever closed, the lever is designed to take the last bit of tension (hence why there are springs, etc. in this contraption). This takes some feel because you don't want it too loose, but if you can't close your lever with the meaty part of your hand back the screw out 1/2 a turn or so until you can.

[tulip]

Crankin, try turning your bike upside down to replace the rear wheel.

[Crankin]

That makes it worse. Everything is backwards. My spatial relations are not ah, too cool. I just have to practice. My DH can do it in like 2 seconds.
I have hardly had any flats. I had one in 2004 and then most were on the one century I've done in 2006, when something actually slashed my tire and I had 3 flats. Interestingly, the next and last time I had a flat was in the *exact same spot in Maine* on a group ride. Well, I don't know if it occurred there, but I was at that spot during the ride and when I got home and took my bike out of the car, the tire was flat.
Don't ever ride up the hill at Nubble Lighthouse in York Beach!

[Biciclista]

That makes it worse. Everything is backwards. My spatial relations are not ah, too cool. I just have to practice. My DH can do it in like 2 seconds.
I have hardly had any flats. Most were on the one century I've done, when something actually slashed my tire and I had 3 flats. Interestingly, the next and last time I had a flat was in the *exact same spot in Maine* on a group ride. Well, I don't know if it occurred there, but I was at that spot during the ride and when I got home and took my bike out of the car, the tire was flat.
Don't ever ride up the hill at Nubble Lighthouse in York Beach!

you're not alone, sometimes I do it by accident. Once my car mechanic came out to do it for me after watching me struggle for a while. :confused:

[VeloVT]

I like to use tubes with threaded stems. I find that when I'm fixing a flat on the road and using C02, the process of getting the C02 pump seated straight/correctly on a presta valve on the first try (and therefore not wasting any of the C02) is made much easier by having the valve held in place. The nut goes on the outside though :).

[VeloVT]

Also, this really gets a lot easier. My first few rear tube changes I got grease EVERYWHERE. Hands, legs, clothes, even on my face. Now I can do it and pretty much not get grease on myself, although I always carry individually wrapped Wet Ones in my seatbag to clean up just in case. (Even if you don't get greasy your hands usually feel grimy afterwards).

[Crankin]

Well, we use the unthreaded valves and have never had an issue with the CO2 cartridges. I think it has to do with the adapter/pump thing you use for the cartridges.
I never leave the nut on any of my valves.

[parity]

I don't use the nut that comes with a threaded valve. For a number of reasons. The first being if you over tighten the nut it can cause a leak where the valve meets the tube. This is caused when you pump up the tire and the tube inflates with air but the nut can cause the valve to separate a bit from the tube. Secondly, if it becomes loose it or you don't tighten it enough can make a rattling noise against the rim. I hate to hear any noise while riding. I find the nut largely pointless and throw them away as I can install the tube and inflate it without the need of the nut. I also don't re-install the plastic screw cap either as its also useless once the tube is installed. So don't install the nut or plastic cap, and save some weight. :)

[Owlie]

I had to replace both tubes within two weeks of each other even though they had less than 30 miles on them. (I think I just got a set with bad valves when I bought the bike.) DBF was on hand to help. I pray I don't get a flat if I'm out by myself--it takes two people to get the wheels on and off the bike because the tires are almost as wide as the brakes.

[VeloVT]

Well, we use the unthreaded valves and have never had an issue with the CO2 cartridges. I think it has to do with the adapter/pump thing you use for the cartridges.
I never leave the nut on any of my valves.


maybe I'm just clumsy :p.

[staceysue]

I have got so many great tips from this thread. People on this forum are unusually friendly and helpful, don't you think?

[lph]

I had to replace both tubes within two weeks of each other even though they had less than 30 miles on them. (I think I just got a set with bad valves when I bought the bike.) DBF was on hand to help. I pray I don't get a flat if I'm out by myself--it takes two people to get the wheels on and off the bike because the tires are almost as wide as the brakes.

Owlie, I sometimes struggle getting my mtb wheels on and off because of the knobby tires being so wide, but that's just because I'm lazy and don't want to deflate them and have to inflate them again. Once they're deflated, or if I have a flat, I can just compress them a little with my hand and they come right off.

[Crankin]

Liza, you're not clumsy. My DH changed the little adapter/pump thing so it works better. But, we stopped using the threaded tubes because they caused more troubles. Which ones, I don't know, since it's been awhile.
We throw away the cap, too.

[OakLeaf]

Owlie, do your brakes have a quick-release? Shimano caliper brakes have a lever that makes it obvious, but other brakes usually have a quick-release that might not be so immediately apparent.

But yeah, even with my old bikes that IIRC I ran 700x28c or at the widest 700x32 tires, I like my brakes on the tight side, so they wouldn't necessarily go in with much air in the tires.

Also, leaving the tire mostly deflated makes it easier to install the rear wheel - it leaves you more room to maneuver inside the rear triangle while you're getting the chain on. Finish pumping it up after it's installed. Then once the tire's fully inflated, do a final alignment check on the wheel before you ride off.

(That's why I much prefer a trigger-actuated CO2 system, or a pump. The one-shot CO2 systems don't let you stop at partial inflation and then continue on with the rest of the gas.)

[redrhodie]

I had an epiphany yesterday. I had a flat, and I was a little nervous using my CO2s since I recently had a flat and couldn't get the gas in the tires. Used my 2 cartridges, then took a ride from a kind stranger (which I really try to avoid).

Well, yesterday the CO2 gods shined upon me, and all the gas went in without trouble. I then went to the lbs for a new tube, and I always ask for short stem, which work best with my floor pump. They happened to be out, and the lbs guy said I like the longer stems anyway. The short ones are about 2 mms short for my cartridge adapter. Doh! That was my issue!

Oakleaf, I like the advice for the partial inflate before wheel install. I'm going to do that next time. My bike has horizontal dropouts, and it's a really tight fit. I often get jammed during the install when the tire hits the seat tube. I bet that will give a little extra room that I need.

[Owlie]

Owlie, do your brakes have a quick-release? Shimano caliper brakes have a lever that makes it obvious, but other brakes usually have a quick-release that might not be so immediately apparent.



Yes, they do. Even with the lever open, the width of the brake is only slightly wider than the tire, to the point where if there's any air in it at all, you have to force the wheel back on to the bike. (Why did Giant think that those particular tires were a good idea??)