Flat Resistant Tires & Riding Alone

[Chile Pepper]

Don't forget to pump up your tire before every single ride, even if you just rode a day or two ago. Full pressure seriously helps minimize flats.

[lph]

I don't flat that often, maybe once or twice a year, and rarely fix it on the road anyway, but I would find it very very stressful to ride worrying about flatting because I couldn't fix it myself.

The hard part about fixing a rear flat is imagining how the chain and rear derailleur are supposed to go together once the wheel is off, because the rear derailleur collapses a bit in on itself once you pull the wheel off.

Having a simple diagram of what it looks like once the wheel is ON with you would help. You could put it in your seat bag, or tape it under your saddle. I'll make you one if you like :-)

[Catrin]

I am very careful to air my tires before every ride - generally before it goes on my bike rack.

I have arthritic hands so changing a tire is very hard for me - the problem is getting those last 6 inches of tire back on the rim. When I practiced it actually took me something like 2 hours from beginning to end for that reason.

Now I have a trunk bag, I understand there is a tool that is safe to use to assist getting the tire back on the rim

[OakLeaf]

I've never been shy about using levers to get a tire back on (plastic ones, so I don't mar the rim, and they slide a bit better on the tube as well). It's rare enough that I trap the tube, that it's totally worth it to me to go ahead and use levers when a tire is being balky. All you have to do is be careful, and check the bead carefully both before you air the tire and after you've got a good amount of pressure in the tire. I've never holed a tube during installation with plastic levers.

I think lubricating the tube with corn starch or baby powder, besides letting it slide freely inside the tire, helps avoid pinching during installation also.