Fixing a Flat

Sharpen your skills before hitting the road

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Repairing a flat tire is one of the most fundamental and important repair skills every cyclist should have. You never know when that shard of glass or hard-edged debris will wedge its way through your tire and bite into the soft rubber of your inner tube. Having the tools and know-how to repair this common problem is vital.

I will briefly describe the four steps involved in removing a tire and then replacing or repairing an inner tube, but you should also purchase, if you can, a good book about basic bicycle maintenance and practice, practice, practice. You don't want the first time you deal with this type of routine work to be when you are on the road miles from home.

Tools
Before you begin, make certain that you have all of the tools. You will need two (or three) tire irons or levers, a tube repair kit or spare inner tube, and a pump. Check your wheel; if it does not have a quick-release, you will also need a crescent wrench for loosing the nuts.

Step 1: Remove the Wheel
There are three basic obstacles to overcome: gravity, the axle attachment (quick-release or axle nuts), and the brakes—and, in the case of the rear wheel, the derailleur. Gravity can be turned to your advantage by first turning the bike upside-down. Then loosen whatever assembly is keeping your wheel attached to the bike. If you have a quick-release attachment, flip the lever so that it is loose. If you have axle bolts, use your crescent wrench to loosen both bolts.

You will then need to loosen the brakes enough to allow the wheel to pass between the brake blocks. Most new brake systems have a relatively simple way of doing this. The front wheel can then be easily detached from the bike. With the rear wheel, you will need to swing the rear derailleur back and out of the way (pull toward the rear of the bike) to allow for the wheel's unobstructed removal.