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Taking care of your equipment: Changing a flat tire

Posted June 28, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Martinique Haller

Section: Her Fitness, Her Gear & Apparel

ENTER IMAGE NAME BETWEEN QUOTES - USE ENGLISH NOT FILE NAMING STRUCTURE Cycling, like other sports requires the use of equipment--your bike. It’s important to know how to maintain your equipment whether that means tightening the trucks on your skateboard, or wrapping grip tape around your tennis racket. It’s a good idea to know how to do it yourself.  I decided to take myself at my word and learn how to change flat tires a few weeks ago. I have the grand advantage of being married to a woman who knows a lot about bikes; she’s worked in a bike shop for four years and is happy to take care of my bike for me from lubing it, cleaning it, to adjusting the brakes, airing up the tires, and changing my flats. But I have always been an avid cyclist of my own accord, and not knowing how to do any of the basics keeps me from crossing the line from avid to serious, or enthusiast to athlete. I decided to start with changing a flat.

I arrived home from work and removed my locking skewer and pulled my front wheel off. I found my directions, and pulled out a drop cloth and sat myself down on the living room floor to make my television time a little more productive. I removed the cap and unscrewed the valve. The directions didn’t say anything about letting the air out of the tire, but I assumed that was essential. I pushed down on the valve. Because the air coming out seemed really cold and highly pressured and I was unsure if I was doing it right (what exactly I thought it should feel like is beyond me).  I didn’t want to mess up anything that would prevent me from riding to work the next day so I opted to wait for my wife to come home to give me the demo. After all, learning is good no matter how it’s done and I don’t think learning from a handout or a website is superior to learning by being taught someone else.

I laid the tire on the floor and waited for the wife to arrive home from work. She was proud when she realized I was finally following through with learning to change a flat. It was something we had talked about doing for awhile, but we kept not getting around to it. She confirmed that I needed to let the air out of tire and that the way I began was correct. After that we went step by step through the process of removing one side of the tire from the rim, pulling out the tube, putting it back in, getting the tire back on without pinching the tube and airing it back up. And then we did it again. Then I did it by myself, and did it by myself again.  Finally, I learned how to remove the back wheel.  Once I learned how to remove that wheel I realized it was nothing to be intimidated by. I had to make sure to put the wheels back correctly and check the brakes.  The mystery of flat tires was finally revealed to me and I was proud of myself. Now I’m just waiting for my first real flat tire.

Next time a piece of your equipment needs to be cleaned, replaced, or repaired think about asking questions instead of just dropping it off at the shop. Ask if they’ll show you how to do it. If the repair is relatively minor you could try it yourself by looking in a book or online before taking it in. The payoff in pride is worth the effort.

This video walks you through changing a flat tire.


54 Responses to “Taking care of your equipment: Changing a flat tire” (Leave a reply)
  1. Jeff said:

    Thats a good thing to learn… one thing you must always be careful not to forget, is to check the tire and the rim to try and find what punctured your tire in the first place.

    alot of time you will find a piece of glass, or blackberry thorn stuck in the tire, and it will just make a new hole when you put the tube back in.

  2. tirerack com said:

    i agree with you jeff. Having a tire check every time a vehicle travels can save a lot of money and trouble too.

  3. What I personally do is a chek up of the 4 tires of a car to find nails, glass or any other type of cutting material that may pinch the tire at high speed.

  4. That for sure prevents lots of pain on the road, and the time you spend inspecting those thing is nothing if you think about it!.

  5. Sport Serena from fl said:

    I start to ride a bike ever since a was a little girl and have never changed a flat tire ever. I’ve never thought of doing it myself, you know. After reading your article, I figure that it’s a good idea to know how to do it yourself. Next time I’ll try to take care of my bike myself.

  6. Rathna from India said:

    Yes ,Checking tire should the foremost work done by us before starting the vehicle/trip.It also helps us for more safe journey.

  7. I’ve been really enjoying checking up your posts from time to time, thanks for your great work, cheers !!

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  12. Top MBA Colleges from India said:

    Thank you so much for this article!  I’ve been trying to sort out the hype from the knowledge about taking care of equipments , and this is the first place I’ve found that lays the information out in a clear and concise fashion!

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  13. Enzara from New York said:

    I’ve been trying to sort out the hype from the knowledge about taking care of equipments , and this is the first place I’ve found that lays the information out in a clear and concise fashion!

  14. Ruben said:

    You get skills by doing these kind of things, skills that you can use in other areas of your life, good for you.

  15. Rathna said:

    Actually checking up tires is really a good thing to learn.This certainly saves money,sufferings and offcourse the most important factor life.Its really good to make this a routine habit.

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    Thats a good thing to learn…

  19. Great points you raise. I too like it very much

  20. I had a Cycle but I did not change my flat tire so that my cycle’s tube was damage. After reading your post I recognized my fault.

  21. Home Accents said:

    There are bikes with a device to switch wheels in seconds but changing a flat tire is a little bit of a pain.

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  26. Riding a bike is a good alternative for people with bad knees who find it painful to run. It’s a great cardio workout whether you are out on the road on a bike or indoors on a stationary cycle. An hour of biking can burn up to 400 calories or more.

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  27. It may look easy to change the tire but without the right tools is the most difficult thing to do.

  28. Correct every time and regularly cyclist should change the flat tyre with new one for good grip and avoiding any accidents.

  29. Cycling is seen by some to be an inherently high-risk, dangerous activity although use of appropriate safety equipment and obediance of road rules can reduce risk of serious injury.

  30. Poker Women from Wisconsin said:

    Yeah, I own a trek and my tire has been flat from sitting around all winter.  The video pretty much explains it all.  Thanks

  31. Beth from Texas said:

    Cycling is one of the best forms of exercise. Not to mention how great it makes your legs look!

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  45. I’ve found that its far easier to cycle than run or walk. Its easier on my knees, and for someone like me with bad knees, that can be vital.

    Changing a flat tire is obviously among the first things you should learn, whether you’re riding a bike, a motorbike, or driving a car..

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