Burning Rubber: Tires and Tubes

In This Chapter

^ Preventing flat tires ^ Removing a wheel, tire, and tube ^ Patching a punctured tube and fixing a tire ^ Putting the tire, tube, and wheel back together again

hy does it always seem like a flat tire comes at the worse possible WW time? You’re out riding your bike — enjoying the scenery, concentrat­ing on working up a sweat, or hustling to get to your destination on time — when suddenly your trip is interrupted by that irksome troublemaker, the flat tire. It starts as an slow, inconspicuous leak of air — it grabs your attention only when the tire is completely flat and an abrupt stop to your trip is the only option.

If you’re new to biking or you’ve been fortunate enough to have avoided tire and tube problems so far, rest assured: Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself on the side of the road, tube in hand, searching for that pesky leak.

Instead of trying to figure out how to remove a tire and patch a tube the first time it strikes, practice fixing and changing a tire before you actually need to. When you’re sitting at the side of the road is not the time to figure it out.

In this chapter, I take the mystery out of fixing a flat by explaining step by step how to remove a tire, find the puncture, patch the tube, and reassemble the wheel. Follow these instructions, and the next time a flat tire tries to derail your trip, you’ll be back on your bike in no time.

Why Flat Tires Happen to Good People

When it comes to flat tires, the universe does not play favorites. The next victim of a flat could just as easily be Lance Armstrong on an expensive racing bike in the French Alps as a little old lady from Kansas on a utility bike with a loaf of bread in her basket. Given that none of us is immune, the best you can do is understand what causes flats, try to limit the chances of having one, and be able to recover from one if you’re on the losing end of this game of chance.

Before you figure out how to handle flat tires, you need to know the parts of the bike involved:

✓ Wheel: The wheel includes the rim, spokes, and hub.

✓ Tire: The tire sits between the rim and the road and is made of interwo­ven fabric and rubber.

✓ Tread: The tread is the rubber-coated part of the tire that comes in con­tact with the road.

✓ Tube: The tube is an inflatable balloon that fills up the inside of the tire as it expands.

✓ Valve: The valve is a metal connector that can be opened and closed to inflate or deflate the tube.

When it comes to flats, the tube plays a leading role. The tube provides the cushion of air between the road and the rider, allowing for a smooth, efficient ride. When the tube is damaged in some way such that it can no longer maintain air, a flat is the result. Tube damage can be caused by any of the following:

✓ Sharp objects: Objects such as glass or a nail can pierce a tire and tube.

✓ Low tire pressure: When your tire pressure is low, it’s easier for an object to penetrate the tire rather than bounce off.

✓ The tube getting caught between the sharp edge of the wheel rim and the tire: When this happens, the result is something called a pinched flat or snakebite puncture.

✓ Tires wearing out: When your tires wear out, they lose their capacity to protect the tube.

✓ Tubes losing their integrity: If you’ve patched your tubes multiple times, they’ll be more prone to damage.

Fixing a Flat

If you plan on doing a lot of biking, you’ll probably end up fixing flats regu­larly. You have two options for recovering from a flat:

✓ Install a spare tube. Although this method is a quick, surefire way to get back on the road in a matter of minutes, the cost of tubes can add up after a while.

Note: In the cases described below, you’ll have to replace the tube:

• After you’ have patched a tube a dozen or more times, the integrity of the tube starts to break down, leaving you more vulnerable to additional flats or a complete blowout. (A blowout is a rip or tear

in the tube that cannot be patched and requires the tube to be replaced).

• A damaged stem valve also requires the tube to be replaced.

✓ Patch your existing tube. This option is a cheap, reliable fix — and it’s the method we recommend. Before long, you’ll be a biking veteran proudly showing off the patches on your tube as if they were badges of honor.

In this section, we walk you through the entire process of fixing a flat, with a focus on patching your tube. We also tell you how to replace a tube, in case you really need to.

Grabbing yourself a wheel

Before you can even think about fixing a flat or addressing any other tire or tube issue, you need to be able to remove the wheel from the bicycle frame. Fortunately, bike manufacturers have made the lives of bike riders easier by introducing things such as quick-release hubs and brakes. In the case of bikes without the quick release, don’t fret — a wrench will do the trick.

In the following sections, I walk you through loosening the brakes and remov­ing the wheel, regardless of how your bike was made.

Loosening the brakes

Because brakes are typically designed to sit close to the wheel rim, their location normally prevents the wheel from being removed if the tire is fully inflated. If you want to remove a wheel, you first have to open the brakes so there’s room for the tire to fit through the brake pads.

Many bikes have a quick release built into the brake, which quickly enables the cable to slacken and the brakes to spread. The quick release may vary depending on what type of brakes your bike has:

✓ Cantilever brakes: If you have cantilever brakes, squeeze the brake arms together with one hand to create slack in the cable and, with the other hand, lift the loose end of the cable out of its pocket. Release the breaks and they’ll pop open.

✓ V-brakes: If you have V-brakes, pinch together the top of the brake arms to loosen the cable. Pull the rubber boot back to expose the cable Carefully pull the cable out of the narrow slot in the cable holder, and release it to open the brakes

✓ Side-pull brakes: For side-pull brakes, look for a small lever on the cali­per where the cable is attached. Pull the lever upward and release the brakes just enough to allow the wheel to pass. In some models, you have to look for a button on the lever and push it to release the tension on the brakes.

Worst case, if you can’t release the brakes to allow the tire to past through the brakes, let the air out of the tire; this will give you the clearance needed.

Taking off the wheel

After the brakes are loosened, you’re ready to remove the wheel. To remove a wheel, follow these steps:

1. Shift the chain to the smallest cog in the back, so that the chain and derailleur have more slack and are out of the way.

If you’re removing both wheels, remove the front wheel first, because it’s the easier of the two.

2. For wheels that use axle nuts: Use the proper size wrench to loosen one side slightly and then the other, alternating until the wheel is free.

Avoid loosening one side all at once, because this could lead to prob­lems with the bike’s hub bearings. If you have two wrenches, you can undo both nuts at the same time.

3. For quick-release wheels: Pull the lever away from the bike.

The initial release of the lever may be enough to free the front wheel. If not, hold the nut opposite the lever with one hand and rotate the lever a few times to loosen it.

All newer bicycles have some type of safety retention device to hold the front wheel in the frame, even if the quick release is opened or the axle nuts have been loosened. If your front fork has a clip-on type of safety retention device, disengage it. If the safety retention device is molded, cast, or machined into the front fork dropouts, loosen the tension, adjusting it enough to allow removal of the wheel.

If you’ve successfully taken off the front wheel, you’re ready to remove its more challenging counterpart — the rear wheel. Unlike the front wheel, which practically drops off the bike after you release it, the rear wheel has the chain and derailleur wrapped around its cogs. To free it you need to:

1. Loosen the nuts or the quick release for the rear wheel in the same way as you did for the front.

This time you may need to give the wheel a stiff blow from the rear of the wheel toward the front of the bicycle to jar the axle loose.

2. Move the wheel away forward and downward from the derailleur to let the chain fall off.

If this doesn’t work, you may have to get a little dirty and lift the chain off the cog with your hand.

Don’t be afraid of the chain, derailleur, and cogs when you remove the rear wheel. The chain and rear derailleur will stay attached to the bicycle frame and the cogs will stay attached to the rear wheel. You won’t affect any of the adjustments.