Basic Maintenance: Changing an Inner Tube.

By Sam Coles:

Getting a flat tyre is always something that can put a downer on your day because you have to be somewhere such as work and it’s always frustrating having to change it on the side of the road or even at home. It is easy and very basic changing an inner tube but not everyone knows how so I’m going to give you a step by step process

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Step 1: Take the wheel of the frame and remove the tyre and inner tube.

The first thing you need to do is remove the wheel from the frame and that is easy enough as most bikes use quick release leavers these days, but if they don’t they generally have a bolt that can be undone with a wrench.

When the wheel is off make the sure the inner tube is completely deflated so you can get the tyre off. If you have a racing bike like me you’re going to need two or three tyre leavers because the tyres are very tight. Push the side of the tyre with the leaver and get it underneath and slowly move it around the wheel again if you have a racer move it a long a bit then use the hook to attach it to the spoke and repeat. Remove the inner tube from the tyre and throw it away.

Step 2: Check the under and the top of rim tape and the inside and outside of the tyre.

What you have to make sure when changing your inner tube is to check that there is no left over glass, stones or grit left in the tyre and the rim tape because otherwise your efforts are pointless. So make sure you’re in a well-lit environment or use a bright LED torch (my preference) to check the rim top and bottom. Start from the hole where the valve goes just so you know where you have started and if it’s clear move onto the tyre.

With the tyre you must check the inside and outside because with the outside things such as small stones and nails can get stuck so check that first. With the inside of the tyre rub your fingers around slowly because there maybe something sharp so be careful. Make sure there are no loose pieces of glass or small bits of grit; grit tends to be more of a problem during the winter.

Step 3: Putting the new inner tube in the tyre.

First you’ll need to put on half of the tyre on the rim so you can insert the tube. First you’ll need to inflate the tube slighty make sure that the tube can bend on your finger before putting it in because you don’t want to inflate it too much.

Insert the valve in the hole of the rim then start feeding the tube around the tyre and make sure that it is in the tyre. Now you are going to want to start putting the tyre on again and there are two ways you can do this, 

1 with mountain bikes you can just feed it back on rim from the valve with both hands in a circular motion and 2 if you have a racer you can use the tyre leavers to put it back by putting it in the rim by the tyre and running it along while checking that the tube is not pinching.

When the tyre is back on you’ll want to check if the tube is in properly and you can do this by feeling around the tyre and if you feel that it’s twisted somewhere start the process again. Make sure the valve is push up to the tyre and now you can pump it up to the PSI your bike tyre can handle.

So there you go it is as easy as that I hope that help those who were unsure.