Like me, you may not have changed a tyre on your bicycle since you were a kid. Or perhaps you’ve only ever watched your dad repair a bike puncture!
It’s never too late to learn, as I rediscovered.
Whether you’re discovering for yourself, or to fix your child’s bike, it is all too easy when you know how.
You will need:
- a puncture repair kit (or at least the glue and patch)
- access to water/small bowl
- a pair of kitchen spoons or metal levers
- a stick of chalk
- bike pump
If it helps stepping through the process, here is my dummies ‘how to’ guide:
#1. Remove the wheel from the bike frame
While you are able to repair the inner tube without having to remove the entire wheel from your bike, it does get a little awkward. If you do have the ability to, best remove the bicycle wheel completely.
How? There will be a nut that will need to be loosened with a spanner OR a lever to pull, where the wheel latches on to the bike frame (the centre of the spokes). Carefully lift the wheel from the frame.
#2. Untuck the tyre from the wheel rim
To get to the inner tube to find the puncture, you need to untuck the tyre first.
Use a spoon handle to dig under the metal rim and lift out one edge of the tyre. Leave the handle of the spoon in place, then repeat the same process with another handle some 4-6 inches further around the rim. Run one spoon handle round the entire wheel rim and the whole edge of the tyre will pop off the rim, giving easy access to the inner tube.
If you have purchased a puncture repair kit, the odds are that it will come with a pair of levers.
#3. Removing the inner tube
Using your spoon (or lever) hook out the inner tube. It will be flat and easy to peel out.
Be sure to remove the cap from the air valve and keep safe. Carefully push through the valve so the complete inner tube is now removed.
Use your bike pump and pump up the inner tube. That may sound odd as it has a puncture, but odds are that it’s just a slow leak. You will need to find where the hole is to fix it!
#4. Find the leak!
Fill a small bowl full of water. With your inflated inner tube, take turns to dip the entire tube in water in sections. Pass the tube through your fingers under water, so the tube is submerged. You will soon see the pesky leak by its tell-tale bubbles.
The hole may be virtually impossible to see at first with the human eye, so you may need to repeat the process – dipping, checking, dipping. When you have found the puncture, mark it with some chalk.
#5. Prepare the inner tube
Using a scuffer (it looks like a mini cheese grater often found in a puncture repair kit), scuff the surface of the tube around the vicinity of the hole. Working like sandpaper, it helps the glue and patch stick well.
Apply the glue thinly and allow to dry.
Remove the protector from the back of the patch (without touching the surface — think of it as a plaster) and carefully place over the centre of the hole, over the glue. Press down firmly over entire patch.
#6. Reconstruct
Repeat the process in reverse:
- Thread the inner tube back onto the wheel rim, ensuring not to twist. Carefully push through the value and secure with cap.
- Click the tyre over the inner tube and inside tuck both sides inside the wheel rim. It’s much easier to put on that take off!
- Pump up the tyre and test!
- Replace the wheel on the bike frame, secure. You are now ready for your next adventure!
