Second.

1. I can’t believe I read this entire thread... (Changed a rear tire last week, so this was of interest).
2. Noticed a couple of related tips not mentioned...

Always align the valve/hole with the tire’s label. When you have a flat and you can find the part of the tube that’s punctured, then you know what part of the tire to also check that there isn’t an offending glass shard or thorn still embedded through the tire (which will promptly puncture your replacement tube).

If you don’t do the above, then you may need to run your finger along the inside the tire to check for an embedded glass/thorn shard. Common sense would suggest this isn’t a good idea anyway . . . Riding buddy discovered this after the fact :-)

For a rear wheel, after tire’s mounted to the rim, easiest way to put the wheel back on w/out screwing up shifting/alignment is to have the bike upright, handlebars straight, forehead on rear edge of saddle to hold the bike stable, then you can make sure the wheel is centered and you have two hands to evenly tighten/center the quick release. It’s not the most ‘elegant’ looking position but it works. (I find having the bike upside down is difficult to see if things are lined up properly).

To check that shifting is all good, bend over and hang the bike on the nape of your neck by the saddle which gives you two hands free — one to turn the cranks and the other to shift through the gears. Also, not the most elegant looking position but works well.

Finally, wipe dirty hands on your bike shorts and not your jersey. There’s a reason bike shorts are traditionally black :-)

All 5 pages? hahahaha

Here is a quick video that shows how to do it, including leaving 1 edge in the center of the rim to ease in seating the 2nd edge.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96_2dAQvxvI

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Yup, all 5 pages and ~100 posts. And I consider myself pretty good at tire changes! 1 lever to unmount and just-hands for mounting.

Most of the time I can get my tires on without a lever, but there were a few times when the fit was too tight, my hands were too sweaty, or I had a case of pansy hands.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Major breakthrough tonight lol. I changed the tire three times with no tire levers and no other tools, just my hands. The biggest thing was pushing the tire as far into the center bead as I could which created enough slack. I was able to remove the tire and install it using only my hands.

I am going to keep practicing, but I never thought I could do it this easily and without tools. And this is a relatively new tire, only a few months old.

Now if I can just learn how to use CO2 properly...

I can't believe I read this whole thread as well.

For me often times getting a rear wheel and chain/derailleur back together can be a challenge. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only amateur who ends up with grease on my hands and subsequently my bike shorts.

I expect it's also a good argument for using black bar tape as well.

My first few tries for me that was an issue also. When rolling to a stop I didn't change the gears to either the first, second or third smallest cog on the rear. I just hit the brakes and got off the bike, especially if the rear wheel flatted. The wheel can be removed regardless of which gear it is in, but the smaller the better. No need to remember which gear it was in when you put it back on either because as soon as you start pedaling the derailleur is going automatically put it in the gear it was in when you stopped. Which is exactly what happened last week when a noob flatted on his S-works disc. It was my first experience with changing out a tube on a disc bike. I didn't have experience removing a wheel with disc brakes so I was worried about damaging it. It was easier than doing my rim brake wheel because you can angle the wheel in without hitting the any rim brake pads.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Never had a mysterious tire sidewall blowout. I swear by Pedro's bicycle tire levers. Makes tire changes a snap. changing a tire by hand is annoying and more so when you are on the side of a road, tired, and maybe being drenched on. I believe "if it's stupid and it works it's not stupid"

The second side - last portion of the bead, to complete mounting the tire.

The first thing I do is make an assessment of whether I want to patch or replace. Factors:
- On some bikes (e.g. my commute bike with belt drive) it is somewhat time consuming to remove the rear wheel and a risk of not getting things put back on quite right when you are on the side of the road in the dark and rain, etc.
- if I know where the hole is, and I'm sure there is only one, most of the time it is quicker and cleaner to instant patch than replace.

I carry both instant patches and glue on. If I'm in no hurry I usually put on a glue on patch even if I have to take the tube all the way out. If I do that then the repair is 100% done. If I use an instant patch I consider it a temporary fix and at some point I will replace it with a glue on. My tubes often have 6 or more patches on them before I toss them. If I replace the tube then of course I no longer have a spare so I either need to patch the old tube at some point or buy another spare.

If I'm patching I can usually just slide out a section of tube rather than remove the whole thing. This means I may not need to remove the wheel from the bike.

If I'm replacing, I put a little bit of air in the tube before I put it in the tire. This gives it some shape and helps get it installed properly. I then let that out to help with centering the tire for slipping the bead over the rim. I almost never use levers. Then inflate fully before installing the wheel on the bike. I almost always use a bike pump, preferably one with a pressure gauge.

It is important to make sure the bead lines up on the tire evenly. Some tires can be out of round with part of the bead stuck low on the rim. If that happens, deflate the tire to just a little bit of pressure and work the tire evenly around, then inflate and check as you inflate. Spin the wheel to make sure the tire is perfectly true.

This is a big deal, and I'm blown away at how little folks talk about it these days, and how few seasoned cyclists do it in modern times, or even realize it can be done. When I get a flat, I stop immediately, and look for the cause. Around here, its usually a goathead, or often thorns/nails/screws/glass... and even one time it was a fish hook. And 9 times out of 10, the offender is still stuck in the tire. I even carry a sharpie for this. I will draw a line on the side wall of the tire, where the object is. Then remove the object. Then use a tire lever to pop just enough bead of the tire off, to pull the tube out. I'll reference the line on the tire, to find the hole in the tube. Patch it. Then pop the tube back in and the bead back on, air up, and go. I learned this over 40 years ago, when I got into club racing and weekend centuries. That was before kevlar tires, and we got good at it. The only time I take a wheel off, out on the road, is when I can't locate the cause of the puncture.

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Athlinks / Strava