Q. How do I change bicycle tires?
A.
First of all, you need some tire levers. These are little plastic
gizmos that help pry the tire off the rim. You may use a screwdriver,
but you run the real risk of damaging your tire, tube, and rim. You
should get able to get these tire levers at a very reasonable price when when you buy the tube or tire..
1. Poke the flat end of the tire lever between the tire and rim, making sure to get under the inner edge (bead) of the tire.
2. Bend the tire lever back towards the spokes.
3. Hook the tire lever under a spoke.
4. Move about a foot or two (0.25-0.5 m) around the rim from the first tire lever.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
6. Use a third tire lever (or your fingers) to force the inner edge
(bead) of the tire off of the rim between the two tire levers.
7. Remove the tire levers.
8. Use your fingers or a tire lever to force the rest of the inner edge
of the tire off of the rim by sliding it between the tire and the rim
all the way around the rim.
9. Now you should have a tire that
is half on the rim and half off. From here it is easy to remove the
tire. Just get the edge of the tire that remains on the rim off of the
rim by using your fingers or a tire lever to pry that side of the tire
over the edge of the rim. Your goal is to remove both edges of the tire
over the same side of the rim.
10. If your goal is to keep the
tire, but put in a new inner tube (or remove the inner tube for
patching), you can skip step 9, leaving the tire half on and half off.
Remove the tube, patch it or throw it away. Before inserting your new
tube, run your fingers along the inside of the tire and along the rim.
Feel for any rough or sharp spots. If you are fixing a flat tire, note
where the puncture was on the tire by noting the position of the hole
in the tube. If there is glass or other sharp object stuck in the time,
it will flatten your new or patched tube if you do not get rid of it.
Insert new or patched tube into the half on half off tire. First, put
the valve stem through the hole in the rim from the non-spoke side of
the rim. Skip to step 12.
11. If you are replacing the tire,
remove the tire as described in step 9. Put the new tire on the rim so
that one of the inner tire edges (beads) is on the rim. Put in the
inner tube, valve stem through the hole in the rim first, so that it is
up inside the tire.
12. Use your fingers to squeeze the tire so
that you are pulling the second edge of the tire onto the rim. When you
have some of the second edge on the rim, work your way round, squeezing
to get more of the tire on the rim. As you work your way around the
rim, make sure that the inner tube stays inside the tire. Sometimes,
the inner tube wants to poke out under the tire. When you are almost
all the way around, it may get hard to get the second edge of the tire
onto the rim. It may even like there is now way to force the last
little bit of tire onto the rim. Depending on the tire, this last part
can be very hard or can be easy. I have had both types of tires. If it
is very hard, you use the tire levers to pry the tire onto the rim. Be
careful, it is easy to break the tire lever if the tire is particularly
hard to get on the rim.
13. Pump up your tire. Look for any
places where the tire has an unusual bulge or any places where the tube
is poking out from between the tire and rim. If the tube is poking out,
let the air out and try to push the tube back in.
It is not
really has hard to change a tire. Just relax, learn, and have fun riding your bike!