How to Change a Bicycle Tube (In the Comfort of Your Home)

Cody Seidler Written For: College students with limited resources and time

Introduction
A flat bicycle tire is inevitable for a frequent commuter; however the solution to this problem can be much simpler than you think. Weather its due to age, excessive wear, or puncture changing a tube can be quick and be done from your home or even on the go without any special tools. These instructions will teach you how to change a tube using the bare minimum equipment by going through these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Find Proper Tube Void Tube of Air Remove tire from Rim Separate Tube from Tire Install New Tube Remount Tire Inflating Tire Trouble Shooting and Maintenance

Time: less than 20 minutes Suggested Equipment: New tube or patch kit Key or other rigid pointed tool Gloves if desired, Tire pump Air pressure gage.

The Bead
The bead is the portion of the tire that grips the rim and is a very important aspect to know about when removing the tire. The bead is actually multiple steel cords inside the tire that keep the tire rigid but also slightly flexible. It can also be thought of as the backbone of the tire. When the bead is on the tire and rim move as a single piece, this is shown below.

Bead on rim

However when the bead is off the rim, this is known as breaking the bead; the tire is capable of moving separate from the rim. A broken bead is shown below.

Broken Bead

Step 1: Find Proper Tube

With the rim completely off the bike check the side of the tire for a set of dimensions such as those shown in Figure 1. The first number is the rim diameter, in this case its 26 inches, and its this number with which you will identify the proper size tube for your tire. The second number, 2.00, is the tire width which doesnt serve any purpose for these instructions.

Figure 1: Tire Size

*Note the dimensions may be printed on as shown in figure 1 in white or possibly just have raised print, much like brail.

For this particular instruction set I will work with a mountain bike tire that uses a Schrader type valve stem shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Schrader Valve Stem

Step 2: Void Tube of Air

*Note: If the tire is already completely flat continue to step 3.

In order to remove the tire from the rim you must void the tube completely of air. To do this use a rigid tool, such as a key, thats small enough to hit the valve stem nipple as shown in Figure 3. 1. Press the tool onto the nipple. 2. Push the nipple down with the tool. Air should be escaping 3. Continue pushing down until no more Figure 3: Releasing air in tire air is escaping. *Tip: The more air you can get released the easier the tire will be removed

Step 3: Remove Tire from Rim

With the tire completely flat we can now begin to remove the tire from the rim 1. Break the bead the entire circumference of the tire on both sides. This will give you the most freedom for the tire to move.

2. Position the tire in front of you.

3. Orient the tire so that the valve stem is closest to the ground. 4. At the location opposite the valve stem grab the rim spokes and the tire as shown in figure 4.

Figure 4: Hand positioning

5. Lift the tire vertically from the rim as shown in figure 5.

Figure 5: Lift tire from rim

6. Peel the tire back and down off the rim as shown in figure 6. *Tip: If the tire is difficult to slide off try using a lubricant (baby powder, soapy water, etc.) between the back side of the bead and rim then try again.

Figure 6: Peel tire back off rim

7. With the tire off the rim pull the valve stem out of the rim as shown in figure 7. The rim and tire are now disconnected.

Figure 7: Remove tube from rim

Step 4: Separate Tube from Tire

1. Grab the tube inside the tire.

2. Pull the tube from the tire as shown in figure 8. The tube and tire are now separate.

Figure 8: Pull tube from tire

Step 5: Install New (or Patched) Tube

With the new tube, or old tube that has been patched, ready you are now ready to install the tube into the tire. 1. Start with the deflated tube shown in figure 9.

Figure 9: Fully deflated tire

2. Add some air to the tube until it begins to take shape as shown in figure 10. This makes it easier to install.

Figure 10: Enough air to take shape

3. Feed the tube into the tire as shown in figure 11. The tube and tire are now one piece.

Figure 11: Feed tube into tire

Step 6: Remount Tire

1. Start by putting the valve stem through the rim as shown in figures 12 and 13.

Figure 12: Valve stem and rim

Figure 13: Valve stem in rim

2. Set the tire inside the bead of the rim as shown in figure 14.

Figure 14: Tire in bead of rim

3. Stretch the tire over the rim as shown in figure 15 by starting at the valve stem and feeding the tire on to the rim. Your left hand feeds the tire on the left side of the rim and your right hand feeds the right side and they meet at the bottom. The tire is now on the rim. *Tip: Lubricant may also be used to help the tire on in this step.

Figure 15: Stretch tire over rim

Step 7: Inflate the Tire

1. Identify the inflation pressure on the side of your tire. *Note the recommended air pressure can be found by looking for raised print on the tire wall. The pressure can be given in kPa, Barr, or PSI and will be given in a range

2. Inflate the tire to about half the minimum range. Example: if the range was 40-70 psi half the minimum range would be 40/2 = 20psi.

3. Check for problems around the bead such as in figure 16.

Figure 16: Incorrect-Tire is not on bead

Figure 17: Correct-Tire is completely on bead

4. If no problems continue to inflate the tire to specified range. 5. If problems appear deflate the tire and go back to step 2, tube will adjust with deflation. 6. Mount tire back on bike.

Step 8: Maintenance and Troubleshooting

A. New tire is flat after reinstallation If the tube is flat after a new tire is install you may have a burr in your tire. To solve this problem follow these steps: 1. Spray the tire with soapy water 2. Inflate the tire and observe bubbles appearing on the tire where air is escaping 3. Mark on tire where bubbles appear 4. Follow steps 1-4 to remove the tube from the tire 5. *Caution checking for burrs should be done carefully so to avoid injury: Try using a soft cloth on the inside of the tire as opposed to your hand. Check the marked portion of the tire for any kind of burr that may have punctured the tire 6. Remove the burr and follow steps 5-7 to remount the tire

B. Valve stem is not aligned properly as shown below.

If the valve stem is misaligned it can cause unnecessary strain on the tube and lead to premature failure. If this is noticed follow these steps: 1. Deflate the tire completely. 2. Break the tire from the bead of the rim by squeezing the tire around the entire circumference. The tire should be released from the rims grip. 3. Grab the tire with one hand and the rim with the other hand and spin them against each other thus rotating the valve stem shown in the figure below.

4. With the valve stem realigned follow step 7 to inflate the tire.