Repearing bicycle flat tires, inner tubes

One of the major incontinences of cycling is flat break downs. Sudden and dramatic is a sign of a picked piece of glass, tax or a sliver of wire debris. These type of flats are easy fixed. But the most frustrating problem is a developing trend of a persistent going down tire that is hard to fix.

Budget bikes tend to be fitted with budget tires that tend to pick up a collection of tiny fragments embedding themselves in the tire. They remain there for weeks without a problem, notorious for puncturing the inner tube at a latter date. To keep costs down to a budget these haven't any anti-puncture technology expensive bikes are fitted with.

Examining the circumference sometimes we came across evidence we ran over tar or sticky gum that stuck a glob of tiny stones and glass fragments. The frustrating problem a recommence of the circumference of the tire revels nothing

It is likely a hidden piece of glass ( or stone ) pushed deeply almost hidden out of sight in the fabric of the tire where it can be overlooked. Hidden bodies left in the tire will keep puncturing the inner tube, time and time again. It needs to be found and removed.

I don't have to remind you of the dangers of picking out with a sharp poker while the tire is fully inflated with tragic results. It is best done when the tire is vacuum flat. A needle pointed poker gets at the tiny fragment. Blunt instruments will push the offending object deeper into the tire trying levering out.

The tire already flat replacing with another inner tube or salvaging the original with a patchy kit with the wheel removed, and tire off, and the inner tube out turning your attention to inside of the tire can be reveling. The inside fabric is good contrast allowing easer spotting. Go round carefully looking for a hidden fragment.

Once found, it is a simple mater of pushing out from the inside ideal avoiding the risk of probe lever damage leveraging from the outside.

Salvaging inner tubes with patch repair kits is often problematic. Patch failure is often the cause of tires constantly softening. Constantly under inflated your weight compresses the tire and inner tube bulging it stressing the tire making things worse. There will be potential tire wall damage done to the tire too. Tight tires not only makes bikes feel solid and sturdy on the road but reduces road rolling resistance.

Constantly swapping of tires, can cause problems. The next time you have the tire off ( or access to any bicycle rim ) observe the inside edge of the rim. Most of us are unaware there is either a hooked or flat on the edge to bicycle rims. Correspondingly there should be a matching hook or flat design in the rim of the tire too.

If you assemble a hooked tire on a flat edged rim the tire doesn't sit properly. There will be tire damage issues transferred to the inner tube too as well. So too, a flat edge tire assembled on a hooked rim. Hooked or flat rims need proper corresponding hooked or flat rim edge matting.

Other causes ignoring arrows pointing in the drive direction when refitting. Going contrary to the crank drive direction, there will be tire damage issues transferred to the inner tube as well.

Bikes are best upside down resting on the seat and handle bars turning the wheel round to see if the offending object can found out side the tire assessment first.

Having a good inner tube on will get going as quickly the time it takes to replace it. Otherwise salvaged with a patchy reaper kit. If at a petrol station you're lucky with the handy free air pump station.

If on the side of the road you will need your equipment hand pump. Pumping up the inner tube will reveal If a previous patch is leaking. Inflating the inner tube you will soon feel a column of air from the patch or from a expanded hole the air leak giving itself away. A leaking patch is likely either in the processes of patching not done properly, to small or both. The patch is unable to hold fast any more.

If there is no previous patch or the patch, pin holes are equally notorious to find as an offending body hiding in the tire. Pin holes need to the tube to be expanded to find them. They are so tiny they can be extremely difficult to fell any column of air anywhere in the tube.

Most of the problem with with budget hand pumps air leaks out faster than you can put in consequently constantly loosing expanding pressure to expand the pin whole. Expensive ones can do a good job.

In the case of a budget pump all you can do is keep at it in the hope the pressure enough to give the hole away with a feel of a column of air. Often as not resorting to stretching the inner tube will help to expand the hole enough for a column of air to be felt locating the hole.

Once found, pin holes can easily be lost. Loosing site relocating them is just as difficult to find again. Once found stretch the rubber circling the hole with a ballpoint pen before you loose site of it again. You may even still loose it because being so tiny. Let the inner tube retain what ever air balances out.

Don't remove the silver backing of the patch just yet. It is prudent to be fussy about cleanliness to prevent contaminating the patch.

With a scrapper such as a cheese grater like scrapper provided in the repair kit or some sand paper, scratch lightly the surface area as large as the large patch to clean a finish. If need to, you can draw a template tracing the size of the patch with a pen. Make sure you don't get your finger print grease on the tube, patch and cement ( the glue if you like ) or a dirty surface won't stick. Now your a ready to apply the cement.

Salvaging inner tubes patching with patches  can be problematic. If the original patch is removed the tearing off the patch the original cement has damaged the cohesion response of the tube. Attempts to clean up with the kit scraper or sand paper often makes things worse where patches can never hold fast again. It is the dirty remains of the cement that needs to be cleaned off properly. Once the old remains is cleaned then there is potential hope for a new patch to hold fast.

The patch done properly they are pretty sturdy standing up the demands of high tire pressure for a long time. However in a sense patched inner tubes  are weakened for rear wheels specially high tier pressure and using your bike like a donkey.

This is because the rear wheel is taking all the weight on the rear. The rear wheel should be replaced with the good front wheel inner tube. Patched inner tubes from rear wheels should be swapped with front wheels.

If you're using a brand new kit, unscrew the cap. In the top is a little pin. Turn over and pierce the silver seal. Don't empty the container tube or you will end up a messy glob. Don't squeeze it. Let a drop out to a small glob right on the center of the ink circle. Replace the cap.

When still wet spread the rubber of the tube to widen the hole letting the cement drain into it to help plug it. When spreading the cement larger than the large patch make sure you keep the cement clean or particles, grease and dirt contaminates the cement. Dry clean fingers has your oily grease.

Make sure you allow the cement to dry sticky covering well the area of the large patch. Patches stick best when applied when the cement is tacky. Now you can tear off the silver backing of the patch.

It is not really necessary, but a helpful option to spread some cement on the underside and edges of the patch to insure you have covered your bases. Cleanness is accentual. Wait till sticky

Eye up a line of site the center circle to the center of the patch and press on. You will only have one shot at this because the cement will stick fast. Watch your eye angle coordination squares the patch exactly centering the whole.

Use any round edge pressing down the edges. Don't Concentrate so much on the center but round the edges of the patch.

If you have a spare inner tube, that is beyond reaper you can use it as a shoe inside the tire. Cut off the valve. A patch can be used to cover the gapping hole. The spare helps to act as a buffer between the inside roof of the tire and the ball of the inner tube the tire rides on.

Before you reassemble the tire don't forget about any direction of the drive arrow on the tire wall must correspond with the crank drive direction. Now the inner tube can be reassembled back into the tire and fit the tire the arrow pointing in the direction of crank push.

You may have experienced a tight getting off or on tight tire. The patch done right will be sturdy enough to pump up to the maximum tire pressure recommended on the tire wall of the tire. Pumped up to the maximum recommended tire pressure we feel a sturdy solid and easier ride.  Fitting an extra shoe might be difficult to get the tire back on

Other than that, an expense inner tube has a extra thick hide making them puncture resistant. Expensive tires essentially the same lining the inside. The anti puncture compound built into expensive tires  is what makes them more expensive.