How to change a bicycle inner tube on the road

Suffering from the occasional puncture is something that every cyclist has to expect once in a while. When you have to change your inner tube, make sure to stay as far away from traffic and do it as rapidly as possible.

In order to change an inner tube, it is essential to remove the wheel from its forks.

• Stand your bicycle upright against something solid, like a fence, so you can work on it without it toppling.
• Either use a bicycle spanner to loosen the nuts that hold the wheel in place, or press the quick-release levers, which are common on many types of bikes nowadays.

• Adjust the wheel so that the inner tube's valve is at the highest point, where it is easiest to work on.
• Remove the valve's cap so it can slide through the hole.
• Now, push a tire lever into the wheel's rim, just to the right of the valve, and push downward so that one side of the tire is raised upward.
• Do the same thing with a second tire lever on the left side of the valve on the same side of the tire.
• A small section of the tire's rim should have been worked free from the rim.
• Now push sideways all the way around the circumference of the tire such that one half pops free.
• This technique doesn't require you to remove the tire completely, saving time and effort.
• Push the valve of the old inner tube through its hole, and it should then become possible to pull it away completely.

• To replace the inner tube with a new one, push the section of inner tube next to the valve into the recess of the partially removed tire and work the valve through the hole from the outside inwards.
• Take care not to stress the inner tube's rubber too much or it will puncture.
• Slide the inner tube into place around the wheel and use the tire levers to pry the tire's rim back into the wheel hub.
• Finally, re-inflate the inner tube to the recommended pressure.

Suffering from the occasional puncture is something that every cyclist has to expect once in a while. Be prepared by knowing how to fix the issue so it doesn't turn into a big problem on the side of the road.