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Tube Replacement
To place the tube within the tire, first inflate the tube
just enough to round it out and remove any wrinkles. This
slight inflation is the key to avoiding getting the tube
caught under the tire bead, which can cause problem in the
insertion. Next, put the valve stem in the valve hole on
the rim and then work the rest of the tube into the tire.
After it is inside the tire, go around again working the
tube up and onto the rim. When this is done, the free tire
bead should be flat against the rim and the tube should
be completely tucked up inside the tire and onto the rim.
To reinstall the tire, begin by remounting the bead on the
opposite side from the valve hole so the last difficult
section will occur at the valve. This will insure the maximum
slack in the tire bead. Hold the tire in you lap and work
your hands away from each other around the wheel, popping
the tire bead onto the rim by pushing down with your thumbs
or the heels of your hands (with your fingers resting on
the back side of the rim). When you get the last section
near the valve, it will get difficult, but don’t give
up. For this last tough section, sit down and put the section
on top of your right knee if you are right-handed and on
your left knee if you are left-handed. Hold the tire bead
on the rim on one side with your weak hand so it can’t
come undone as you work on the other end of this section.
Using your stronger hand, work about an inch of the section
onto the rim. Pop it on by pushing down and forward with
the heel of your hand (you will be pushing against your
knee and you will have a lot of leverage). When you get
an inch on, push another inch on, and so on. When you get
to the valve, push it up inside the tire so the valve’s
base, which is thicker, can’t interfere with the beads
as you are installing the tire. That will help you pop on
the last piece to complete the installation. Next, go around
the tire and push the tire away from the rim, one side at
a time. Look down into the rim to make sure the tube is
not visible. If it is it means the tube is caught under
the tire bead and tire is not seated on the rim correctly.
It will not inflate evenly and may blow out later. If the
tube is caught, wiggle the tire back and forth gently until
the tube is freed, or use a tire lever to gently poke the
tube inside the tire. Once everything is okay, it is time
to inflate the tire. To prevent too much pressure on the
valve while pumping, support the valve stem with your fingers.
After you pump some air into the tire, stop and rotate the
wheel to see that the tire is sitting uniformly. Bulges
at low pressure can be explosive at high pressure. If the
tire looks straight, go ahead and inflate it to the proper
pressure. If not, lubricate the beads with some soapy water
and reinflate, or dismount everything and try again.
References
1. Langley, Jim. Bicycling Magazine’s Complete
Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair or Road and Mountain
Bikes. Emmaus: Pennsylvania. 1999.
2. Milson, Fred. The Bike Book: Complete Step-By-Step
Guide to Choosing, Maintaining, and Repairing Your Bicycle.
Des Moines: Iowa. 1995.
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