Once you’ve found the leak, take note of whether it is on the inner or outer side of the tube. As a last resort you can submerge the tube in water and watch for bubbles, but you’ll want to avoid doing this as you’ll need the tube to be completely dry in order for the patch glue to work. Listen carefully to the entire circumference of the tube you should hear a hissing sound that will indicate where the leak is. This will expand the hole making it easier to find. Inflate the tube to approximately twice its original size. Now remove the tube from the tire, and try to keep track of where it was positioned in relation to the tire. When the tire is loose enough you can just run a tire lever around the rest of the rim to pull the whole side over.Īfter you have removed one side of the tire, the other side should come off very easily. Now the middle lever should fall out, and you can continue the process. Insert another tire lever two spokes away from the first, and a third another two spokes away. Pry one side of the tire bead over the edge of the rim, and then hook the end of the tire lever to the nearest spoke. Choose a section of tire that is away from the valve and hook one of the tire levers under the bead, directly in line with one of your spokes. Now it’s time to remove your tire, one side at a time. This tutorial is based on a schrader valve, but I will be covering the different valve types in another tutorial. There are two main types of valve stems, a schrader valve and a presta valve. Remove the valve cap and fully deflate the tube by depressing the valve stem with the hooked end of your tire lever. With the wheel removed from your bike, inspect the outer surface of the tire to make sure there are no sharp objects like a thumb-tack or thorn stuck in the tread.

Your patch kit should contain a few different patch sizes, sandpaper or a metal scraper, and a tube of glue. Required Toolsįor this tutorial you’ll need a patch kit, a set of tire levers, and an air pump. If done properly, a patch will work just fine. I personally recommend replacing a tube when you get a leak, but that is not always possible. 03:45 - Peel off the paper or plastic backing after the patch is applied.įixing a flat tire is one of the most common bicycle repairs.03:25 - Don't smear the glue as long as is shown here (I got distracted reading the script).

Fix-a-flat