Thursday, August 22, 2024 - Flat Rear Tire Repair

Was gonna go for a ride & found the rear tire flat.

Completely flat.

Put the bike on the bike stand.

Shifted down to the smallest gear on the rear (this makes it easier to take the wheel off & on).

Checking for debris on the outside of the tire, the only thing I noticed was this small area where the tire was chipped out.  But, no pieces of debris.

Removing the tire.  First I use the Park tool tire lever to start on the opposite side from the nipple.
The lever has this feature that allows you to hook to the spoke to keep it in place.

Then I use a second lever's hooked end to pull the tire off the rim (just slows slide the lever along the edge of the rim, on the braking surface).  The slower you go, the better.

I found the hole in the inner tube.  I inflated the inner tube to find the leak.
It seems to be on the opposite side to the tire (on the wheel side).

When inflated, the hole is obvious.

I marked about the location on the wheel where the inner tube's hole would be. (indexing off the inner tube valve).
Once I have the tire off the rim, I check for any debris on the inside of the tire (sometimes the debris isn't noticeable from the outside but is sticking into the  inner tube on the inside.
I also check for any debris on the rim-side of the wheel.
This time, I didn't find anything.

This wheel has a cloth type rim tape.

Kinda near the area of the inner tube hole, the rim tape was displaced to one side, exposing the spoke hole.
The edge of the hole (aluminum) is pretty sharp.
My guess is that this is the cause of the hole.

There were a couple of other places on the wheel where the rim tape was displaced to one side, exposing the spoke hole edge.

Pulled back the rim tape and repositioned it to be centered on the rim inner.

After repositioning.

I recently bought some spare inner tubes online from this online bike shop (Condor).

The box doesn't say where the tubes are made but I'm guessing somewhere in the East.

First I inflate the inner tube a little bit to give it shape & install the valve stem first.

Then, I work from the valve stem pushing the inner tube inside and seating the tire on the rim, by hand.

I try to do it evening on either side of the valve stem, progressively working towards the opposite side.
I have to let out a little bit of air on the inner tube as I do this so that the inner tube doesn't take up too much space.  But, I try to keep a little bit of air in it so that it's holding some shape (it's easier than working with a completely deflated & flat tube).

When I get to the other end, I carefully push the inner tube as far as I can inside so as not to damage or puncture it, while getting the last part of the tire on the rim.
Sometimes, I can get the tire on by just hand force but sometimes I have to use the tire lever.
If I use a tire lever, I try not to pinch the inner tube as I lever off the edge of the rim (since you can't see the edge of the rim while you do this, I try to slide the lever along the braking surface as I approach the edge of the rim to ensure that I don't catch a piece of the inner tube)

All done & the tire inflated to about 95 psi.

I use this adaptor to use a normal Schrader air chuck for the Presta valve on the inner tube.

Once inflated, you turn this "lock" to keep the valve from opening inadvertently.
I've found out that you can over tighten this locking "nut" & damage the valve.
So, I tighten it till it's snug but not too tight.

Locked.

Done.
The whole process takes about 20 minutes (going slow).