It was going to happen sooner or later – bumping along London’s shoddy roads on my road bike with its narrow wheels, I was going to get a puncture eventually. In fact I got two at once thanks to a crater in the road by Finsbury Park.
I knew what was going to happen before I even hit the hole but, with it being so wide and with traffic all around me, I had no alternative but to pedal through it and hope. I rolled to a stop and dismounted to see two rather sad looking tires. I pushed my bike half a mile up the hill to my destination and looked up the nearest bike shop.
With a couple of triathlons coming up this summer as well as one (or maybe two) 100+ mile bike rides, it seemed sensible to learn how to change an inner tube myself rather than call in the cycling equivalent of the AA. If an AA for cyclists doesn’t already exist, it should!
Inner tubes and tire levers procured and several Youtube demos on how to change a tube later (this one by Evans is quite good) I was ready. The first tire was a bit of a pain to get off the rim, and then even more problematic to get back on again. I struggled with it for about 20 minutes before realising I was doing it wrong.
Wheel number two (the back wheel) was more difficult to get off the bike (quick release my arse). Once off though, I was almost a pro at changing the actual inner tube. I still have a way to go to be as quick as Chrissie Wellington in this, as well as other fields. But I’m getting there.
Buoyed by my new cycling skills it was time to do something that I’ve been putting off since last year – mastering the cleats. I put my cycling shoes in my rucksack and cycled to the relative safety of Victoria Park before putting them on and becoming, quite literally, one with the bike. Four laps of the park and a cycle home clocked up 15 miles clipped-in without falling off. It was time to hit the streets.
On the Bank Holiday Monday I did a marathon on my bike – 26 miles round London with a pizza and beer pitstop at Crate Brewery at mile 20. This was the third thing I learnt about cycling over the Easter weekend – the benefit of cycling over running or swimming is that you can make these types of pitstops without being sick. Well, depending on how much beer you stop for. But then you can always call the cycling AA of a different kind.
Have yet to try being clipped in on London streets, that seems terrifying! Country roads, no problem!
Fat, “puncture-free” hybrid tires are not safe from London road surfaces either, but at least there are plenty of bike shops on Kingsland Road (etc, the A10 essentially), should you need one 🙂
Going out with cleats on for the first time is fine, because you’re concentrating on them… it’s when you start to get confident that the topple comes, when you forget you’re wearing them. I speak from painful experience!
Well done on your first fixes!
Now you’ve covered the fundamentals, here are all the “Dad” tips to getting the rear wheel out cleanly:
You’ll probably know already that having your bike upside-down, resting gently on its saddle and bars/hoods is the safest and simplest way to position the bike to remove a wheel, so start by finding a soft spot on the ground, or put your cycle gloves over the bars/hoods to protect them, before carefully turning the bike over.
The key to a “clean” change, is to get the chain out of your way. So crouch next to the bike, and turn the pedals with one hand while you shift gear at the bars with your other hand, moving the chain onto the smallest cog on the back wheel. Mind your fingers/hair/clothes in the spokes of the wheel while it’s turning.
Now stand up behind the bike, and undo the quick release lever holding the wheel in place (you don’t need to unscrew anything to get the back wheel out, unlike a front wheel). In your right hand, take hold of the wheel, around the tyre and rim at its highest point. With your left hand, take hold of the main body of the rear derailleur (ie aka the “rear mech” – grab the non-oily bit). Now simultaneously lift the wheel straight up, while pulling the rear mech towards you, getting the chain, and the jockey wheels out the way. A little wiggle of the wheel should have it clear with no dramas, and no oily fingers.
Reverse the process to put it back in. Good luck.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I love cycling, but I have always been a bit too scared to do it on London roads. But, there are so many benefits to it, over using public transport, that I think I should overcome my fear and give it a go.
I commute with cleats, but it took me some time before it became ‘natural’. Now I couldn’t imagine cycling without them, even if cycling in London means a lot of clipping in and out, just to be on the safe side….