88lx5oh Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 how easy is it to do yourself?? would like to learn how, what tools are needed. any tips?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stxtcy Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Changing a tire...less the blood and swearing Changing a tire can be a frustrating and bloody experience, but it doesn’t need to be. If you are having difficulties, try these tips. With some patience and practice, you will be able to change a tire without serious difficulties and without loosing too much blood. First, find yourself a 5 gallon bucket or old oil can. This will allow you to work at the wheel without having to crawl on hand and knees. Place the wheel up on the bucket with the disk side up (so you don’t have to tear your knuckles off on the sharp sprocket teeth). Remove the valve stem core, letting out all the air. If you bike uses a rim lock, loosen the bolt on it off fully. Be sure to push the rim lock in to release it from the bead. This will sometimes take a plastic mallet or other soft blow type hammer to push it in. Set the wheel on the floor and use your heels to press the tire bead off the rim. Hard heeled boots or similar seem to work best. Apply maximum pressure to the area closest to the rim. You may have to jump on it a bit to break it loose, but generally, it will break loose. If this doesn’t work, you may have to resort to a “Bead Breaker” tool. This is kind of a clamping apparatus that presses the bead off the rim. Once you have the bead “broken” on one side, flip the wheel and do the other. Now comes the fun! Put the wheel back up onto your bucket, sprocket side down. Make sure you have a good set of tire irons, two will work, but three are better. Look for irons with thin curved tips (I personally like the Michelin style irons, others like “spoon” style). Removing the tire will be easier if you give it some lubrication. This can be in the form of tire lube, soapy water, or shaving cream…yes, shaving cream…I recently was shown this and it works surprisingly well. Whatever lube you use, spray or spread it on the tire at the bead area. Push one side of the tire bead towards the center of the rim. You will notice the rim is dished in towards the center. By pushing one side of the bead into this area, you give the other side enough slack that you can now insert the tire iron under bead. Place a second tire iron about 2’ from the first and pry the tire up over the rim, one iron at a time. Hook one iron under the disk or simply hold it with your knee. This will be your “anchor”. Remove the other iron and take a second “bite” about 2” from the last. Work your way around the diameter of the wheel in this manner, taking small bites, and not trying to take too much in a single bite. By now you should have one side of the tire off the rim. Now, you must remove the tube and preferably the rim lock. Stand the wheel up on the floor and from the sprocket side (opposite to your previous work) insert a tire iron between the rim and bead and pry tire away from you and the rim, again, making sure that the other side of tire is in the “groove”. If you have lubed the tire well, you should now be able to grab the rim and the tire and with a steady pushing effort the tire will peal off the rim, pulling the rim towards you and pushing the tire away. Reinstallation: Before reinstalling tire, be sure to clean the rim well and inspect rim strip that protects tube. I suggest, if you are using a tube type tire, that you remove the “stock” rubber rim strip and replace it with several layers of good duct tape. The tape will not rotate like the rim strip and is less likely to expose tube to damage. Be sure to cut the tape narrow enough to fit in between the bead area of rim. Lube tire bead and reinstall one side of tire, taking note of directional arrow on tire, if any. Again, making sure the opposite side from the side is in the “groove”. Reinstall rim lock. Insert tube into tire and push stem through rim hole and install nut to hold stem in place (not too tight, just get it started). Reinstall the valve stem core, if you are using the original tube. Inflate tube just slightly, enough to round it up inside the tire. This will help prevent it from getting pinched when installing the other side of tire. Make sure it is all tucked in nice and snug, with no tube hanging near rim bead. Lube the tire well. I like to start at the rim lock. Using the tire irons, start to install the tire, taking care to get the rim lock safely into the tire. Work the tire on in small bites (about 2” at a time). When inserting tire irons, take care just hook the edge of the rim, no deeper. If you took the time to inflate the tube, you should not pinch it. Once the tire is halfway on, make sure that the bead that is on the rim is in the groove again. I usually find it easiest to use my knee to hold the tire down into the groove and work over the wheel with the tire irons on the opposite side. Now the moment of truth….inflate the tire. Inflate until the bead on both sides “pops” up into place. This can sometime take considerably more pressure than you would normally run in the tire. Again, a good lube job will help this greatly. Drop pressure back to your normal levels and tighten the rim lock…your DONE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abuseU1300 Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 ^^Very good advice for your first post !! BTW Welcome . Iron Pony will have tire changing tools . Its not hard to change a tire , just takes a little practice to get a good technique down . They do make manual tire change stands for cheap if you plan on doing it all the time . Good luck !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 i can help you when you get that stand from me. i have the tools, put them in your house for a few hours in front of the heating vents. we can get together this weekend if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88lx5oh Posted February 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 well my tires wont be here for a while, but i will get those stands from you this weekend. when are you available. im pretty much open all weekend. ill give ya a call or sumthin saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
street pilot Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 If you are going with tubes, have an extra on hand. It sucks to think you are all finished and have the tire mounted on the bike only to find it is losing air because you pinched the tube. It sucks worse if you have to venture back out for a replacement tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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