I dusted off the cobwebs of my bike last week and discovered a puncture or not properly pumping innertube on one of my wheels. This week, I took delivery of my new supplies and was ready for the next maintenance job on my bike, 2 tyre changes with new inntertubes.
This gear set me back around €35 including postage, which I think is a pretty good deal. I did consider some more expensive tyres, but I was unsure about them without seeing them first and being sure they were suitable and could give me some extra performance, therefore I stuck with the Schwalbe ones.
Lucky, the weather was great today so I could get to work on my bike with this super weather in the garden.
First of all I threw the bike upside down so I could take the wheels off easily enough. I am lucky they are the quick release ones that don't require any tools to remove. I guess that can also be a bad thing if someone wants to steal them.
After removing the front wheel first, I got ready to start to remove the existing tyre and innertube. To do this, I first deflated the existing tyre as much as possible so that I could get the tyre-lever in there.
Here are the tools I prepared ready for the job. In the end, I needed only the tyre levers, the tyre fitting liquid and of course my handy air pump, which is a dream tool and I recommend you grab one if you can!! Before I had a huge air pump which I plugged in. Now I have this smaller USB one which is so much more handy!! I need to check I still have the car one, but it was mainly for my bikes I bought it, I like to have freshly pumped up tyres.
With all the tools ready, I was ready to remove my first tyre and innertube. First I put the first tyre lever in and then with the gap created, used the second one to extend the gap working around the tyre. First on one side and then I could remove the innertube.
With that removed, I could then do the second side and remove the tyre completely. It takes just a few minutes, but needs some hands on work. I used the liquid for the edge between the tyre and wheel, so that it was not dirty and dry for remove the tyre and causing any damage.
Here I show you the next steps but with the 2nd wheel as I didn't photo the first one, but it is the same process. To put the new innertube and tyre on the wheel, I first took the innertube and placed it in the hole. You can see the innertube is quite lose and doesn't keep its shape around the wheel, so I blew it up a little bit to give it some shape.
I could then put the tyre over it more easily. I then to fix the new tyre in place within the wheel rims, used the tyre levers again to fix the tyres in place. First going round one side and then the other. I blew the innertube up a little half way through to help fix things in better.
Here you can see the old tyre versus the new one and how worn the old ones look. I also noticed the new tyres had some white line around which the old ones didn't. I am not so keen on it, but its too late now. I also chose the innertubes with AV valves as this is for cars and is easier for me to pump up without any adapters.
Once the tyre is in, I blew up the innertube to the maximum and put it back on the bike before moving onto the rear tyre.
The rear tyre is more tricky to get on and off because of the chain. With quick release, it is also still relatively easy and fast though.
The process is the same though and here you can see me battling to get the tyre in properly.
In the end though, it was simple enough and a good practice. I should have done this last season, but with the crank change and other things, I thought I would leave the new tyres until this season. With the puncture, it speeded up that replacement for me and I am glad I finally did it and so quickly.
Overall I am happy with the changes and the new tyres look great and the bike a more new look. I of course had to take her out for a spin straight away and see how she rode.
I can confirm she rode really great. Nice and firm ride with the tyres and new innertubes. A not expensive upgrade that will keep my bike running for many more kilometers. I have upgraded nearly everything on the bike so far and it has been great fun to do. I think the next upgrade should be a new seat and maybe some brakes? Brakes are always fiddly for me, so I am not sure I would enjoy to do that so much! haha
Are your ready for the new bike season?
Credits:
All images and photos are my own.
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