Changing a Rear Tire? Don’t Ask Me.

Last Saturday, I hopped on my bike to go to the store and immediately hopped off, realizing that the rear tire was very low. I pumped it back up, and the air stayed in, so I didn’t think anything of it.

But Sunday morning, when I wanted to ride my bike to a tweetup at the local labyrinth, the tire was flat again. Evidently, I had a slow leak. I decided not to chance riding, and figured I could patch or change the tube later.

A rear wheel is harder to manage than a front wheel, because the gears are back there and you’ve got to detach it from the chain and then get it all back in place when you’re done. But I thought I could handle it; I’d changed a rear wheel on my old three-speed before.  I opened the quick-release and pulled the wheel out; it was a little tricky, but I managed it.

Then I used tire levers to get the tire itself off so that I could get at the tube.  I’m used to that now, so it was no problem. But I couldn’t find the leak in the tube. I squeezed the tube and used the Look, Listen and Feel method from my CPR classes.  I put a little more air in and squeezed some more. No air was coming out.

I decided to just get a new tube. But the bike shop was closed for the night, so I put it off for another day.

Monday night was grand. I fixed dinner for my family and then rushed off, checking in at the bike shop, where I promptly found a tube in the size I needed. I also had coffee with a friend, picked up my new glasses, and stopped at the grocery store.  I even got the Crunked badge on Foursquare!

But when I got home and pulled the tube out of its box, I realized that I’d bought a tube with a Presta valve, and my tire pump is only compatible with a Schrader valve (the same type that’s on car tires).  So my bike was still out of commission.

Going to the bike shop on Tuesday was out of the question. Wednesday I finally made it back, and they gave me a free adapter to turn the Presta valve into a Schrader.  Once I figured out how to use the adapter, the tire inflated just fine, and I was able to put tube and tire back into place.

But getting the wheel back onto the bike? That was another story. I thought I’d be able to remember how to put it back on, but once I got there, nothing made sense.  My husband tried to help, but we just didn’t get it.

I looked at two YouTube videos on replacing the rear wheel. They totally made sense on screen. They made no sense on my bike.  But while I was looking at the videos one more time, I heard cackling laughter from my husband.

“I just moved it like this and like this and it slipped right in!”

Sure. But everything is, indeed, in the right place now, and I still don’t know how to do it myself!

I think next time I’ll just stimulate the local economy and take the whole thing to the bike shop in the first place.

Photo credits:

Presta Valve by Aezram, used via Creative Commons licensing

Schrader Valve by Mschel, used via Creative Commons licensing