Sunday, January 06, 2008

Tubular

I popped the front wheel off Jamis this morning, while waiting for my ride to the Model Railroad Museum, he says pointedly, and took some pictures, as threatened.


2008Jan06PrestaTubes 003
The long Presta stem is pushed all the way into the tire, but still sticks past the rim, making a straight shot on the hole more harder.


2008Jan06PrestaTubes 004
The long Presta stem must be angled to fit between the tire and the rim, and is rather difficult to get the stem in the hole. Some forcing is required, and there is a fear of breaking the valve, which I have never done, but have heard about.


2008Jan06PrestaTubes 006
A short Presta stem, beside the rim for illustrative poiporses, pushed all the way into the tire, with great vigor! See the vein!


2008Jan06PrestaTubes 001
A short Presta stem, ready to be shoved through the rim hole, easily. A piece of the proverbial cake!

And a piece of the proverbial camera strap, as well!

From Geoffrey's second comment, from yesterday, I wonder if he is telling me to mount the tube BEFORE the tire, instead of having the tire half on, like I do? I've never tried that.

My ultimate goal is to be able to fix the tube on the bike. Without having to take the wheel off, the Pain-In-The-Patootie rear wheel, you know. Pulled it off, once! But you have to leave the tire half-on (hyphen or no-hypen?) the rim.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aha! I'm going to make your life easy(-er). I hope.

From the back of the box on my MEC (our local variant on your REI) "roadbike tube":

1. Inflate the tube just enough to make it round in shape.
2. Insert the valve stem into the rim hole, then carefully work the tube into the tire.
[Note: I put the tube in the tire first, then insert the stem into the hole in the rim, then work the tire onto the rim lifting the stem slightly so the tire seats under it, then work around the tire seating the part opposite the stem last].
3. Starting from the valve stem, work the tire bead over the rim edge; do not pinch the tube between the tire and rim. Preferably use only your hands, but if necessary finish mounting the tire using proper tire levers (as you have pictured) - plastic ones are best - never sharp tools such as screwdrivers.

Also:
http://sheldonbrown.com/flats.html

Start by fitting the valve of the inner tube through the valve hole. Loosely secure the valve using a valve cap or retaining ring so it won't fall back through the hole. If your valve is threaded for a retaining ring, don't tighten it down very far yet, just thread it on far enough that the valve can't fall out of the rim.

With the tube dangling down along one side of the wheel, install one edge of the tire onto the rim, so that the tube is hanging out of the open side. This is usually pretty easy.

Next, tuck the tube into the tire. It is best to start at the valve, work your way one third of the way around the tire, then go back to the valve and work around in the opposite direction.

Once the tube is in place, you're ready to install the second edge of the tire. This is the hardest part of the whole process, and the hardest part of this is the very last segment.

You should start at the valve, so that the valve won't be a complicating factor when you are trying to lift the last bit of tire bead over the edge of the rim."
"
By the way, tubulars are a different type of tire that you would actually glue to the wheel.

Anyway roadside repairs shouldn't differ much. Just the valvestem is the first to go in and the last to come out.

The Squeaky Cyclist said...

Oh noes! You have invoked the name of Sheldon Brown!

I will give your procedure a try the next time, thanks!

BTW, I was going for a pun between the topic of tubes and the surfer term "tubular", as I'm am located in California.

I'll have to take pic of my nine-inch Melco tyre levers that I purchased years ago for motorcycle work, as an example of lever overkill...

Anonymous said...

When in doubt consult Dr Brown. We don't get great surf here on the lower great lakes but Huron and Superior might though they appear to have withstood the ravages of wannabe surfers to date. What is the proper term? Shooting the tube or somesuch?
Anyway I hope it works well for you and you find picking up this method agreeable.
When in doubt ask. Someone in bloggerland will have tried it and may just have a trick to make it easier.

Cheers!

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