How to Repair a Bicycle Tube Tire

Any avid bike rider knows one of the most annoying problems while riding your bike is a flat tire. Most bicycle tires today are what are known as tube tires, the air that inflates the tire is actually stored in an inflatable tube inside the bike tire itself. These types of bicycle tires can be a pain to change or fix because of the inner tube. But before you go and buy a new one, try to fix it yourself.

If you have a leaky tube, first check to see if the leak is around the valve. Take off the cap the valve, pump the tire back up, then put some soapy water or even shampoo on and around the valve. If there is in fact a slow air leak, you will notice small bubbles forming where the air is seeping out of. If you don't see bubbles, then the air leak is somewhere else. If the tire is still slowly leaking, then you most likely have a puncture. To fix it you'll have to patch the inner tube. Because the inflatable tube is underneath the tire itself you will need a tube patch kit. A tube patch kit can be found at your local bike shop, or even at your local Wal-Mart. In your tube repair kit you should have some new rubber patches, some special tire adhesive, and usually a rough piece of sandpaper or something abrasive.

Let all of the air out of the tire and take off your wheel. If the tire is loose on the rim you'll be able to get it off with your bare hands. If it isn't, try the rounded handles of 2 teaspoons, being careful not to make holes in the tires with them. Using this technique the tire should slide right off. Now that you have the tube exposed from the tire, it's time to see where the slow air leak is. Pump up the two and see if you can find the whole just by listening to the air escape or by feeling around with your fingers. If you can't seem to find the puncture, fill up a large bucket with water and submerge the tube. This way you'll be able to see the air bubbles rise to the top of the water. Now you can take the tire tube out of the bucket, dry it off, and mark where the hole is. Take your sandpaper or abrasive material found in your patching kit and rough up the area around the whole. By roughing up the area around the puncture, you create a surface that easier for the tire adhesive to stick to. Take some of your tire adhesive and apply it overtop the roughed up area and let it dry just until it feels sticky. Take one of your rubber patches from your kit and apply it overtop the sticky adhesive. While the adhesive is drying check to make sure that the puncture wasn't caused by something on the inside of the tire or something on the bike rim.

With your tire patched and dried, put in some air and make sure it doesn't leak. Now just lying in the tire to up with the inside of the tire and slide the valve or the valve hole on the bicycles rim. Now inflate the tire as necessary. Congratulations, you have just repaired a slow leak on a tire tube and you are now ready to ride again.