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8. GETTING HOME WHEN SOMETHING
BREAKS
Unless you're going for a short ride in the neighborhood, or you can
walk home or call someone to pick you up if something breaks, you
should never go for a bike ride without the following emergency
equipment:
• 4mm, 5mm and 6mm Allen wrenches, used to tighten various
clamping bolts that may loosen
• Patch kit and a spare inner tube
• Tire levers
• Tire pump or cartridge inflator with correct head to fit your tire
valves (see Section 6.7.2)
• Some kind of identification (so people know who you are in case of
an accident)
• Spare cash (for a candy bar, cool drink or emergency phone call)
8.1. If you get a flat tire:
Depress the tire valve to let all the air out of the tube (see Section
6.7.2).
Remove the wheel from the bicycle (see Section 6.1.3 or 4).
Remove one bead of the tire from the rim by grasping it at a point
opposite the valve stem with both hands and, at the same time, lifting
and peeling one side of the tire off the rim. If the bead is on too tight
for you to unseat it with your hands, use tire levers to lift the bead
carefully over the tire rim. Remove the valve lock nut (if the valve has
one) and push the valve stem through the wheel rim.
Remove the inner tube.
Carefully check the outside and inside of the tire for the cause of the
puncture and remove the cause if it is still there. If the tire is cut, line
the inside of the tire in the area of the cut with something handy -
tape, a spare patch, a piece of inner tube, a candy wrapper -
whatever will keep the cut from pinching the inner tube.
Either patch the tube (follow the instructions in your patch kit), or use
a new one.
WARNING:
Patching a tube is an emergency repair. Careless
patching or applying several patches can seriously weaken the tube,
resulting in possible tube failure, which could cause you to lose
control and fall. Replace a patched tube as soon as possible.
Reinstall the tire and tube. Slip one tire bead over the rim. Insert the
tube valve through its hole in the rim, but don't secure it with the
locknut yet. Feed the tube carefully into the cavity of the tire. Inflate
the tube just enough to give it some shape. Starting at the valve stem
and working around both sides of the rim to the side opposite the
valve stem, use your thumbs to push and seat the other bead of the
tire inside the rim. Be careful not to pinch the tube between the tire
bead and the wheel rim. If you have trouble getting the last few
inches of bead over the edge of the rim with thumb pressure, use a
tire lever and be careful not to pinch the tube.
CAUTION:
If you use a screwdriver or any tool other than a tire
lever, you are likely to puncture the tube.36 37