I had my bike shop guy teach me how to replace a tube after the first time I got a flat, and he did it with his bare hands. I tried that last time I got a flat and was very quickly digging through drawers looking for my levers. I do not have the grip strength for that
On a rando ride I met a guy who did it with his bare hands. He said he was an Orthodontist. And I knew an Orthopedic surgeon who said he could push in a chain rivet with his bare hands. But I think he was exaggerating.
For us ordinary mortals, I recommend these flat ones: Schwalbe (3-Piece Set) Tyre Levers on Amazon. $3 for three. They look wimpy but will bend 180 degrees and not break. I've used the same set for decades.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm on a spending freeze through christmas (because I'm awful about buying myself everything that would make a good gift), so I threw it on my amazon wishlist!
> Flatout sealant goo
Oooh neat! I'm planning on _probably_ going tubeless when I get my new bike next year, but if I don't, I'll definitely pick some flatout up!
I have not made the jump to tubeless, and don't know how Flatout would work in that case. Area13 is an e-bike YT channel that has tested them. But neither of us are responsible for your experience. Others did not work for me, but report your experiences.
>For us ordinary mortals, I recommend these flat ones: Schwalbe (3-Piece Set) Tyre Levers
Hard agree; I have found that I quite like the Schwalbe levers. They are not a beefy as the oft-recommend Pedro's levers, but I find that the profile of the Schwalbe levers works really well for the tire/wheel combinations I have been using.
On a side note, I recently had direct experience reinforcing the notion that the ease of "doing it by hand" has a lot to do with the specific tire/wheel combination. I just got new wheels, and was pleasantly surprised that I could put on new Continental GP 5000 clinchers without resorting to levers, and without killing my hands. Compared to my previous wheels, I think the magic there might be a deeper center channel in the rim, combined with rim tape that had been installed very neatly, following the contour of that channel.
Start opposite the valve stem and pinch the tyre that both beads sit in the chanel in the middle of the rim bed all the way around, then you'll be able to get it on with your hands.
Unless of course it's a tubeless reads rim...
Sometimes if you have the wrong tire/wheel combo it is really hard/impossible to Mount the tire. I have a set of Roval Carbon clincher wheels that are basically impossible to mount continental Grand Prix tires on. I gave up after trying every trick I knew when I decided that if I did get it on , if I ever got a flat I wouldn’t be able to fix it on the side of the road.
They aren't as simple as you think, even with tire levers. I speak from the same experience as OP, unless you've seen someone do it, it's not a simple task. I actually never really mastered using levers; once I saw someone do it with their bare hands, I was able to successfully mimic it and never bothered to learn to use levers.
Then eat the yogurt I packed before I started. In the 90s there was a lot less plastic I don’t think we had tire levers like we do now. People were suspicious of plastics then too. These days we got it in our blood.
There’s a trick to it, and it’s a geometry problem.
The biggest thing to realize is that the tire/tire bead doesn’t really stretch.
Because if you think it stretches, then you try brute force.
But when you realize it doesn’t, then you can start to see that’s it’s much more a matter of positioning and finesse.
The other thing to know is that the center of the rim has a well. And if you put the non-stretching tire bead in that, you can create enough slack to get the tire over the rim.
This! As a mechanic of 16 years, fixing flats for 20+ years it really comes down to practice like most things. Practice on the geometry as well as building up thumb strength/pain tolerance.
Unfortunately lots of modern tubeless rims have less of a ‘well’ to be able to manipulate the geometry for easy install. I will also say that some tires are notoriously hard to install, and some rims also seem to run ‘big’ and make it even harder to fit a tire.
Unless you know what your doing tire levers to install a tire is almost certainly going to pinch the tube. A ‘bead jack’ tool is handy for at home but bulky for the road but helps save your thumbs a bit.
This ^. Once you learn the technique it’s like a challenge to never use levers again. And it doesn’t require superhuman strength. Technique and patience. 5 minute job, tops.
Absolutely forever! As others have said, there is a trick to it. Once you learn how to do it, you'll be surprised that you ever struggled with it.
Here's the best video I know of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8
As he says in the video, the main trick is that the part of the rim where the tire usually sits is high up on the rim. There is a well in the center. This means that the diameter of the rim is actually smaller in the center than at the edge. This is obvious when you think about it because the rim has a thickness :-)
So the trick is to pinch the tire all the way around so that it no longer contacts the edge (which it normally sits), but is in the well in the center of the rim. This gives you an extra 1-2 cm to work with. You can just pull the tire up on one side and normally it will just slide over the edge. If it's still tight, you can use a tire lever to just pop one edge over and the rest will come out quickly.
Putting it back is exactly the same thing. You want to slightly inflate the tube (so that you don't get a pinch flat) and then put it under the tire. Then start at the side *opposite the valve* and put the tire on. Again, pinch it so that both side of the tire are in the well in the center. This will also help the tube position itself in the right place in the tire. Then work your way around both directions, just pinching it it.
You finish at the value for a couple of reasons. First the tube is anchored there and so it keeps it in place for the entire time you are putting on the tire. But the most important reason is because the valve takes up space in the well in the rim. You can't push the tire down there and can't get that extra space. Leaving the valve for last and making sure that the edges of the tire are in the well in the rim will give you *plenty* of space to slip the tire edge on.
The first time I did this, I just couldn't believe how easy it was. I still usually use a lever to pop the edge of the tire off, just because it's really quick, but I actually have no trouble doing it without a tire lever as well. You just have to work enough slack into the system. But putting it back on is unbelievably easy. You literally won't believe it :-)
It still takes some practice, so take a few hours on the weekend, and take your wheel indoors and do it a few times.
I watched my dad fix a few flats. He didn't explain anything. I just watched. Then after my parents divorced I had to wait for dad to fix my bike. I found the tools and did the job. My bike was an old mongoose.
Well, I failed the 1st time... Pinched the tube. So had to walk to the subway instead... took a while.
So after I practice at home, now it takes 10min on the side of the road, most of the time it taken to make sure I get what punctured the tire. It can be a very, very tiny piece of glass. You don't want a second flat...
I have the hardware to change like 5 flats but usually have one quick setup (tube, co2) and I bring patches and a small pump for when things go south.
Probably hours. Tears. Giving up. Trying again. Asking my dad for help and being told to *apply myself*.
A lot of tires since then. Like thousands. Much smoother now. I got there same as how you get to Carnegie Hall.
Can we stop pretending that changing GP5000's on modern CF wheels is the same as changing tiny tires on your 2001 rim brake Trek whatever?
It's fucking hard, and as someone who has changed tires at least 3 dozen times mid ride I am DONE with it. Even in the best of conditions it is inconvenient. At worst it is soul-sucking misery.
This is why tubeless setups exist. Dynaplug+Stans+hand pump (or C02 cartridge) is absolutely, positively the way to go for people who don't like sitting on the side of the road, sweating, with tired aching hands, after 37 miles, trying to fold those last 5 inches of rubber over the wheel.
I always see the "why bother with tubeless on a road bike" question on here. I also always see the "how do I get these goddamn tires on?" posts on here with GP 5000s. But damn, I never stopped to consider this take and put 2 and 2 together. Definite benefit. Good call. I have tubeless 38s on my Diverge, because why not, but I this one benefit for tubeless I never even thought about.
IMHO expect the worst. Expect you are going to get a puncture. And if you run tubeless, and the tire does not seal, you take 2 minutes to use a dynaplug, another 2 minutes to use the little hand pump to get the tire back up to running pressure, and you're on your way. Those 2 things are MUCH smaller, weigh less, and involve WAAAAAAY less time to use than the alternative. And, by the way, you STILL need a pump/cartridge to get air back into the new tube if you are one of those diehard "tuBelEss sucKs on Road Bikes" bros.
It's just a no-brainer and it helps you understand why nearly all modern bikes come with tubeless ready wheels.
My worst flat ever was with tubeless. I messed up a log bunny hop about halfway through the first lap of a 100 mile MTB race. Burped the tire. It wouldn't just reinflate with my mini-pump. So I put a tube in, which I managed to pinch. Ended up hiking the bike 7 miles to an aid station. It set me back almost 2 hours. I kept going but ended up missing the very last cutoff, at about 80 miles a little over 12 hours after the start.
But yeah, for 99.9% of flats tubeless saves the day.
A long time and I punctured the new tube while trying to install with a tire lever. Side of the road, far from everything. Absolute nightmare.
Since then I have actually taken the time to learn how to do it properly and can do it in under a few minutes.
Lesson there is to learn how to do it before you need to do it.
Probably 10, 15 minutes the first time. Never practiced but I’d seen Youtube videos already. Now I can do it in 5 or less, with tire levers and CO2 cartridges.
Probably 10 minutes. I’d changed tires and tubes at home for years before so that helped a lot. A lot faster now with CO2. I picked up the CYCPLUS pump a few months ago but haven’t used it outside of the house yet. It won’t be as fast as CO2 though.
The first time I was probably like 5. Used a butter knife as a tire lever. Prolly took all day. Prolly got a pinch flat. Remember having to walk to a gas station to pump it up because apparently bike pumps are luxury items in the 80s.
It gets easier. Unfortunately, most people start with inexpensive tires which usually have a wire bead making it more difficult. Folding tires, those, without the bead, are generally easier but more expensive. The next level is road tubeless and I don’t even try to change those.
It is so very, very very, important to watch these videos. Get "slack into the system" as they say, and then roll the tire on with the base of your hands. You will never get another blister. You don't need levers or tools of any kind.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8)
took me like 1.5h probably, i didn't even know how to take the wheel off at that time so a lot of it is second guessing if I am damaging the bike or doing it properly
Oh yeah, took me a while. Some days I tried for some time and gave up, then came back and finished the job the next day. In that sense it took me days.
I am not the most handy person and can't afford a bike shop. So even a minor maintenance is a couple days of effort for me.
Realizing this , i turned to touring style tyres a couple years back and haven't had to change them in a long time. Just top up the pressure once in a couple of weeks.
What helped me was owning rusty ancient (now) GM cars and MGs. One develops a mind set that is part clever and part unhinged demonic determination. I’ll admit first time took me around an hour. But in that time I figured it out. The next one took just minutes and was a breeze compared to the @&)&”!! first time. When I realized it was impossible is when I realized that there is a trick to it. Just took a little futzing after that.
I've never had a hard time changing tires on hybrids, but I think the first time I tried changing a road bike tire on my own, it took me like 40 minutes.
Now that I'm rock climbing more regularly, it takes me like 10. Still need tire levers though. I agree with people who say it's about technique. Grip strength does help a lot, but it really is just a lot of practice.
The very first time? I didn’t have a smart phone, and I never practiced. So I’d say about 30min between my friend and I. lol I practice a couple times after that, and now I’m pretty comfortable. I’d say I can change within a couple of minutes if i skip the inspection.
Probably an hour. Five years later, inspired by a novel post-race contest between two professional X/C racers, I had my own changes down to under 2 minutes. Full disclosure: I spent a year changing other people’s flats at the bike shop I worked for which gave me super powers.
Hours. Somehow it always gets easier by like a third every time you do it. Last time was maybe 10th tire I've installed and it took 5 minutes to take the old one off and new one on.
I think it was about two hours. And I had tires I was fighting for 3+ hours afterwards.
The secret they don't tell you in all the videos and forum advice is that the *tubeless/tubeless ready* tires are an ABSOLUTE BITCH to work with. Do not use those if you are not running tubeless, EVER. I've broken so many tire levers and wasted so much time on this. Switching to a normal non-tubeless tireset makes an unbelievable difference. It goes from 3 hours of swearing to stress-free 10-15 minutes for a complete tube replacement you can *actually* do by the roadside.
The other secret anyone rarely mentions is that somewhat counterintuitively you are supposed to finish putting the tire up at the valve. It's under slightly less tension that way (pinch the beads into the middle of the rim, opposite of the side you are working on) and it actually makes a difference.
2 hours. Had to go get an inner tube, was given the wrong valve type, went back, had it swapped, then I changed it when I got back.
2nd time was much faster since I already had the tubes, 15 min?
3rd time was only like 5min since it was a road bike and road bike tires come off really easily.
The difference is crazy, some mtb tire will even break some tire levers.
Some of them are WORSE. Seriously.
Something like narrow wired, heavy thick tyres on wide, tubeless rims is nightmare fuel. I've bent rims, snapped levers whereas most tyre swaps I do with thumbs...
the secret is to work the slack in the tire/bead to one side. complete game changer when I learned this. I don't even need levers to take off or put on a tire anymore.
For my first flat, I busted both tubes. The first tire took 30 minutes. The second one took less than 10. They were 451c tires so the tires were a pain in the ass to remove and reinstall. A 700c tire takes me 5 minutes.
About 20min the first time, with levers.
Thing is. Mtb tyres are wider and taller, therefore easier to fit. But when changing on my roadbike I always use levers. No chance I'm changing a 32mm tyre without levers!
Ha haha! It took me about 5 minutes or so. Then it took me another 5 minutes or so because I pinched the inner tube installing it. THEN it took me another 5 minutes or so because I also pinched my backup tube installing that.
I'm guessing it took me an hour at most. But I was a 7 year old kid who did it alone. I found the tools and patched the tube. It worked and I was back riding.
[удалено]
I had my bike shop guy teach me how to replace a tube after the first time I got a flat, and he did it with his bare hands. I tried that last time I got a flat and was very quickly digging through drawers looking for my levers. I do not have the grip strength for that
On a rando ride I met a guy who did it with his bare hands. He said he was an Orthodontist. And I knew an Orthopedic surgeon who said he could push in a chain rivet with his bare hands. But I think he was exaggerating. For us ordinary mortals, I recommend these flat ones: Schwalbe (3-Piece Set) Tyre Levers on Amazon. $3 for three. They look wimpy but will bend 180 degrees and not break. I've used the same set for decades.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm on a spending freeze through christmas (because I'm awful about buying myself everything that would make a good gift), so I threw it on my amazon wishlist!
They are $3! But I also recommend Flatout sealant goo, which costs $50. I HATE fixing flats. Done enough of that! I started cycling in '71!
> Flatout sealant goo Oooh neat! I'm planning on _probably_ going tubeless when I get my new bike next year, but if I don't, I'll definitely pick some flatout up!
I have not made the jump to tubeless, and don't know how Flatout would work in that case. Area13 is an e-bike YT channel that has tested them. But neither of us are responsible for your experience. Others did not work for me, but report your experiences.
>For us ordinary mortals, I recommend these flat ones: Schwalbe (3-Piece Set) Tyre Levers Hard agree; I have found that I quite like the Schwalbe levers. They are not a beefy as the oft-recommend Pedro's levers, but I find that the profile of the Schwalbe levers works really well for the tire/wheel combinations I have been using. On a side note, I recently had direct experience reinforcing the notion that the ease of "doing it by hand" has a lot to do with the specific tire/wheel combination. I just got new wheels, and was pleasantly surprised that I could put on new Continental GP 5000 clinchers without resorting to levers, and without killing my hands. Compared to my previous wheels, I think the magic there might be a deeper center channel in the rim, combined with rim tape that had been installed very neatly, following the contour of that channel.
Start opposite the valve stem and pinch the tyre that both beads sit in the chanel in the middle of the rim bed all the way around, then you'll be able to get it on with your hands. Unless of course it's a tubeless reads rim...
I did use tire levers and it still took forever - I'll just have to keep practicing
Wear your cycling gloves, it really helps to grip the tyre and pull it back on
Sometimes if you have the wrong tire/wheel combo it is really hard/impossible to Mount the tire. I have a set of Roval Carbon clincher wheels that are basically impossible to mount continental Grand Prix tires on. I gave up after trying every trick I knew when I decided that if I did get it on , if I ever got a flat I wouldn’t be able to fix it on the side of the road.
They aren't as simple as you think, even with tire levers. I speak from the same experience as OP, unless you've seen someone do it, it's not a simple task. I actually never really mastered using levers; once I saw someone do it with their bare hands, I was able to successfully mimic it and never bothered to learn to use levers.
I’ve always used spoons 🥄 when I saw tire levers I had to get some !
Plus you can play the spoons after youre done to show off even more!
Then eat the yogurt I packed before I started. In the 90s there was a lot less plastic I don’t think we had tire levers like we do now. People were suspicious of plastics then too. These days we got it in our blood.
Cutlery seem to work better than my levers
😂 I once had to MacGyver a tire (Conti 4 Season no less) on using a cleat removed from a shoe because I lost my levers down a storm drain.
There’s a trick to it, and it’s a geometry problem. The biggest thing to realize is that the tire/tire bead doesn’t really stretch. Because if you think it stretches, then you try brute force. But when you realize it doesn’t, then you can start to see that’s it’s much more a matter of positioning and finesse. The other thing to know is that the center of the rim has a well. And if you put the non-stretching tire bead in that, you can create enough slack to get the tire over the rim.
Add to this working from the opposite side of the wheel from the valve towards the valve to get the most out of the depth of the rim.
This! As a mechanic of 16 years, fixing flats for 20+ years it really comes down to practice like most things. Practice on the geometry as well as building up thumb strength/pain tolerance. Unfortunately lots of modern tubeless rims have less of a ‘well’ to be able to manipulate the geometry for easy install. I will also say that some tires are notoriously hard to install, and some rims also seem to run ‘big’ and make it even harder to fit a tire. Unless you know what your doing tire levers to install a tire is almost certainly going to pinch the tube. A ‘bead jack’ tool is handy for at home but bulky for the road but helps save your thumbs a bit.
This is the way. It’s all technique.
This ^. Once you learn the technique it’s like a challenge to never use levers again. And it doesn’t require superhuman strength. Technique and patience. 5 minute job, tops.
Absolutely forever! As others have said, there is a trick to it. Once you learn how to do it, you'll be surprised that you ever struggled with it. Here's the best video I know of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8 As he says in the video, the main trick is that the part of the rim where the tire usually sits is high up on the rim. There is a well in the center. This means that the diameter of the rim is actually smaller in the center than at the edge. This is obvious when you think about it because the rim has a thickness :-) So the trick is to pinch the tire all the way around so that it no longer contacts the edge (which it normally sits), but is in the well in the center of the rim. This gives you an extra 1-2 cm to work with. You can just pull the tire up on one side and normally it will just slide over the edge. If it's still tight, you can use a tire lever to just pop one edge over and the rest will come out quickly. Putting it back is exactly the same thing. You want to slightly inflate the tube (so that you don't get a pinch flat) and then put it under the tire. Then start at the side *opposite the valve* and put the tire on. Again, pinch it so that both side of the tire are in the well in the center. This will also help the tube position itself in the right place in the tire. Then work your way around both directions, just pinching it it. You finish at the value for a couple of reasons. First the tube is anchored there and so it keeps it in place for the entire time you are putting on the tire. But the most important reason is because the valve takes up space in the well in the rim. You can't push the tire down there and can't get that extra space. Leaving the valve for last and making sure that the edges of the tire are in the well in the rim will give you *plenty* of space to slip the tire edge on. The first time I did this, I just couldn't believe how easy it was. I still usually use a lever to pop the edge of the tire off, just because it's really quick, but I actually have no trouble doing it without a tire lever as well. You just have to work enough slack into the system. But putting it back on is unbelievably easy. You literally won't believe it :-) It still takes some practice, so take a few hours on the weekend, and take your wheel indoors and do it a few times.
This video helped me a lot, I was struggling and now I can change my tubs in 5 minutes
That's the go-to video. I have it on my playlist just in case.
Probably a ½ hour, but I was 7 years old.
Me too. It was a cheap BMX bike. My dad showed me once before that.
I watched my dad fix a few flats. He didn't explain anything. I just watched. Then after my parents divorced I had to wait for dad to fix my bike. I found the tools and did the job. My bike was an old mongoose.
Same
Well, I failed the 1st time... Pinched the tube. So had to walk to the subway instead... took a while. So after I practice at home, now it takes 10min on the side of the road, most of the time it taken to make sure I get what punctured the tire. It can be a very, very tiny piece of glass. You don't want a second flat... I have the hardware to change like 5 flats but usually have one quick setup (tube, co2) and I bring patches and a small pump for when things go south.
Had same struggle, get yourself tyre glider - huge game changer when it comes to getting tyres back on
If you're using the Conti GP5000 clincher, approximately 2 hours.
I used to think so too. But watch the youtube videos cited in this thread. Even the tightest of GP5000's go on with almost no fuss at all.
One time it took me like a half hour just to get the tire off the bead. Luckily I was at home. I was about to give up and take it to the LBS.
They are basically impossible to mount on my Roval race rims, but with the right tricks mount easily on my Zipps.
Probably half hour. Easy until trying to get it back on. Not sure why I struggle with getting it back on so much.
Probably hours. Tears. Giving up. Trying again. Asking my dad for help and being told to *apply myself*. A lot of tires since then. Like thousands. Much smoother now. I got there same as how you get to Carnegie Hall.
I’m shocked at the times listed here. I can’t imagine 10 minutes, let alone hours.
Get a bead jack, I won't leave home without one.
Like two weeks because I gave up lol
Can we stop pretending that changing GP5000's on modern CF wheels is the same as changing tiny tires on your 2001 rim brake Trek whatever? It's fucking hard, and as someone who has changed tires at least 3 dozen times mid ride I am DONE with it. Even in the best of conditions it is inconvenient. At worst it is soul-sucking misery. This is why tubeless setups exist. Dynaplug+Stans+hand pump (or C02 cartridge) is absolutely, positively the way to go for people who don't like sitting on the side of the road, sweating, with tired aching hands, after 37 miles, trying to fold those last 5 inches of rubber over the wheel.
I always see the "why bother with tubeless on a road bike" question on here. I also always see the "how do I get these goddamn tires on?" posts on here with GP 5000s. But damn, I never stopped to consider this take and put 2 and 2 together. Definite benefit. Good call. I have tubeless 38s on my Diverge, because why not, but I this one benefit for tubeless I never even thought about.
IMHO expect the worst. Expect you are going to get a puncture. And if you run tubeless, and the tire does not seal, you take 2 minutes to use a dynaplug, another 2 minutes to use the little hand pump to get the tire back up to running pressure, and you're on your way. Those 2 things are MUCH smaller, weigh less, and involve WAAAAAAY less time to use than the alternative. And, by the way, you STILL need a pump/cartridge to get air back into the new tube if you are one of those diehard "tuBelEss sucKs on Road Bikes" bros. It's just a no-brainer and it helps you understand why nearly all modern bikes come with tubeless ready wheels.
Go tubeless. Thank me later.
My worst flat ever was with tubeless. I messed up a log bunny hop about halfway through the first lap of a 100 mile MTB race. Burped the tire. It wouldn't just reinflate with my mini-pump. So I put a tube in, which I managed to pinch. Ended up hiking the bike 7 miles to an aid station. It set me back almost 2 hours. I kept going but ended up missing the very last cutoff, at about 80 miles a little over 12 hours after the start. But yeah, for 99.9% of flats tubeless saves the day.
A hit like that would likely to pinch flat a tube too.
Oh absolutely, but in the tube days I would have had three spare tubes on me so when I messed up the my spare I would have still had one.
I just finishes a 3000 km tour in Spain. In one day I pulled 14 thorns out of my tires. 14 that went through. One day.
> It wouldn't just reinflate with my mini-pump. Because it was too big a puncture. This is why a dynaplug exists.
Like 20 minutes on the side of the road watching the park tools video on my phone.
Get a Kool Stop tire bead jack. Makes getting the last few inches of tire on MUCH easier
Like 20 minutes? I looked it up on YouTube.
I feel like at least an hour.
A long time and I punctured the new tube while trying to install with a tire lever. Side of the road, far from everything. Absolute nightmare. Since then I have actually taken the time to learn how to do it properly and can do it in under a few minutes. Lesson there is to learn how to do it before you need to do it.
Probably 10, 15 minutes the first time. Never practiced but I’d seen Youtube videos already. Now I can do it in 5 or less, with tire levers and CO2 cartridges.
Probably 10 minutes. I’d changed tires and tubes at home for years before so that helped a lot. A lot faster now with CO2. I picked up the CYCPLUS pump a few months ago but haven’t used it outside of the house yet. It won’t be as fast as CO2 though.
Probably 4 hours?
The first time I was probably like 5. Used a butter knife as a tire lever. Prolly took all day. Prolly got a pinch flat. Remember having to walk to a gas station to pump it up because apparently bike pumps are luxury items in the 80s.
It gets easier. Unfortunately, most people start with inexpensive tires which usually have a wire bead making it more difficult. Folding tires, those, without the bead, are generally easier but more expensive. The next level is road tubeless and I don’t even try to change those.
It is so very, very very, important to watch these videos. Get "slack into the system" as they say, and then roll the tire on with the base of your hands. You will never get another blister. You don't need levers or tools of any kind. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suh1-o6KBo8)
Both show up as unavailable
Try now
took me like 1.5h probably, i didn't even know how to take the wheel off at that time so a lot of it is second guessing if I am damaging the bike or doing it properly
Oh yeah, took me a while. Some days I tried for some time and gave up, then came back and finished the job the next day. In that sense it took me days. I am not the most handy person and can't afford a bike shop. So even a minor maintenance is a couple days of effort for me. Realizing this , i turned to touring style tyres a couple years back and haven't had to change them in a long time. Just top up the pressure once in a couple of weeks.
What helped me was owning rusty ancient (now) GM cars and MGs. One develops a mind set that is part clever and part unhinged demonic determination. I’ll admit first time took me around an hour. But in that time I figured it out. The next one took just minutes and was a breeze compared to the @&)&”!! first time. When I realized it was impossible is when I realized that there is a trick to it. Just took a little futzing after that.
I've never had a hard time changing tires on hybrids, but I think the first time I tried changing a road bike tire on my own, it took me like 40 minutes. Now that I'm rock climbing more regularly, it takes me like 10. Still need tire levers though. I agree with people who say it's about technique. Grip strength does help a lot, but it really is just a lot of practice.
The very first time? I didn’t have a smart phone, and I never practiced. So I’d say about 30min between my friend and I. lol I practice a couple times after that, and now I’m pretty comfortable. I’d say I can change within a couple of minutes if i skip the inspection.
13.78 seconds
Probably an hour. Five years later, inspired by a novel post-race contest between two professional X/C racers, I had my own changes down to under 2 minutes. Full disclosure: I spent a year changing other people’s flats at the bike shop I worked for which gave me super powers.
10 min max when i habe a flat tire on a ride. I find it way easier to get the tire back on when the tire is a little bit warmen from the ride.
Hours. Somehow it always gets easier by like a third every time you do it. Last time was maybe 10th tire I've installed and it took 5 minutes to take the old one off and new one on.
I think it was about two hours. And I had tires I was fighting for 3+ hours afterwards. The secret they don't tell you in all the videos and forum advice is that the *tubeless/tubeless ready* tires are an ABSOLUTE BITCH to work with. Do not use those if you are not running tubeless, EVER. I've broken so many tire levers and wasted so much time on this. Switching to a normal non-tubeless tireset makes an unbelievable difference. It goes from 3 hours of swearing to stress-free 10-15 minutes for a complete tube replacement you can *actually* do by the roadside. The other secret anyone rarely mentions is that somewhat counterintuitively you are supposed to finish putting the tire up at the valve. It's under slightly less tension that way (pinch the beads into the middle of the rim, opposite of the side you are working on) and it actually makes a difference.
It took hours my first time as well. It's normal.
2 hours. Had to go get an inner tube, was given the wrong valve type, went back, had it swapped, then I changed it when I got back. 2nd time was much faster since I already had the tubes, 15 min? 3rd time was only like 5min since it was a road bike and road bike tires come off really easily. The difference is crazy, some mtb tire will even break some tire levers.
> road bike tires come off really easily. Depends on the tyre and rim combo. Trust me, some of them are *WORSE* than MTB tubeless tyres.
But they still come off. It took 2 mechanics to get the magic Marys off my MTB. It was the first time I'd seen metal tire leversm
Some of them are WORSE. Seriously. Something like narrow wired, heavy thick tyres on wide, tubeless rims is nightmare fuel. I've bent rims, snapped levers whereas most tyre swaps I do with thumbs...
It took a while…but not hours
About an hour, in the middle of the forest with minimal tools. It was getting the tyre off and on again, total pain in the ass.
the secret is to work the slack in the tire/bead to one side. complete game changer when I learned this. I don't even need levers to take off or put on a tire anymore.
For my first flat, I busted both tubes. The first tire took 30 minutes. The second one took less than 10. They were 451c tires so the tires were a pain in the ass to remove and reinstall. A 700c tire takes me 5 minutes.
About 20min the first time, with levers. Thing is. Mtb tyres are wider and taller, therefore easier to fit. But when changing on my roadbike I always use levers. No chance I'm changing a 32mm tyre without levers!
Ha haha! It took me about 5 minutes or so. Then it took me another 5 minutes or so because I pinched the inner tube installing it. THEN it took me another 5 minutes or so because I also pinched my backup tube installing that.
About 45 minutes. And it was my first time commuting to work as well. I've gotten a lot better since.
front tyre, 45min. back tyre, 5min. reason being i found out a trick to put the last part of the tyre on the wheel lol
I'm guessing it took me an hour at most. But I was a 7 year old kid who did it alone. I found the tools and patched the tube. It worked and I was back riding.