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what is the best way to fix a flat tube tire on the road what is the best way to fix a flat tube tire on the road
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  #1  
Old 26 Jul 2009
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The foam stuff hardly ever works. Personally i always use HD tubes but carry normal spares as they don't take up so much space and are quicker to fit. The time it takes to find and patch a hole on the trail or by the roadside is normally far greater than replacing the tube. You can then patch the original tube at your leisure.
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  #2  
Old 4 Aug 2009
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Carrying tyre changing gear & spare tubes etc will be one of the best decisions you can make.

Learning to repair puncture or replace tyres by the roadside will be one of the most useful skills a bike rider can have.

Practice at home & work out what works for you.
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  #3  
Old 4 Aug 2009
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Hi
my bike has an 18" rear and 21" front
If brinigng a spare tube I heard it is better to bring just a 21" as this can also be used in the rear if necessary.
Has any one tried this and does it work
Thanks
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  #4  
Old 4 Aug 2009
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Enduro racers do it and at that level it works.

My question is, is something smaller than a book worth risking life,limb and hassle over? An incorrectly sized tube will run at the wrong temperature, sit in the wrong place and carry the load in the wrong way. You will therefore need to change it again at some indeterminate point before it fails. Do you want the mess of another change shortly after the first one? My final point against is that it invalidates your insurance. If it blows out in western Europe and you cause a petrol tanker to crash avoiding you, you'll be doing the paperwork for the rest of your life one way or the other.

I've seen this trick done twice. Both times the bike got off a trail and onto a main road (20 miles tops). After that, I assume the riders made it home but beyond that I don't know.

Personally I'll carry the right sized tubes and do the job once. If the weight is that important to you I can see you might do this, but outside racing it seems a bit pointless. If the weight is that important IMHO, simply don't supersize your lunch.

Andy
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Old 4 Aug 2009
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The 21" tube works fine in an 18" wheel. It'll see you good for another 100miles of hard trail-riding, but for travel, I'd carry the same spec spares as I have fitted.

If you run HD tubes but carry a standard spare are you going to repair the HD then fit it later and put the standard tube back as a spare ? I don't think so.

Get a decent kit of patches and some spare glue. Replace the silly bit of sand-paper supplied with some emery-cloth and put some talc in a pot. A biro does a good job of marking where the hole is.

Try patching a few times before you go and get used to propping the bike, removing wheels and fixing punctures with the tools you carry.

Fix the tube as soon as you get a chance; nothing worse than getting a puncture a few days or even hours later and then remembering you haven't fixed your spare.

Have fun
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  #6  
Old 17 Aug 2009
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For Electra owners. but maybe useful to others.
Although the toolkit includes tyre levers (piddley little things) It does not include a spanner to get you wheel nut loose. To change the rear wheel you will need to source a 24mm flat ring spanner. WAIT for the exhaust to cool first. To adjust rear chain, you will need a 30mm flat ring spanner.
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Old 18 Aug 2009
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Dim and distant recall, but I thought there was some sort of box spanner? Looked utterly useless and I'd always replace with proper tools, but it's not like Enfield to leave you in that much trouble.

Now a Moto Guzzi Nevada, that requires you to lean the bike over off the centre stand to the right while dragging the wheel out on the left. Easy so long as you are built like King Kong!

Andy
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