Sooner or later, every cyclist will be faced with a flat tire at least once in their life. It's never fun and it interferes with your ride, but it's also not the end of the world. In this post we would like to give you some tips on how to prevent it and what to do in case it does happen.
The majority of bicycles have a tire and a tube. The tire is what we are used to seeing and it's the part of the wheel that makes contact with the ground. The tube is like a "balloon" that goes inside the tire and it is what contains the air in our wheel.
A flat happens when a part of the inner tube breaks and air is released. Some would say that you could keep riding a bit with a flat tire, but the truth is, without air, riding a bike is almost impossible and you should fix the broken tube or change it for another.
Ā Tire and Tube
It's hard to guarantee that you won't get a flat, you could go months without it happening or you could be unlucky and it could happen twice in the same week. Even so, there are certain things that we can do to take care of our bike to decrease the probability of a flat tire:
Ground
Although it seems like common sense, looking in the direction you're riding is very helpful. The majority of flats are because of glass or anything else sharp that we could find in the street and if you look out for those things you could easily save yourself from a flat tire.
Tires
Not all objects in the street that can puncture our tires are visible and many times they might be visible but unavoidable. If this is the case, it's important to trust our tires and that they are in good shape. Signs that it's time to change your tire is if they have tears and rips from previous accidents or they're worn down and no longer have any grip.
š”Debunking the myth
It's common to say that bikes with thinner wheels get punctured more. The truth is that they have the same probability of suffering from a flat tire from objects in the street. However, having a narrower tube, a slight loss of air will easily affect the pressure and can cause a strong impact that squeezes the tube between the rim and the ground. This is known as a snakebite flat or a pinch flat. You should always maintain the recommended air pressure .
Good Air Pressure
Low Air Pressure
The first is to stay calm and depending on the tools and time that you have, see if you can fix it or if you'll need help. In case you want to do it yourself, you'll need to have:
If you don't have these things, we advise:
If you have all the necessary tools, here are the steps to repair your tire:
We hope that you never have to deal with a flat tire, but if it happens, we hope this post can help you make the moment less terrible andĀ feel prepared to face it.
Here is a link with our available products that are necessary to repair a flat tire.
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