Hi,
Changing tyres on a bike is relatively easy process in theory, providing you have the correct equipment and know how to do it.
Unfortunately... in practice the problem lies in causing damage to the wheel rim when removing the tyre. Alloy rims are generally much softer that steel ones and the risk of causing abrasions and damaging any laquer or paint can be high.
Removing tyres manually without causing damage takes a lot of practice.
TIP:
If you really want to have a go - eg if you are going off to africa etc and really need to do this then go to a scrap yard and get hold of an old wheel rim & tyre to practice on first. When you feel confident in using the equipment you can then try it out on your pride & joy. dont jump in with both feet so to speak as this could be expensive.
First you will need to find some rim guards. These are usually made of plastic and fit between the edge of the rim and the lever to prevent damage when removing the tyre.
You will also need to get hold of some
good quality tyre levers.
Proper tyre lubricant is needed to help in releasing the tyre. Don't be tempted to use washing up liquid as this contains chemicals that can damage the tyre.
With tubeless tyres you will need to break the bead on each side so that it drops into the well of the rim first. To do this you will need a manual bead breaker or very strong hands.
Some bike wheel rims have an offset well and it is essential that you identify this before atempting to remove the tyre. If you break the bead and then look inside the rim you will see the shape of the rim internally. This will look like two ridges inside the rim with a deeper well in the middle.
If they are both the same width then the rim has a central well. if one side is wider that the other then it is offset. With an offset well you MUST remove the bead over the narrower ridge otherwise you will never get the tyre off and you will damage the rim in trying.
Be careful not to lay the wheel down on a hard surface and use force when beaking the bead as you can damage the wheel and ancilliary components such as brake discs etc.
You should then use the rim guards to protect the rim against the levering action of the tyre lever.
The trick is to take it a little bit at a time to ease the tyre off the rim gently. Once you have one side off then stand the wheel up and turn it so that the bead you have removed is against you knees. Insert the lever again and lever the bead over the rim so the wheel falls away from you.
You must then fit a new valve to the rim.
You must also realise that you should also balance the wheel to the tyre once fitted and balancing equipment is expensive. This is essential to avoid unwanted vibration and handling problems.
To re-fit the new tyre you must first identify the rotational arrow on the sidewall and fit the tyre the correct way round.
Begin by lubricating the rim and the bead and then ease the bead over the rim little by little using a lever and rim guard to get the last bit on.
Once the tyre is on the rim, remove the valve core and inflate the tyre onto the rim until the beads settle.
Replace the valve core and check that the tyre is correctly aligned on the rim on both sides. A good way to do this is to replace the wheel onto the bike and rotate it to see if there is any undue wobble.
TIP
Its up to you but my advice would be to leave it to a tyre shop that specialises in bike tyres as they have all the correct equipment to do a damage free change, refit a valve and re-balance the wheel.
As a collision investigator I have had the practice of removing hundreds of tyres from wheel rims manually and I would like to think I am quite adept at this -
However would I do it on my own pride & joy - Not a chance - the risk of causing damage and the cost of repair is just too high.
They usually charge about £10-15 per wheel but if they damage your rim in the process then at least you have a comeback.
It is not really cost effective to do it yourself due to the risk of damage unless you are stuck up a sand dune in the sahara or something like that.
Changing punctured tyres at the road side is generally a thing of the past now as there are kits on the market that allow a temporary repair to be carried out without removing the tyre. there are also products like slime you can use which re seal the tyre if punctured and allow to get home.
If you really want to have a go then you should be able to purchase the necessary equipment through any tyre suppliers.
Hope this helps.
Chris
