Quick tip: How to repair an inner tube
Having had several punctures in a row it happened to me. It was freezing cold, I had run out of spare inner tubes and was 20 kilometers from home, in the countryside. What you always can do, is call a taxi or a friend to pick you up. If that's not an option, or you wanna ride your bike, there is an option.
This is a quick tip that I learnt from the Global Cycling Network.
- Locate the hole in the inner tube
- Make sure there is only one hole, try to add some pressure with a hand pump
- Try to locate what caused the puncture, is there a hole in the tire or something in the rim? Remove any sharp objects.
- Make a loop around the hole to isolate the hole from the rest of the inner tube
- Make the knot really tight
- Place the now really tight inner tube on the rim (it will fit if the knot isn't too big)
- Place the tire back on and pump
- Good to go!
What's neat with this, it actually works pretty well and you can keep going for several hours without problems. Actually, when I tried this, the tube held a 7 bar pressure for a day. Not bad!
Global Cycling Network has loads of more tips for repairing tires and inner tubes, check their YouTube channel here.
Check the whole video below!
Out cycling and punctured all your inner tubes? We've got a couple of ways to get you home. Follow GCN on YouTube: http://gcn.eu/gcnsubs Puncturing all your spare inner tubes is one of those things that you hope never happens when you're cycling. It's worth being prepared just in case disaster strikes.
Hope you will find this useful, at least I did!
Enjoy, it's soon Friday!