As part of my drive to fix my bike and cycle it regularly, I decided that I would improve my skills so I felt confident to make basic repairs on my bike.
I typed in Bike Maintenance course into Google and came up with the Fix it! class run by the people at Evans Cycles. So I paid £15, with high hopes of getting shown the errors of my ways.
When I arrived there were five other people taking the class and I was disappointed that there was only one instructor. I came to realise that I would not be getting my hands dirty as this class was an explanation only session.
The session covered:
1) Replacing an innertube
2) Tightening breaks
3) Fixing chains/gears (I’ll be honest I was getting a bit lost by this point)
We were shown on a hybrid bike, so it was slightly different to my mountain bike so I had to try and imagine where I would go on my own bike. As I am not that confident in fixing my bike, this was not an easy task.
To be fair the instructor was capable and knowledgeable demonstrating his craft. I was also quite envious how easily he popped the tire of when replacing the inner tube.
I spend about 30 minutes trying to wrench it off which involves a good amount of sweating, swearing and threatening my bike with a good kicking if it did not behave.
Another benefit was a small pack of fix it goodies, which I estimate being equal in price of the course.
It was evident that more personal tuition was needed as the session got dominated by one of the students as a dozen questions about there personal needs.
In conclusion I was obviously disappointed, I wanted practical experience and guidance on where I was going wrong with changing my tire. What was given I could have got from Youtube.
Anyway back to the drawing board. I am now at a stage where if I knew someone who was good with bikes I would pay them for one to one tuition.
Perfect Manifesto 
Okay, if the bike is on a stand, stand behind(ish) the bike. With your right hand you simply work the dérailleur pulleys back while leveraging the center part back… This gives you the room to pull the wheel off with ease. Put it back on the same way. If you simply turn the bike upside down, you… Uh, do the same thing only upside down. 😉
As for the rest, get the Bike Repair app. It’s worth every penny.
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Thanks for the advice – I don’t have a stand so turn it upside down :). I don’t know if its something with my technique but I seem to get a lot of punctures in my back wheel. I will also look into the bike repair app – thanks!
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Do you track where you get the punctures? Are they in the tread or on the inside of the tube? Do they occur in the same place on the wheel or random places? How you answer these will lead you (through me) to the answer.
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Ok, my last puncture was slow one. So
I pump it up and a couple of days later it will be flat or nearly there. When I attempt to trace it, it is very difficult to find. I have replaced this since, but have had a similar problem Any insight would be great!
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