My first puncture

[Dogtrousers]

5. While the wheel's out, fit something like a Marathon and a good Woods valve tube (I'm using Impac lately) so you don't have to repeat this so often.

Just out of interest, why a Woods valve?

My sister had a bike with Woods valves in the 70s, but beyond that I've not come across them much. IIRC a presta pump would screw on, but I've just looked at a picture and I can't imagine a push-on pump would work with it. So if you were in distress and someone offered to help with a push on pump you'd be un-helped.

Oh, and @Goggs ... Hello

 

[Goggs]

Needless to say, it's not going well. The puncture is fixed but I can't get it all back together again.

 

[jefmcg]

Needless to say, it's not going well. The puncture is fixed but I can't get it all back together again.

 

[Goggs]

Bingo!

Taking the wheel out was easy, as was fixing the puncture - I had a spare tube so fitted that, the punctured tube is now also fixed - but where it went wrong was re-assembly. The mistake I was making was in trying to fit the lock-ring with the gear cable still in situ. Once I unhooked it from the chainstay end that provided enough slack to fit the lock-ring and put it all back together.

All the while I was doing it wrong I was wondering how on earth it could be done at the roadside, probably in the rain (as is so often the case), but now that I know how to do it correctly it's just as easy as it would be on a derailleur set-up.

I'm actually chuffed to bits. It's nice to learn a new skill. Here's a couple of photos of the offending nail..

Looks pretty big eh?

Wow! I'm thinking the reason it stayed straight is down to my balloon tyres. There's only one hole in the tube. It must have happened very close to home because I parked the bike up yesterday evening and as far as I was concerned all was well.

Here's what the Nexus hub looks like on my bike up close..

Lock-ring, lock nut & axle nut..

In theatre..

Once again, thanks to all who helped out. And also to Sheldon Brown for describing the lock-ring in detail.

 

[fossyant]

Oh, I do hope there isn't a "Mrs" and you are fixing a bike on a light coloured rug. You are lucky to get away with your life.

Best you learn at home, in the warmth, than on a cold, dark, wet night. It does happen, especially if you are in a rush. I once had three punctures on such a night, glass through the tyres on three occasions, raining, pitch black, and had to be home to go out on a dinner dance. PANIC.

 

[Goggs]

I know, a cream rug is madness. Not my choice though as you could probably guess. At least it's easy to find dropped parts on. And yes, that's why I wanted to do it myself rather than hand it to my LBS. And it's pretty straightforward too. I could do it at the roadside but not three times. I'd probably throw it in a hedge if that was to happen.

 

[MichaelW2]

I have Alfine and the difficulties of wheel removal are over-stated.
You don't need to adjust chain tension or add a spring tensioner. The chain tension will be the same before and after wheel removal.
The only trick you need to learn is how to remove the cable bolt from its anchor point in the cassette arm. You can move the cassette arm* to relieve tension and rotate the bolt a little and it will pop out. DO NOT adjust the bolt on the cable, it is set very precisely. Look closely at the bolt and you will see that is has some flat shapes which engage with the cassete arm at the correct rotation Practice removing the cable a couple of times and you will get the hang of it.

When working "in the field", put some newspaper on "the grass" to keep it from getting oily. Even better, keep all the bits in one or two pots. If you have lots of bits that all go over the same bolt, ie all have a hole, put some string, ziptie or wire tie to keep them in order.

*Cassette arms have a small hole into which you can inserts a nail or some wire to help rotate the arm.

 

[Goggs]

I saw that on a YouTube video mate. What I did though was just to pop the wheel out - easily done with vertical drop-outs - and then pull back the outer cable housing from the last 'stop' on the chainstay. I didn't set out to do that this time but next time that's by far the simplest thing to do. I doubt it would be so easy with horizontal or rear-facing drop-outs though.

 

[Goggs]

That nail is 1.5" long btw. It only caused one hole in the tube though & I guess that's because I have such high profile tyres. Any smaller and the nail would almost certainly have bent back on itself and created multiple punctures.

 

[raleighnut]

Bingo!

Taking the wheel out was easy, as was fixing the puncture - I had a spare tube so fitted that, the punctured tube is now also fixed - but where it went wrong was re-assembly. The mistake I was making was in trying to fit the lock-ring with the gear cable still in situ. Once I unhooked it from the chainstay end that provided enough slack to fit the lock-ring and put it all back together.

All the while I was doing it wrong I was wondering how on earth it could be done at the roadside, probably in the rain (as is so often the case), but now that I know how to do it correctly it's just as easy as it would be on a derailleur set-up.

I'm actually chuffed to bits. It's nice to learn a new skill. Here's a couple of photos of the offending nail..

Looks pretty big eh?

Wow! I'm thinking the reason it stayed straight is down to my balloon tyres. There's only one hole in the tube. It must have happened very close to home because I parked the bike up yesterday evening and as far as I was concerned all was well.

Here's what the Nexus hub looks like on my bike up close..

Lock-ring, lock nut & axle nut..

In theatre..

Once again, thanks to all who helped out. And also to Sheldon Brown for describing the lock-ring in detail.

You don't need to remove the lockring and all the shifter mech, the nut on the gear cable will just pop out of its recess and push back in

 

[Goggs]

You don't need to remove the lockring and all the shifter mech, the nut on the gear cable will just pop out of its recess and push back in

Are you sure? I thought that might be the case too but I couldn't see how. Curiously, my hub assembly doesn't look like anything I could find on YouTube, although the Sheldon Brown article did show the same as I have.

 

[raleighnut]

Are you sure? I thought that might be the case too but I couldn't see how. Curiously, my hub assembly doesn't look like anything I could find on YouTube, although the Sheldon Brown article did show the same as I have.

Yep, similar gear selector on Maz's Dawes Geneva with a Nexus 7

EDIT Do not unscrew the nut though, it just 'pops' out of it's notch.

 

[MichaelW2]

Are you sure? I thought that might be the case too but I couldn't see how. Curiously, my hub assembly doesn't look like anything I could find on YouTube, although the Sheldon Brown article did show the same as I have.

You don't need to remove the cassette arm to remove the wheel. Just pop the cable nut out of it's anchor.
The only time you need to remove the cassette arm is to replace the sprocket or to oil dip the internals..

 

[Goggs]

Yep, similar gear selector on Maz's Dawes Geneva with a Nexus 7

EDIT Do not unscrew the nut though, it just 'pops' out of it's notch.

OK, no worries, I'll bear that in mind for next time. I'm thinking I might adjust the cable though as my adjuster at the twistgrip is near the end of it's travel. The cable (nor anything else) hasn't been adjusted since the bike was bought new so I'm guessing it will have stretched a wee bit. I might save that for the LBS though because I have another, bigger problem. Since fitting wider, more swept back bars my brake hoses are just a tad too short. It's OK in normal cycling but when maneouvering the bike by hand it fouls the head tube when turning right. Since they're hydraulics I might just leave that job to a professional as I wouldn't have a clue where to start. Maybe..

 

[Goggs]

You don't need to remove the cassette arm to remove the wheel. Just pop the cable nut out of it's anchor.
The only time you need to remove the cassette arm is to replace the sprocket or to oil dip the internals..

Thanks for the info. I'll bear that in mind also.