How do you repair a puncture at the roadside?

A puncture is the cyclist's rite of passage. It always happens on the far side of the hill, usually when you are wearing the nicest shorts, and once you can fix one calmly, a whole map opens up. The trick is to have done it once at home, with a coffee and no audience.

What to carry

• A spare inner tube in the right size and valve type for your wheels.
• Two tyre levers. Plastic ones are kind to rims.
• A mini pump or gas inflator that fits your valve.
• A small patch kit, for the second puncture of the day.
• A multi-tool if your wheels are not quick-release.
• A pair of thin gloves or a wet wipe, because chains are oily.

Step by step

Get safe first

Move well off the road to somewhere flat and visible. If you are riding with a group, call out so nobody rides into you. There is no prize for speed.

Take the wheel out

For a rear wheel, shift to the smallest sprocket first; it makes the wheel easier to remove and refit. Open the brake if your bike has rim brakes, undo the quick-release or axle, and lift the bike out of the wheel.

Remove the tube

Let any remaining air out. Push the tyre bead into the middle of the rim all the way round, which gives you slack. Slip a lever under the bead opposite the valve, clip its tail to a spoke, then use the second lever a hand's width along and slide it round. Only one side of the tyre needs to come off. Pull out the tube, valve last.

Find the cause

This is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most. Road.cc's guide to repairing a punctured tube recommends checking the outside of the tyre for the object first, then feeling carefully inside the casing, and pushing anything you find back out from the inside rather than pulling it through.

Tips:

• Pump a little air into the old tube and listen or feel for the leak. The position of the hole relative to the valve tells you roughly where to look in the tyre.
• Run your fingers slowly round the inside of the tyre. Go gently: glass and thorns are sharp.
• Two small holes side by side, like a snake bite, usually mean the tube was pinched against the rim, often from a kerb or hole in the road, or from low pressure.
• Check the rim tape covers every spoke hole.

Fit the new tube

Put a little air in the new tube so it holds its shape. Push the valve through the rim hole, tuck the tube into the tyre all the way round, then work the bead back onto the rim with your thumbs, finishing at the valve. Avoid levers here if you can; they pinch new tubes.

Before inflating fully, go round the tyre and check the tube is not caught under the bead anywhere. Pump up, refit the wheel, close the brake and spin the wheel to check it runs true.

Patch or spare?

At the roadside, a spare tube is quicker. Patching takes longer and the glue needs time. The road.cc guide describes the patching steps for a glued patch: mark the hole, lightly roughen the area, spread the vulcanising solution a little wider than the patch, let it cure as your kit's instructions say, then press the patch on firmly. Self-adhesive patches are quicker but many riders treat them as a get-you-home fix.

Our approach: spare tube by the road, patch at home, and the patched tube becomes tomorrow's spare.

Practise at home

Take a wheel out, remove the tube and put it back, twice, in your kitchen. Time yourself if you like. Then you will know whether your levers work, whether your pump fits the valve and how stubborn your tyres are, all things best discovered somewhere with a sofa. Our page on bike maintenance you can do yourself has more jobs worth learning the same way.