More Mock Practice For Puncture

Today I took out the front wheel once again. In the comfort of the drawing room. Basically to do some more practice and also to check how the tube was doing inside. Whether or not it had developed some crease, what with its larger circumference and all. 

First of all - I did it in a breeze. Possibly in five minutes, if you take the actual time spent on doing the real job. I saved a whole lot of time while taking the tyre off and also while putting it back on. I purposely took the entire tyre out as opposed to keeping one half of it over the rim. 

To my pleasant surprise I found this time the tube was sitting more snug around the rim !!! I kept the tube slightly inflated and inserted it inside the tyre when I put it back on. Inside the tyre it fitted absolutely snug and didn't seem oversize at all. As I went along placing the tyre into the groove of the rim, I had to deflate a bit. I have quite got the hang of it now. If I was working in a bicycle store I would be an expert at this in about a couple of days with 2 repairs a day. 

I discovered another major thing and this is a real learning. Last time on the road I could barely put enough air into the tube with the tiny pump. I guess a little over 20 psi. In fact I could have got another puncture on the way due to such low pressure. First I thought it was possibly because of the unbranded pump that I used. But even my Park Tool pump at home wasn't of much help. I could barely add anything extra into the tube with it.

Today I managed to pump the tube up to 50 psi pressure with the hand pump!!! Ask me how. 

Simple. When using the floor standing pump I keep the valve on the floor and pump in. I did the same on the road as well and I was sitting on the footpath while pumping. You cannot really stand up and pump when the valve is at 6 o' clock position. This time, with the hand pump, I kept the valve at 12 o' clock position (you have to rest it against something) and pumped in while standing. This gives one a lot more leverage and one can use the full force of his deltoid. If I had a little more strength in my hand, as it was before my wrist fracture, I could possibly have managed 80 psi. Although the front tube does not need more than 60 psi, the rear tube would need some more.