DogBoy

I recently purchased a Breezer 8. I love the thing, but if I ever get a rear flat I think I'm SOL.

I have never had an IGH before, so I figured I needed to do it as practice before needing to do it on the road, plus, I wanted to put some winter tires on it, so I hauled my bike, the stand and everything into our dining room (no table for now) to change it out.

The front tire went fine. Unplug the wire from the dyno, unscrew bolts, remove tire. Almost as easy as a quick release, so time for fixing would be about the same.

Then we got to the rear wheel...First, you have to remove the chain-case. This is NOT an easy process. There are some main screws, and then minor screws that hold the front and back parts together. After this is done, the job gets pretty easy...shift the thing into first gear, pull the shift cable out of the stop, and then work the wire out of the slots, and the nutpretty much just comes out easy.

Putting the tire back on was a bit of a challenge too. I kept having issues about the degree to which the wheel was straight. I kept sighting the chain to see that it was happy, and then I clamped it down. Re-attaching the shift cable was easy, but then it was back to the blasted chain case. Ug. That thing took me a good 15 minutes to figure out.

So while it provides excellent protection for the chain against road grime, salt and other gunk, it sure does complicate the whole tire changing process. I've decided that if I actually get a flat on the road, I'm just going to call my wife and have her come get me and the bike with the van.

Scheherezade 

Sounds like a good case for some heavy duty flat-resistant tires.

Sixty Fiver

After some practice this is not as hard a job as one would think... running a good flat resistant tyre is a good idea for any bike and especially so when tyre removal is such a pita.

Ken Wind

In addition to running a good tire, you should also check pressure regularly.

Lurch

Many times it is possible to patch a tube without removing the wheel. If you can locate the leak, lay the bike on its side and pry one bead off the rim enough to remove the leaking portion of the tube. I've done this many times with good results. It is especially useful for internally geared hubs and/or when a wrench is needed to remove the wheel.

stomppow

drill a second valve hole in your rim, insert 2 tubes, only pump up the tube on the outside, keep the inside tube unpumped. If you ever get a flat, pump up the 2nd tube, ride home, then fix things up.

mparker326

+1

I usually unhook one side of the tire. I pull out the tube & fill with enough air so I can find the leak. I then patch.

treebound 

Have you actually done this?

DogBoy

I guess I need to learn to patch then. I've always just slapped in a new tube (after checking to be sure the thing that punctured the last one is out of the tire).

Any recommendations for a good patch kit?

mparker326

I just use the little green box kit that the LBS sells for ~$2. Follow the directions in the box and you will be good to go.

Allen

I haven't taken my NuVinci out of the dropouts in about a year. The tube has about 8 patches in it.

huhenio

After running without incident over HUNDREDS (as an experiment) of goatheads, I dont carry a spare anymore.

400 miles later, still no flats.

Takabrash

+1000

This sounds like it might be THE best idea ever. A true innovation in biking.

huhenio

Show me your setup.

Pics man ... pics.

rnorris

This works only if the sharp thing that caused the flat can be removed from the outside... otherwise you still have to pull part or more of the tire off the rim to remove the item. Hopefully it wouldn't dig right into the second tube once the first one flatted. I like the idea, though.

wahoonc

Been there done that...many a time, when I didn't have a wrench along, or the source of the flat was obvious.

Aaron

southpawboston

doesn't the new breezer 8 come with schwalbe puncture-resistant tires? or is that just on the uptown 8?

Yan 

How do you get the valve stem of the outer tube through the inner tube?

wahoonc

Might add...spend your money on GOOD quality tubes and puncture resistant tires! Hard to go wrong with Schwalbe tubes and the Kevlar belted tires.

Aaron

K6-III

Another vote for an indestructible tire, especially on the rear. Schwalbe, Continental, and Panaracer all make excellent durable city tires.

dclaryjr

Yup, that's why I paid for an upgrade to Marathon Plus tires on my soon to arrive Jamis Commuter 3.0! I want to reduce the possibility of having to do roadside fixes on my way to work as much as possible.

inkblot

Indestructible would be good, but I don't think it exists. My Azor (IGH, with brakes and generator built in) came with Schwalbe Marathon Pluses, and eight weeks in I had a flat. Seventy pounds of bike (truly!) plus me over Buffalo potholes made for a pinch flat. I was really lucky to have made it back home before the tire absolutely gave out, because I don't know how I would have managed otherwise. Now that they've had some practice, it takes my LBS an hour and a half to change a wheel for me, and they tell me not even to try it myself. It's a problem I hadn't anticipated when I bought the bike.

I've been investigating racks for the car, but the sheer weight of this thing makes the idea of carrying it kind of unlikely. It really needs its own towtruck.

DogBoy

Yes, it came with those, but I want to ride over snow and ice, so I put some Nokian M&Gs on it. Also pretty decent in the flat resistance arena, but I know flats can and do happen, which is why I'm carrying my cell phone so I don't have to do a 3 mile walk with the bike.

hrtmnstrfr

Agree! Lord help me if I had to remove my bakfiets rear wheel every time I got a flat.