MarMek

Hey, I've got this snazzy Boardwalk S1 I just got not too long ago, but I've recently careened into a rose bush. The bike's fine, and I'm okay.. but I've now got a flat tire. I'm wondering whether or not I should just replace the tire on my own, or go to a bike shop. My theory is that I can replace it on my own with a four buck tire, or bring it in to a store and spend fifteen. It really can't be that hard, right? I'm a newcomer to all of this, and have been using the bike to get to local markets and whatnot, so I have never changed a tire on a bike before. Any thoughts on this? or can anyone please tell me how to do this?

If it helps any, its the front tire that's flat; and that as far as I know, I just need to unscrew the tire from the bike, get the old tire off and slightly inflated new tire on, get the whole thing screwed back in, and then inflate to required amount. But I pretty much don't know the details in between those steps.

vik 

I'd take the time to learn how to fix a flat. If you have a patch kit or care to buy one you can simply fix the tube and not have to replace anything at all. Plus it will be a useful skill to know when a bike shop is not close at hand and you need to get rolling again.

If you are unsure how to fix the flat just do a Google search there are loads of easy to follow instructions online.

Scott.Whitaker 

This guy has a how-to video. Check out his other videos, too.

https://bicycletutor.com/fix-flat-tire/

MarMek

The issue I'm having is that I can't seem to figure out how to remove my front wheel in the first place. I can understand everything else about getting the tube replaced, but I just can't get the wheel off. As far as I know, I'm just supposed to unscrew the nut that's holding it there using a wrench. But that doesn't seem to work. I keep seeing things about quick release wheels, but I can't find anything on getting a non-quick release wheel off.

Lalato

Unscrew both sides. Then the wheel should just pull right off. Give it a good tug, if it feels tight even after you've loosened things up.

--sam

vik 

Worst case pay a LBS to show you how the first time.

jur

And don't forget to unhook the brake noodle. Just this weekend I saw a girl struggling to get a front wheel off a bike she just bought; went over to help and found the brake noodle still connected. I think there would be images at sheldonbrown and park tools but don't have the time to look now.

veggie_lover

You need a #15 wrench to take the two nuts off that holds the tire. It can take quite a bit of force to get them loose, particularly if you have a short wrench. I use a hammer to hit the wrench head to get it loose.

MarMek

Thanks everyone! I figured out what I was doing wrong. Those two nuts that hold the tire on were stuck there insanely tight. I was afraid that needing to use a lot of extra force would break something, but after decided to bite the bullet, a lot of extra force was what it needed. Had to put a pipe onto the end of the wrench for more leverage.

Sammyboy

They're holding the wheel on. To be clear, a wheel is made up of rim (the metal ring round the outside) spokes (which connect the rim to the hub), and the the hub (the bit in the middle). The tire is just the rubber casing on the outside. Inside that, you'll find an "inner tube", which is what actually contains the air. When you get a flat tire, unless there's significant damage to the external casing of the tire, all you usually need to do is repair or replace the tube. I'm giving you these terms not to be a pain in the arse, but because using the correct terminology will help you get assistance quicker.

rhm

Just to thoroughly complicate matters, you don't actually need to take the wheel off the bike to fix a hole in the tube.