Things You'll Need:
- Bike tire pump
- Tire levers
- Replacement tube
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Step 1
Remove your bike wheel and tire. See the related eHow articles, "How to Remove a Bicycle Wheel" and "How to Change a Flat Tire on a Bike." Pull the tire off one side of the rim with tire levers.
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Step 2
Hook your pump up to the flat tube and put some air in it. Listen and feel for the leak in the tube. Once you find the puncture, look at it closely.
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Step 3
Check for two holes in the tube next to each other, resembling snakebite punctures. If you find holes like this, it likely means that you hit something hard enough to bottom the bike tire out on the rim, giving you a flat. It could have been caused by an under-inflated tube or poor riding technique.
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Step 4
Find a single hole and a tear, and it means that you likely punctured the tire on something like a nail, glass or a thorn. Carefully run your finger along the tire in the vicinity of the puncture to see if the object is still there, which is very common. Remove it if you find it.
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Step 5
Locate a hole where the valve is attached, and it means that you probably tightened the valve lock ring down too hard. This type of flat bike tire usually appears as though the stem is being pulled out of the actual tube. Prevent this from happening again by leaving the valve lock ring very loose until the tube is fully inflated and applying it gently, or by eliminating it entirely.
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Step 6
Run your fingers along the entire rim no matter what kind of hole you find in the tube. Check for burrs and sharp edges that could also have caused your flat bike tire. If you find one, gently file it down until it's smooth.
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Step 7
Replace your tire and your tube if you had a sudden or catastrophic blowout. Look for flat spots on the tire, threads showing or a bulge in the sidewall. Any of these symptoms mean that the bike tire's integrity is seriously compromised, and you must replace it.
