Fixing a Flat

[mjeds]

That & the price of fat tires is why I chose not to go fat. They are more comfortable, but there can be
handling issues as well.

personal preference. I prefer the fat tires for my commute, 35 years of motorcycle riding and I feel more secure in traffic on a fat bike when doing 30+ mph.

on my weekend rides which are 99% on bike paths and trails, the bike I use has 700c x 38c

 

[PedalUma]

@Mr. Coffee is correct about pinching the tire all the way around and pinching the side opposite of the lever. I just removed dried tubeless and installed Big Apples yesterday on one bike and then did a Tannis on a fat bike with a new tire. Rims are narrow in the center so that is where you will get your slack, with a pinch.
With Tannis 'You can't get a flat where the sun don't shine.' That is how the product got its name.

 

[steve mercier]

After over 400 miles on my new Ride1Up 700, I had a rear tire flat today. No big deal, I thought. I was wrong. Luckily, I was yards from work, so I took the bike into my air conditioned work area. The bike has 27.5" x 2.4" Schwalbe puncture resistant tires. Breaking the bead from the wheel was only moderately difficult, but getting the bead over the edge of the wheel was damned near impossible. It took me a good half hour to get enough of the tire over the edge of the rim so I could get to the tube. I found the hole, patched it, and then spent another half hour getting that one side of the tire back onto the wheel - it took a lot of force, and my hands still hurt. Yes, I have several of those standard plastic tools everyone uses for this job, and I've done this dozens of times with racing bike tires. I could not believe how difficult this was - and I'm 6' 1", 190 pounds, and reasonably fit and strong! I cannot imagine doing this in 90° heat on the side of the road. Thank goodness I had a fan on me, and an air compressor handy.

Am I doing something wrong???

One simple thing I found that helped a great deal when trying to get a tire on my son-in-laws Giant Explore was a dash of dish soap in a bucket of water and then splash it all around the area of the tire where it will be contacting the rim. It turned the thing from an impossible ordeal (with my hand strength ) into a minor struggle.

 

[PedalUma]

I do not like sealing moisture inside the rim so I use baby powder as a dry lube. The tube goes in half-way inflated so it does not develop a kink which will lead to a pinch flat and I kneed it all the way around after a couple of pumps to make sure it is not twisted and is even as the bead sets.
Tires can be trued just like rims. Just use oil crayons to mark the high spots left, right and top, then even them out. And try it again with a different color to see your progress. On larger tires this makes a noticeable difference getting the wobble out.

 

[steve mercier]

I do not like sealing moisture inside the rim so I use baby powder as a dry lube. The tube goes in half-way inflated so it does not develop a kink which will lead to a pinch flat and I kneed it all the way around after a couple of pumps to make sure it is not twisted and is even as the bead sets.
Tires can be trued just like rims. Just use oil crayons to mark the high spots left, right and top, then even them out. And try it again with a different color to see your progress. On larger tires this makes a noticeable difference getting the wobble out.

I think you mean knead ,as opposed to using your knees.

 

[PedalUma]

Knead as opposed to double jointed knees. Like, Baby I kneed you cuz I knead all your dough.