VIDEO. Puncture, brakes, chain: how to easily perform these three repairs yourself on a bicycle

BIKLU, EPISODE 34. Many cyclists have had this experience. The traditional flat tire, inevitable with regular cycling, always happens… at the wrong time!

“Even if it’s not dramatic, it’s annoying and I feel like it always happens to me at 11 o’clock at night,” says retired Marianne, smiling on the bike paths. “I’m not a handyman,” says another on the bike path leading to Place Clichy.

That’s why we wanted to show you how to fix three of the most common problems: flat tires, loose brakes, and damaged chains. All thanks to the volunteers of the self-repair workshop La Cyclofficine in Ivry (94)

Find all the episodes of Biclou, Parisien’s cycling video series.

Applying a patch to a punctured camera

First step: remove the wheel. “It couldn’t be easier, just loosen the bolts with an adjustable wrench,” explains Christel, the mechanic in charge of the Cyclofficine workshop.

Then listen. To identify the hole, you need to inflate the chamber and listen carefully to where the air is leaking from. “Then you just need to put a patch on the hole and reinstall the tire,” explains Christel.

“By doing this you will save a few euros instead of buying a camera, but above all you are fighting the waste of these polluting products,” concludes our chief mechanic.

Christelle’s advice : Buy a repair kit (€4.30) to put in your bag.

Tighten the brakes

If, like ours, your brakes make noise when you try to apply them, it means they may not be adjusted correctly. “You don’t have to brake all the way for them to work,” Christelle explains to us.

Solution ? Tighten the cable approximately 1 cm at the landing.

Christelle’s advice : Look into this repair if you use an e-bike, “because higher speeds cause the brakes to wear out faster.”

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The last step in our DIY tutorial is the chain. Ours breaks down too often due to lack of maintenance. “First, you need to check if it fits correctly using a circuit tester.” The tip of the tester must not be able to enter the link, otherwise it must be tightened.

Christel then advises us to lubricate the chain and sprockets with classic household oil.

Christel’s advice (for professionals) : “If you have an old, unusable bicycle chain, you can use it to make a DIY saddle lock.” To do this, you will need a chain tool that will allow you to shorten it by removing a few links.

Self-service tools in Paris

And finally, one last piece of advice. Please note that bicycle pumps and self-service tools are available almost everywhere in the capital. The Paris en Selle association lists all these places, as well as various DIY shops in Ile-de-France, on an interactive map on its website.

Every Sunday, a new episode of Biklou can be found on the Parisienne page on Facebook.