One of the most common bike maintenance questions for beginners is removing the wheels to replace or repair the tube after a puncture. The best advice that can be given is to contact a specialized service center, where experienced specialists will carry out the work quickly and efficiently. But, unfortunately, more often than not, such problems arise outside the city, during trips through the forest or to the river, and here you already have to manage on your own.
In general, removing wheels from a bicycle is one of the simplest operations for servicing an iron friend. Having mastered it, a person gets a base for performing other more complex bicycle repair work.
Step one: preparing the bike for removing the wheels
First you need to turn the bike upside down. It is important to remember that if the bicycle is equipped with a hydraulic brake system, it is worth doing the work as quickly as possible so that air does not get into the hydraulic line and you do not have to bleed the brake system. If a V-Brake system (brake pads) is installed on the bike, then in no case should you cash in on the brake lever, since the pads will come together and the wheel will be very difficult to remove, and in some cases it is impossible in all, and you will have to disassemble more and the brake system of a bicycle, which is much more difficult than dismantling the wheels.
Step two: remove the wheels from the bike
At this stage, the wheels are directly dismantled. This procedure is slightly different for different braking systems. So, if rim brakes are installed on the bike, then you need to open the brake pads with both hands and remove the arc. If the brakes are disc, then no preliminary action is necessary.
Next, you need to pay attention to how the wheels are fixed: nuts or a small lever, which in professional language is called an eccentric. If the fastening system is based on nuts, then you should select two wrenches of a suitable radius and hook the nuts with them on both sides. Further, it is necessary to hold one nut stationary, and the second to rotate counterclockwise until the fastener looses so much that it will be possible to remove the wheel.
If the wheel is fixed with an eccentric, then you need to start pulling it towards you, and slowly unscrew it, holding the wheel with your other hand, preventing it from rotating. After the lever is unscrewed, you can remove the wheel. To do this, simply pull the wheel up. It should be removed very easily, if not, then it is necessary to check whether the above steps were performed correctly.
Another important point worth mentioning is the feature of dismantling the rear wheel. On some bike models, the design involves removing the chain from the axle. It is determined simply - if, when dismantling the wheel, it clings to the chain, then you do not need to pull it by force or try to outwit the structure, just dismantle the chain and calmly remove the wheel.
