Replacing a buggy tyre - how easy is it? DH away, buggy has puncture :(

[blondieminx]

We have an icandy apple and after 17 months of excellent, trouble free service its got a pucnture. DH is away atm. I can see you can get replacement tyres/inner tubes from cycle shops etc but does anyone have any experiene of changing a tyre like this, I've never done this before and don't want to cock it up! Grateful for any tips/guidance MNers can offer, thanks :)

phone your local cycle shop check they stock the inner tube and then i would take it to the cycle shop and get that very nice man that works there to do it for me :o

It's quite straightforward to do but can be physically hard to lever off the tyre sometimes. Cycle shop would probably do it for you. I suggest you invest in some slime too. It goes inside the tyres and seals any small punctures as they happen, you just need to pump up the tyre.

I agree with pramsgalore. It's not difficult to mend a puncture but if you haven't done it before you probably don't have tyre levers and a repair kit, and it can as mumble says be tricky to get the tyre off the wheel, especially with small wheels. It's easier to just pay the bike shop to do it for you.

thanks for the quick answers ladies, i utterly love mumsnet :)

Look on YouTube, you can use teaspoon handles as tyre levers. You need strong hands, determination and patience. Once. youve done it yourself you'll not have to ask anyone to help you again.
I have done it sat on kerbside in rain with baby and toddler in buggy! You live and learn. At any rate you live...

I also get the nice men in the bike shop to do it for me.

I would go to the bike shop, bat the baby blues, and the lovely man there will do it for you

Get the person in the bike shop to do it and then get someone to teach you. Mending a tyre and replacing a tyre are really simple jobs and very satisfying to do. You'll need to know how to do it for when DCs get punctures in their bikes.

Get the guy in the bike shop to slime the tyres for you, then you won't get a puncture

Well i went to the bike shop on Sunday, the nice man did it for me and i watched while he sorted it out (well, the best i could with a toddler in tow). and as I managed to sell two other customers waiting at the counter bottles of slime as well, he said he wouldn't charge me for fitting! Hurrah! :) Thanks again for all your advice!

I heard that slime won't work with the lowvair pressures used on pram tyres... kevlar tape is quite good, or thorn resistant inner tubes.

Out 'n' About recommend Slime for their products including Phil&Teds and Mountain Buggy.

It does work, saying that I now have puncture resistant tyres and inner tubes with slime as well. Not cheap but I walk miles and I really hate punctures.

its quite easy to do really and its not a bad thing to be able to do.

I keep a spare tube in the buggy bag (loads of thorny hedges round here and punctures are quite common)

There is a guide with pictures here.

www.pushchairinnertube.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=56

It's happened twice for me - once with my Apple Jogge,r and once with my P&T E3, I have had one fixed in the cycle shop and one in the pram shop - a nice man did it for me both times! I have now got a product similar to slime in the wheels - the new inmners weren't cheap!