A puncture is the most common biking incident, and probably also the most annoying. On this advice page, we explain both how to repair a punctured tyre simply and quickly in five steps, but also what to do to get punctures less often.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 15 mins.

Tools needed to repair a punctured tyre:
- Tyre lever
- Patches
- Special glue
- Sandpaper (or scraper)
- Pencil, pen or marker
- A basin full of water
- Pump
See our bike puncture repair kits

Vocabulary:
Patch: A patch is a small rubber disc which you stick on to the inner tube to plug the hole(s) through which air is escaping.

Rim: The rim of the wheel is the outer ring of the wheel, on to which you fit the inner tube and the tyre.

1) Take the inner tube out of the tyre
To repair a puncture, there is no need to completely remove the wheel from the bike (unless you want to change the inner tube completely). Turn your bike upside down or lay it on its side so that the wheel is not resting on the ground. Then, ensure that the tyre is sufficiently deflated for you to remove the tyre (by pressing on the top of the inner tube valve).

Use your tyre levers, sliding them between the rim of the wheel and the tyre, so that you can lever the inner tube out from the rim. When one of the sides of the tyre is outside the rim, you can pull carefully on the inner tube to remove it.

2) Identify the puncture site
The second step involves identifying the puncture site. Make sure you don't stop with the first little hole you find: a tyre is often punctured in several places. An easy and effective way of finding the hole(s) is to use a basin of water.

Pump up the inner tube when you have taken it out of the tyre and immerse the inner tube, little by little, in the water. If you see bubbles escaping, you have located a hole. Once you have found the hole(s), mark them with a pencil or pen (a little dot or cross) and go to the next step.

3) Before sticking the patch
So you've found the hole, now we can stick the patch over it. If you have used water to locate the hole, dry the inner tube with a cloth so that it is dry in the place where you are going to stick the patch.

Using your sandpaper (or little scraper) lightly sand the inner tube around the hole. Also sand inside the tyre around the puncture. It may be that a thorn or a little piece of thorn is still stuck in the tyre and might re-puncture the tyre straight away.

4) Apply the patch to seal the puncture
Take the glue and put a little bit on the patch (black side) and where you have marked the inner tube.

Wait for a few minutes before sticking the patch over the hole, making sure that the glue covers the whole surface (and goes over the edge slightly on each side). Press the patch on to the inner tube for 4 to 5 minutes.

5) Put the inner tube back into the tyre
Once the patch is firmly in place and the inside of the tyre is sanded, pump the inner tube halfway up before putting it back inside the tyre.

Lastly, use your tyre levers as before to put the tyre back on the wheel, being very careful not to pierce the inner tube.

Once the inner tube and tyre are back in place, you can finish inflating your tyre. It is now repaired!

How can I make sure, or nearly sure, that my tyre doesn't puncture?

A tyre can puncture for many reasons, and there are also many solutions:

If you have had two identical holes close to each other in your inner tube, or if it has ripped somewhere: your tyre was not inflated enough. The inner tube, under pressure, has folded or snagged against the wheel rim. Pump up your tyres further, or check that your inner tube is the right size (there are various widths).

If you have a single hole in the tyre caused by a thorn, a small stone, etc., this type of puncture can happen at any time. To combat this, first pay attention to the condition of your tyres. Are they worn, smooth? In these cases it is best to just change the tyre(s).

For fewer punctures, other than paying attention to tyre pressure, the other option is to fit "Tubeless" tyres to your bike. These tyres are usually used for MTBs. For more information, see our advice page "should I go for inner tube or Tubeless? ".

I'd prefer to completely change the inner tube, what do I do?
If you want to replace the inner tube, you need to remove the front or rear wheel of the bike. Then take off the tyre using tyre levers so that you can remove and replace the inner tube. If you have any problems removing the rear wheel, see our advice page: "how to take off or put on a back wheel".