How to Install a Rear Tire on a Bicycle

Once an old tire is removed from a bicycle wheel, the next task is to install the new tire. Installation of front and rear bicycle tires onto a rim is identical. However, installing the rear wheel on the actual bicycle includes a few extra steps not encountered when installing a front wheel. This is due chiefly to the bicycle's chain, which must engage the cogs at the side of the rear wheel for the drive train to operate properly. The installed wheel is held in place with a device known as a quick-release skewer.

Things You'll Need

  • Bicycle tire inner tube
  • Bicycle pump
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Instructions

  1. Rear Tire Installation

    • 1

      Lay the rear wheel on the ground cog-side up. Lay the tire on the ground beside the wheel label-side up.

    • 2

      Blow air into the inner tube valve, giving the flaccid tube some shape.

    • 3

      Place the inner tube inside the tire. Position the inner tube so the stem is adjacent to the inflation specifications on the tire. Push any protruding sections of the inner tube into the tire.

    • 4

      Lift the tire carefully so the inner tube remains in place. Position the tire close to the wheel so that the valve is directly above the valve hole in the top of the wheel's rim.

    • 5

      Lower the valve through the valve hole in the rim.

    • 6

      Lift the wheel onto the wheel rim. Beginning near the valve, use your thumbs to gradually push the tire bead -- the lower section of the tire -- up and over the top of the rim. Rotate the wheel as needed.

    • 7

      Inspect the sides of the tire to determine that all sections of the inner tube have remained inside the tire. Push any protruding section of inner tube back beneath the tire.

    • 8

      Use an upright pump or other bicycle pump to inflate the tire. Use the inflation specs on the tire above the valve to determine how much air the tire requires.

    Rear Wheel Installation

    • 9

      Shift the bicycle's rear gear shifter into the largest gear, giving the chain extra slack. Extra slack allows the chain to fit comfortably around the sprockets on the wheel.

    • 10

      Lift the back end of the bicycle. Turn the wheel so that its sprockets are on the same side of the bicycle as the chain.

    • 11

      Fit the wheel through the back end of the bicycle frame. Check that the chain is positioned around the sprockets on the side of the wheel.

    • 12

      Pull the wheel up so that the each end of the axle engages the dropouts on the bicycle frame. The dropouts are located at the very rear of the frame where the tubes coming down from near the seat post meet the tubes extending back from the area of the pedal cranks. The dropouts are designed to accept the ends of the axle.

    • 13

      Screw the nut on the cog-side of the wheel in toward the wheel. The nut is located at the tip of the axle. Opposite the nut, on the other side of the wheel, is a lever. Push the lever to the "close" position. If the lever fails to close, loosen the nut, and attempt closing the lever again.