Adam Kuban: Kublog

Ugh. Second flat in two weeks. This time on the dreaded rear wheel. While researching this bike purchase, I read something about the tires being tricky to change because of the Shimano Nexus 7-speed internal-gear hub. Luckily, there’s a trick, which I found courtesy of a Bicycle Times article on the Breezer website [pdf]:

I did encounter the reality of a rear flat while testing this bike. Although the Nexus internal hub is a great design choice, it does require learning a trick or two to reinstall the gear selector cable in the hub while re-mounting the wheel. The owner’s manual recommends experimenting with this in your garage before hitting the road. Good advice, as trying to do this operation in a downpour or in the dark would be problematic without a trial run. A handy bike shop trick that Eric showed me for removing and reinstalling the cable: use a 2mm hex wrench to snag the gear change mechanism and maneuver it into place.

Now it’s off to the bike store to pick up a flat-repair kit. And, if you’re wondering, the wheel nuts are 14mm—so you’ll want to carry around a spare open-end wrench as you ride, too.