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The original was posted on /r/cycling by /u/hypeboyyo on 2023-09-28 01:39:05.
Okay so I'm very new to cycling and I recently had a flat tire. I watched YouTube videos and got the tools to fix a flat tire. I tried taking off the tire and even with the tire lever, it wouldn't even budge. So I decided to take it to the nearest bike shop and they said they can fix it for me.
The old man fixing the bike was struggling so much to get the tire off. He eventually took out the inner tube and he put a new one. Again, he was struggling to put back the tire. He used the tire lever again and I almost thought he was going to rip the tire... when he put on the tire, he filled up some air and then said there was a pinch. It was from putting in the tire level too deep or something and so he had to take off the tire again and the inner tube.
This time, he just put on a patch instead of getting another new inner tube. He struggled to put on the tire and... flat tire again because the patch didn't stay or something... so he goes through the whole process again - putting on a second patch - and told me to go home before the air runs out again. It felt fine so I paid $20 and left.
I rode my bike back home and when I get home, the tire is flat again... so I called the guy and he said to come back again tomorrow.
I hung up the phone and am now on my way to another bike shop that's more widely known.
Is it usually that hard to switch the inner tube on a new bike? That guy said he'd been working for 20+ years but... does it really take an hour to change the inner tube?
Edit: Just to clarify, I've been trying to replace the inner tube myself and watched a bunch of YouTube videos. However, the tire was way too tight and it wouldn't even budge - it was as if it was glued to the wheel, so that's why I took it to LBS because I was still nowhere after an hour.
The other bike shop I went, they took less than 5 minutes to replace the inner tube and they charged $16, which is cheaper than the old man who didn't even fix the problem. And yes, I will learn how to fix the flat tire myself. It's just my attempt didn't work and I wanted to see the process in real life.