Rear Wheel, Tyre, Inner Tube & Rim Lock

The rear wheel rim is a WM2 and it was not holding air so I knew I would have to replace the inner tube, also the rim lock bolt looked to be in terrible condition.

Everyone I spoke to advised that I should get a garage to do the work and that I should not attempt to remove a 53 year old tyre myself. So I bought a set of tyre spoons from Ebay and set about the job. I will advise that to do this job you need to be confident, you can't pussy foot around, you really have to go for it, and I did. After a bit of grunting, panting, then sweating I managed to remove one side of the tyre from the rim. This allowed enough movement and room for me to remove the inner tube, rim lock and finally the old rim tape. The rim lock was very rusted and needed to be replaced, the rim tape was also beyond saving.

The tube did had a small hole which I repaired with a patch and vulcanising solution. However, I decided to keep the repaired inner tube as a spare as it states it can be used for either an 18 or a 19 inch rim, meaning I can use it on the front or rear wheel if need be. I know the front is a WM1 and therefore narrower but for emergencies I guess it will be OK. I bought new rim tape, innertube and rim lock for a WM2 18inch rim from Feked.com. The rim tape doesn't have a hole for the rim lock bolt so I fitted the tape, marked the position through the hole, removed the tape, cut the hole and refitted the tape.

I covered the inner tube with chalk from my climbing bag, this acts as a lubricate and stops the tube sticking to itself. I installed the inner tube followed by the rim lock. I had problems getting the valve stem through the hole in the rim, to get around this I taped a length of thin cable to the valve stem and threaded that through the hole first, you can buy proper tools for this. I used the cable to pull the valve into place. I then reversed the process to get the tyre back on, this required a little more effort than getting it off. The tube was partially inflated and the rim lock tightened. I was going to by a new trials tyre but decided to stick with the original tyre and attempt to cut the tread into a more aggressive pattern, something that will be more useful for its intended surface, sand and soil!