The tire may be readily removed with the hands by pulling at right angles with the wheel. Rubber cement may be made by dissolving perfectly pure rubber in naphtha; but the commercial cement is usually found the cheapest in the end.
If you should be so unfortunate as to break down, what are the problems you must meet? The bicycle is made of different materials—iron, metal, steel, wood, rubber, and leather, and each different material requires a different kind of treatment. The general idea in any kind of repairs is to effect the holding of the parts in position with a material that will supply strength and stiffness. The use of glue or cement is merely to hold parts in position, to replace the fractured pieces and keep them in place, to enable the particular part to do its duty, and to keep the piece in place while the cement hardens.
There is room for great ingenuity in handling repair work and in estimating the available resources. The most common accident is a puncture in a pneumatic tire. There are also repairs to be considered to the wooden rims and the spokes and the tubing and lost or broken parts. A great deal of damage could occur in a collision, and the bicycle be in very poor shape, but it can be set right with a little assistance from a mechanic, even though he does not understand the mechanism of a bicycle.
Suppose nothing to be injured except a piece of the supporting tubing; or that the bicycle could be made to go if the rim were spliced or strengthened at a place where it has been split. A temporary repair usually takes considerable time, and should never be attempted unless there is nothing else to be done. A blacksmith shop, unless the smith is very ingenious, is not a very good place to look for assistance; a plumber or tinsmith or locksmith, unless a bicyclist, can help but little. For a broken rim I would betake me to a carpenter shop or carriage maker’s. If the break is in a straight piece of tube, get the carpenter to make a round stick, not as long as the broken tube, and fit it to the inside, to slip in easily. Hardware stores keep round wooden rods, and perhaps one of these would answer. Push the round stick up into the tube, and, holding the parts in place, let it slip down into the other part of the break; this will keep the ends of the break together. Then get the carpenter to take two blocks of wood, hollow them out to hold the tube, and screw them fast together, holding the tube between them. If he has an auger-bit the size of the tubing, he can easily bore a hole in a block the size of the tube; then have this block cut in two with the saw, leaving the hole cut in half, and screw the pieces together after they are placed on the broken part. The same kind of a repair may be made on the angles of the frame if the blocks are hollowed to fit. This makes an unsightly job, but can be recommended as strong and safe when properly done.
A broken spoke may be repaired, if it cannot be replaced, by bending the ends of the broken parts into loops; then, taking a piece of wire through both loops, fasten it together, and tighten by screwing it up.
A wooden rim may be whipped or wound. The tire must be deflated first, and removed from the rim at the broken place; then wind fine wire or fish-line about the place, after filling the break with glue or shellac. In wrapping, take care that the turns are made very smooth and even, and close to each other. Then the tire may be cemented and inflated. Of course, there will be a lumpy place on the rim, but it will do until the rim can be replaced.
Any bolt that has lost its nut, when the nut cannot be replaced, may be held by hammering a burr on the end. If the end is too long, a piece may be cut or filed off, and a burr hammered down to hold.
A bicycle cannot travel easily if the frame has been bent out of true; and to straighten a bent frame is an easy matter. Take out wheels, saddle, and handle-bars, and use a piece of broom-handle to spring the frame into true; or take a stout cord, fasten it to either end of the part to be straightened, insert a stick, and wind the cord up tight.
There are three things to take into consideration when doing repair work: First, finding out what is to be done, then doing it, then seeing that it has been done right.