Turning Bike Upside Down to Fix Punctures?

Really? 2/3 of people? Do you really find fitting a rear wheel that tough!?

Way to knacker your grips/GPS/stem/lockout lever!

I just saw that.

Very odd.

there’ll be a full page in the next issue with the results in too so I hope the ‘No why would you’ crowd start voting soon so we don’t all look like numpties with shagged brake reservoirs and gear indicators

Do you really find fitting a rear wheel that tough!?

Can be quite tricky to refit a 12mm bolt-up through axle with the bike upright

Way to knacker your grips/GPS/stem/lockout lever!

Bar ends solve that 🙂

Can be quite tricky to refit a 12mm bolt-up through axle with the bike upright

yup – much easier upside down with a bolt up hub

really, you don’t?

Can be quite tricky to refit a 12mm bolt-up through axle with the bike upright

Why? The weight of the bike lines everything up so you just have to poke the axle through. I’ve had a bike where you have to remove the skewer entirely to fit the wheel (so basically a through axle) for several years and find it far easier with the bike the right way up…

Bar ends solve that

Sub in ‘bar ends’ to that list then if you want!

Always.

Wow, I really thought it was the preserve of the inept moron 🙂

Way to knacker your grips/GPS/stem/lockout lever!

It’s a mountain bike FFS, a bit of dirt on the grips is hardly the end of the world, you would have to be one hell of a clumsy oaf to damage anything from just turning the bike upside down.

I really thought it was the preserve of the inept moron

this is stw.

Been turning bike upside down for wheels out for about 30yrs, never knackerd owt yet!

Scratched lock on collars would annoy me though!

dirty grips better than a bent mech/mech hanger if you ask me

All of my bikes except my bmx fall over if you put them upside down.

Either way works though, don’t see what the fuss is about.

Scratched lock on collars would annoy me though!

Try knitting, mountain biking may not be the most suitable hobby for you.

The inverted bike is the universal sign of mountain bike distress – if you see it on the trail it spells ‘HELP!’

Me too, for 30 odd years.

What do you do with yours?

Way to knacker your grips/GPS/stem/lockout lever!

Yep. Last time I fixed a puncture one of my grips got torn right off! And I had to ride home without it… 🙄 😉

Seriously. I’ve never broken anything by turning my bike upside down. I do it either way depending on my mood. I never thought it would anger anyone.

What do you do with yours?

Well I can’t remember the last time I punctured whilst riding (genuinely), but whilst taking wheels in/out I just undo skewers and pick up the bike…

I’d lay it on the ground (and work on the wheel away from the bike) rather than turn it upside down though.

I never thought it would anger anyone.

Doesn’t anger me, I just never realised so many people did it. I always chuckle when you see someone pumping away furiously on a bike that’s upside down, scratching away!

Always turn mine upside down…I do have bar ends though!

Why wouldn’t you turn it upside down more like?!

njee20 – Member
Scratched lock on collars would annoy me though!

So being that this happens almost every time you fall off, do you replace all scratched parts after every crash? Or do you not crash? I would spend an awful lot more on riding bikes if scratches annoyed me.

Why wouldn’t you? It’s like bikes were designed with a built-in work stand which is activated by inversion.

Normally I don’t but with my current PA frame the rear hub sits so tight that having the bike upside down and stable is about the only way to get the wheel in/out without major grief.

Scratched lock on collars would annoy me though!

I shudder to think of the damage you are doing to that bike by lying it down to maintain it! In fact, are your tyres OK with all that contact with the dirt and stones? THE HORRORZ!!OMG!

Every time a wheel comes off, the bike is stood upside down first. Been doing this about 15 years with no noticeable side effects either mechanically, psychically or mentally.

The road bike stays upright (STI’s look really bad if you turn the bike over), MTB get’s chucked upside down as it looks scuffy within 5 minutes of me owning it anyway! Went out last night and was amazed how clean and scratch free everyones bikes looked, mine always seem a magnet for damage!

All you have to do is carry along three stale bagels in your backpack and simply insert the bar ends into two of them and the seat nose into the other before you invert the bike or you do it upside down on the grassy area found at the side of all trails. Otherwise, I get my support crew to put it in the bikestand.

So being that this happens almost every time you fall off, do you replace all scratched parts after every crash? Or do you not crash?

I don’t crash enough to damage parts that often, I do generally replace things like grips if they get damaged though (not that I use lock-ons).

In fact, are your tyres OK with all that contact with the dirt and stones?

They get a good scrub when I clean the bike to ensure they’re as clean as possible!

My bike cost a reasonable amount, I like to after it, can’t really imagine genuinely not caring about damaging bits completely needlessly!

After 30 years of turning the bike upside down I recently bought my first workstand. What a revelation. Until I came to put the back wheel back in. My brain just could not compute how to do it right way up. I ended up taking the bike off the stand and standing it the time-honoured way to put the wheel back in.

Yes, I am a dunce. I don’t care.

They get a good scrub when I clean the bike to ensure they’re as clean as possible!

You are kidding, right?

I’ve been turning my bikes upside down for trailside repairs for over 40 years and a slight scratch to shifters, brakes or grips is the worst that’s happened. It’s a mountain bike ffs, it’s not supposed to be immaculate…

I turn mine upside down to remove/replace wheels, but that’s all. It gets turned right-side-up again for pumping up tyres etc (or they’re done before putting the wheel back on). The only annoying thing is the brake levers need pumping like billy-o once it’s back on it’s wheels (Maybe a Shimano-ism? Never used to be an issue with my Hopes) to get the bite point back where it should be.

I try not to leave it upside down for any extended period of time (I’ve seen a fair few cars on the motorway with bikes upside down on the boot rack, for example) as I’m not sure I’d trust the brake reservoirs not to leak.

Punctures? Really?

In fact I’m surprised there isn’t “Yes, why wouldn’t you?” option as it’s clearly the default.

They get a good scrub when I clean the bike to ensure they’re as clean as possible!

A friend of mine lived with a bloke who used to take his tyres off to clean them. He was a complete gooner though.

ooh I’d never lay down the bike on its side – might irrepairably scratch the frame/fork/my nail polish

Even if I was a racer I’d imagine turning it over would take no longer than laying it down only to then pick it up again

Mind, haven’t ever given it much thought; I’d have dismissed the idea of a poll on the subject on the grounds that nobody would even answer it, let alone generate threadage on it 😯

You are kidding, right?

Nope! Particularly make sure they’re clean when I take them off, who wants to fit muddy tyres!?

A friend of mine lived with a bloke who used to take his tyres off to clean them.

They’re much harder to clean off the bike, dunno why you’d remove them to clean them!

I find it easier to slot in my rotors when I can see the pads, while the bike is upside down. It scratched the lock ons but… maybe I could heli tape them or use that sugura stuff. If I was bothered.