Tyre levers

[summerdays]

I have a pair of soma plastic coated steel ones which are great

I used to have a pair till this weekend when Mr Summerdays managed to snap one of them.... well bent the metal part and snapped the plastic.

 

[zacklaws]

I have a set of Park levers at home, but I snapped one, so I do not have much faith in them, but out on the road, I carry a set of the yellow flat mitchelin levers and find them the best of all levers I have ever used. They may not look much and look fragile, they may bend double trying to lever a marathon plus tyre onto the rim but they are unbreakable.

If I could I would buy some more sets as spares in case I loose them, but despite them still on the Mitchelin website, nobody seems to stock them anymore.

 

[flying start]

after snapping the plastic ones i had i set out to find some alloy ones and came across the site vimeo seen a vid of ed oxley useing some

the make.... "lezyne" tyer levers wow there the bast on the market check them out on c.r.c.......they also do some realy good micro floor pumps but thats going off topic!!

 

[slowmotion]

Getting tyres on and off rims remains a complete mystery to me. Sometimes they slip on and off without effort, and sometimes I can struggle for many minutes. I carry three Park Tool plastic ones. When it gets to the stage at which I think I might break one, I think that I'm also probably knackering a trapped inner tube. I don't like the idea of alloy levers. They sound like a sure-fire way to ding you alloy rims at their most delicate position.


My two pennies.

 

[MacB]

I've got the Park Tools ones on each bike and in the garage, they've always been fine for me, from skinny 700x23 to M+ in 700x35 and various MTB tyres. Though at home I tend to just use one to start the tyre removal and then use the Speedlever for the rest.

Putting a tyre on I've not used levers since knackering two tubes while sodding about in the garage...I now follow the method outlined in the Spa video, though I don't need straps, and the tyres all go on without levers. As a final solution style backup I have one of these in the garage:-

http://www.dotbike.com/p/3845

 

[JonnyBlade]

If you're lucky enough to find the right tyre and wheel combination then you could get tyres off with the cheapest tyre lever

 

[YahudaMoon]

Michelin tyre lever x 3 for about £3.00.

These are just fantastic. Ive had, park/tacx/ the lot over the years and they have all broken snapped in half eventually. Had these for 4 years now and they get hammered. I don't often rave about kit though these are the best I've ever had.

 

[zacklaws]

Michelin tyre lever x 3 for about £3.00.

Those are the one's I use and well recomend, do you have any links where I can get some spare sets from?

 

[JohnHenry]

...the reverse of this....?

Get the bead into the well of the rim.


[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4[/media]


You won't even need tyre levers.

Fantastic - I half expected him to inflate it using his only the power of his mouth.

 

[mattsccm]

I have only ever used the very cheapest levers. Last set were a quid for 3. They are fine for every thing from 23mm to 2.4" mtb tyres.They even work fine on the Sun mtb rims that are the most awkward sods ever. Might I politely suggest that a change of technique might help. I have easily removed and fitted whopping great motocross tyres with a pair of 6" levers after watching a mate totally fail with 4 18" ers. It's technique. Granted some tyres are tougher than others. Just a thought.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Those are the one's I use and well recomend, do you have any links where I can get some spare sets from?

Hi try here

http://www.hibike.com/shop/product/...ichelin-tire-lever-plastic-yellow-apiece.html

Looks like somewhere in Germany ? You could try LBS's. I don't mean Evans/Wiggle. Phone around, not everything is available on the web. There still in production I think. Got mine from Wills Wheels in Stockport a long time ago

 

[Holdsworth]

Well the new levers arrived very promptly today from the eBay. They are good in that they can easily slip under the bead and lever off a portion of the tyre. But it seems I am incapable of actually getting the rest off. I can get a 5 inch bit off but I can't go any further as the bead is very tight to the rim and won't lever off anymore with two levers. I use two about that much apart to get the first bit off as after I have one lever holding it's part of the bead off, I cannot get another lever in any where near it, hence using two at the same time. It might be putting undue stresses on the levers though as it is pretty tough!

I had to use the new levers to get under the rim and then my triplet of park's levers to do the rest.

Next problem is I cannot get the tyre back on the rim, even when using the method in the Spa Cycles video. It worked for my 23c Schwalbe tyres but not on these new Sport Contacts and EBC Revolution rims. Is a different/easier tyre needed here or do I need more practice? My thumbs are hurting from pressing the bead into the well so much!

 

[slowmotion]

Next problem is I cannot get the tyre back on the rim, even when using the method in the Spa Cycles video. It worked for my 23c Schwalbe tyres but not on these new Sport Contacts and EBC Revolution rims. Is a different/easier tyre needed here or do I need more practice? My thumbs are hurting from pressing the bead into the well so much!

I used the Spa method with some 25C marathon Plus tyres. I ended up using eighteen cable ties to keep the bead down and , yes , my fingers hurt like hell. The second time it was a doddle.

 

[YahudaMoon]

These are excellent for hard tyre fitting 'Var Tyre Lever'

http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/product/34518/Var_Tyre_Lever

Never used one myself though there highly recommended. I think the only flaw is puncturing the inner tube on installment

 

[MacB]

try putting them on and off a couple of times without a tube