Tire Levers
BobT
difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
My friend and I were unmercifully attacked by thousands of goat
heads while riding Sunday. I fixed two flats on my bike in the
first ten minutes of riding. My friend had a flat five minutes
later. While stopped, attempting to fix his flat, my tire went
flat a third time.
My friend had a tire that was so tight that it was very difficult
remove it from the rim. I broke one of my tire levers getting
the tire off. I broke my other tire lever trying to get the tire
back on the rim after fixing the tube. I was never able to get
the rim back on the tire. I didn't bother fixing my third flat
and we walked back to the car together.
To deal with the goatheads, I ordered some Schwalbe
Marathon Plus tires. I read that they also can be very difficult
to mount or remove from the rim. I think I need to get
some really stout tire levers.
BobT
joe
LF
BobT wrote:
> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
titanium levers from king cage. work great.
<http://www.kingcage.com/Home.html#>
Regards,
Larry
Morten Reippuert Knudsen
> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
> difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
> not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
Michelin, the best, smallest and lightest ever made.
--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen :-) <http://blog.reippuert.dk>
Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.
michael...@yahoo.co.uk
The Park Tool levers are very good. Also, if you don't get on with the
Scwalbe tires, try the Specialized Armadillos.
* * Chas
"BobT" <robertle...@MoveThisCox.net> wrote in message
news:1W3Zg.304$uF.59@dukeread12...
I've given up on the plastic sets of 3 tire levers, they break too
easily.
I like the Minoura (made in Japan) aluminum tire levers but they can
bend on hard to remove tires.
I bought one of the Crank Brothers tire tools that works like the levers
used on tire machines for removing and installing car tires. It works
well on easy fitting tires but it can damage the beads on the tires that
are hard to fit on the rim.
There used to be flat zinc plated steel levers that were strong and
resisted bending but I haven't seen them in years.
Chas.
Art Harris
> There used to be flat zinc plated steel levers that were strong and
> resisted bending but I haven't seen them in years.
Sounds like what I use. I must have bought them 30 years ago.
Art Harris
Pete Grey
"BobT" <robertle...@MoveThisCox.net> wrote in message
news:1W3Zg.304$uF.59@dukeread12...
Here's the one I use at home, but it's plenty small/light enough to carry.
It'll remove many tires before it ever bends, and there's lots of leverage:
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers&item_id=AC-QS
And to install, this is the best, but it's definitely a shop tool:
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers&item_id=KS-TJ
Lots of steel lever here, if you want to go that route. I'm not the biggest
fan, as it's easy to dent your rim:
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&c=Tools&sc=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers
-pete
John Forrest Tomlinson
>
>See
>
>http://store.somafab.com/stcotile.html
>
>Also should be available at your better LBS.
Very sweet -- I'd never seen those before.
Thanks,
--
JT
****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
Paul Cassel
> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
> difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
> not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
>
JeffWills
BobT wrote:
<snip>
> My friend had a tire that was so tight that it was very difficult
> remove it from the rim. I broke one of my tire levers getting
> the tire off. I broke my other tire lever trying to get the tire
> back on the rim after fixing the tube. I was never able to get
> the rim back on the tire. I didn't bother fixing my third flat
> and we walked back to the car together.
>
"Tight tires" can often be compensated for with better technique and/or
thinner rim strips.
There's a couple things you can do:
1. When removing the tire, pinch both beads of the tire towards the
middle of the rim around it's entire circumference. This will give you
more slack in the bead, making it easier to pry over the side of the
rim.
2. If you have cloth rim tape in the rim, try replacing it with plastic
rim strip or several (3 or 4) layers of fiberglass-reinforced strapping
tape. This is thinner than the cloth tape, again giving you more slack
in the bead.
I have Schwalbe Stelvios on my bike. I can remove and install them on
the rims without using tire levers.
Jeff
* * Chas
"joe" <n...@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:12j9jjd...@corp.supernews.com...
They look very nice. I'll have to try a pair.
Chas.
* * Chas
"Art Harris" <n2...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1161116412.1...@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
I had several sets. I think they were made in England or France. They
made a loud clank when they fell on the floor as the bead broke loose.
Chas.
* * Chas
"Pete Grey" <pe...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:453544fd$1...@news.microsoft.com...
How does that Kool Tool keep from pinching a tube?
Chas.
G.T.
"BobT" <robertle...@MoveThisCox.net> wrote in message
news:1W3Zg.304$uF.59@dukeread12...
I specifically avoid rim/tire combos that aren't easy to change so I haven't
owned tire levers in a decade or two.
Greg
o...@ozarkbicycleservice.com
JeffWills wrote:
> BobT wrote:
> <snip>
> > My friend had a tire that was so tight that it was very difficult
> > remove it from the rim. I broke one of my tire levers getting
> > the tire off. I broke my other tire lever trying to get the tire
> > back on the rim after fixing the tube. I was never able to get
> > the rim back on the tire. I didn't bother fixing my third flat
> > and we walked back to the car together.
> >
>
> "Tight tires" can often be compensated for with better technique and/or
> thinner rim strips.
> There's a couple things you can do:
>
> 1. When removing the tire, pinch both beads of the tire towards the
> middle of the rim around it's entire circumference. This will give you
> more slack in the bead, making it easier to pry over the side of the
> rim.
>
Good suggestion #1
> 2. If you have cloth rim tape in the rim, try replacing it with plastic
> rim strip or several (3 or 4) layers of fiberglass-reinforced strapping
> tape. This is thinner than the cloth tape, again giving you more slack
> in the bead.
>
And good suggestion #2; in addition to being thinner, plastic rim
strips have less friction than cloth, making it easier to move the tire
around during removal.
Werehatrack
<robertle...@MoveThisCox.net> wrote:
>To deal with the goatheads, I ordered some Schwalbe
>Marathon Plus tires. I read that they also can be very difficult
>to mount or remove from the rim. I think I need to get
>some really stout tire levers.
I recommend Slime in this instance. The world's greatest tire lever
can't speed the process of patching a tire enough to keep a good ride
from being badly interrupted, and your locale seems to be oversupplied
with tirekillers.
That said, the US$2.50 Lifu steel tire lever set from
www.biketoolsetc.com works quite well for me, and it's plenty strong.
There are nicer designs, but this one has the advantage that if the
set gets lifted or lost, the monetary loss is small.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
* * Chas
"JeffWills" <jwi...@pacifier.com> wrote in message
news:1161121283.5...@f16g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> BobT wrote:
> <snip>
> > My friend had a tire that was so tight that it was very difficult
> > remove it from the rim. I broke one of my tire levers getting
> > the tire off. I broke my other tire lever trying to get the tire
> > back on the rim after fixing the tube. I was never able to get
> > the rim back on the tire. I didn't bother fixing my third flat
> > and we walked back to the car together.
> >
>
> "Tight tires" can often be compensated for with better technique
and/or
> thinner rim strips.
> There's a couple things you can do:
>
> 1. When removing the tire, pinch both beads of the tire towards the
> middle of the rim around it's entire circumference. This will give you
> more slack in the bead, making it easier to pry over the side of the
> rim.
>
> 2. If you have cloth rim tape in the rim, try replacing it with
plastic
> rim strip or several (3 or 4) layers of fiberglass-reinforced
strapping
> tape. This is thinner than the cloth tape, again giving you more slack
> in the bead.
I've never liked cloth rim strips. For one thing when riding in the rain
or through water they absorb moisture and stay wet unless you remove the
tires and tubes and let the wheels dry out. The moisture causes
corrosion around the spoke nipples and eyelets.
Panaracer makes some nice polyurethane rim strips. they're called
PolyLite Rim Tape but they are circular rim strips. They don't turn hard
like some other plastic rim strips. They're hard to find.
http://www.panaracer.com/eng/products/index_ac.html
Ritchey Snap On Rim Strips are also good and easier to find.
http://www.ritcheylogic.com/web/Ritchey~Logic/Ritchey~Site/web/EN/main/p
roduct/accessories/rimstrips/AccessRimStrips_SnapOn.html#
Chas.
Blair P. Houghton
>titanium levers from king cage. work great.
><http://www.kingcage.com/Home.html#>
How badly do they scrape up rims?
--Blair
Blair P. Houghton
>BobT <robertle...@movethiscox.net> wrote:
>> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
>> difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
>> not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
>
>Michelin, the best, smallest and lightest ever made.
How long are those?
How do you hook them on a spoke?
--Blair
Blair P. Houghton
30 years ago, I thought a dull butterknife was the perfect tool.
Now that many tires are so tight a thick plastic lever is
ridiculously hard to get under the bead, I'm starting to
consider modding the tips of a couple of butterknives.
A nice ogee ought to do it.
--Blair
Blair P. Houghton
>That said, the US$2.50 Lifu steel tire lever set from
>www.biketoolsetc.com works quite well for me, and it's plenty strong.
>There are nicer designs, but this one has the advantage that if the
>set gets lifted or lost, the monetary loss is small.
Better butterknives.
--Blair
Solvang Cyclist
@dukeread12:
> My friend and I were unmercifully attacked by thousands of goat
> heads while riding Sunday. I fixed two flats on my bike in the
> first ten minutes of riding. My friend had a flat five minutes
> later. While stopped, attempting to fix his flat, my tire went
> flat a third time.
>
I know this will probably start a flame war, but...
I've been using tire savers
(http://sheldonbrown.com/flats.html#tiresavers) for 20 years with both
clinchers and sewups. I can count the number of flats I've had on the
fingers of one hand.
Yes, I know they are very much out of vogue these days (as proven by the
fact that they are almost impossible to find - except someone that was
selling NOS on eBay for about $30 a pair!) Fortunately, I had an old pair
that could be repaired to fit on my new bike.
I can't claim that I have ever actually seen any piece of glass or thorn
brushed off by the tire savers to prove that they work. I only know that
I (and a couple of my friends that also still use them) have fewer flats
then others under the same riding conditions.
The only down side is that they tend to make the brakes dirty quite fast.
Cheers!
David
carl...@comcast.net
Dear David,
Here's a picture from an old eBay auction for NOS tire savers:
http://i22.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/f3/a9/6c_1.JPG
or http://tinyurl.com/yavwd9
At first, I wondered why the carefully bent spoke wire was covered in
clear plastic tubing.
But the large picture makes the purpose of the plastic clear.
A tire saver is actually two pieces of carefully bent spoke wire, an
upper and a lower section, joined by two pieces of plastic tubing.
Given two pairs of pliers, some tight-fitting tubing, and an old
spoke, you should be able to make replacements just as good (whatever
you think of them) as the originals for less than a dollar.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
* * Chas
"Solvang Cyclist" <ne...@NOshierSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:Xns985FDF1A987E2n...@216.196.97.136...
I lived in the Southwest for a long time and managed a bike shop there
for 5 years. We were located in the middle of goathead heaven. We used
to sell "Sticker Flicker" tire savers which we had made for us out of
soft galvanized iron wire and Tygon brand extra flexible clear plastic
tubing. They mounted on the back of the brake caliper mounting bolts.
I still have a number of pairs of these old sticker flickers on my
bikes. I've seen them catch a goathead and flick it out of my tire
before it rotated again and punctured the tire. We rode sewups most of
the time and kept them pumped to 75-85 PSI. The lower tire pressures
helped prevent a lot of flats.
Chas.
Solvang Cyclist
4ax.com:
> Here's a picture from an old eBay auction for NOS tire savers:
Thanks for the link. I looked for a current eBay listing before I posted,
but didn't find one.
> Given two pairs of pliers, some tight-fitting tubing, and an old
> spoke, you should be able to make replacements just as good (whatever
> you think of them) as the originals for less than a dollar.
>
Well the lower part (the one that rides on the tire) is easy to make from
a spoke (which is what we did.) But the upper one that wraps around the
brake bolt is a bit harder since it's a tight bend, but it can be done if
you have to.
The tubing can be tricky to find. It needs to be quite thick walled (as
can be seen in the photo you provided.) If it's thin walled, it won't
provide enough spring action.
The old ones I had used a flat blade for the upper part that made it take
less space on the brake bolt. I only had to replace the wire that rides
on the tire. The "rebuilt" units should last another 20 years! <grin>
Cheers!
David
* * Chas
"Solvang Cyclist" <ne...@NOshierSPAM.com> wrote in message
We had ours made with soft wire which was easy to bend to match the
radius of the tire and to be able to adjust the height to barely float
over the surface of the tire. The Tygon brand tubing that we used was
extremely soft to easily flex and to remain flexible during cold
weather.
By running our tires at moderate pressure thorns and glass usually
didn't penetrate on the first rotation. The sticker flickers worked much
of the time except for thorns that where picked up near the side wall.
Chas.
Skippy
"Morten Reippuert Knudsen" <sp...@reippuert.dk> wrote in message
news:4gaf04-...@server.rfn.dk...
> BobT <robertle...@movethiscox.net> wrote:
>> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
>> difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
>> not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
>
> Michelin, the best, smallest and lightest ever made.
I agree. Never had a problem with them.
>
> --
> Morten Reippuert Knudsen :-) <http://blog.reippuert.dk>
>
> Merlin Works CR-3/2.5 & Campagnolo Chorus 2007.
Skippy
E&OE
dvt
> I specifically avoid rim/tire combos that aren't easy to change so I haven't
> owned tire levers in a decade or two.
How do you know in advance if a rim/tyre combo is difficult? As I read
this newsgroup and other sources, it seems that contradictory
information is the norm. For example, some say Contis are difficult to
mount, others say Contis are no problem.
I like to have tyre levers on the bike, even if my tyres are easy to
handle. I've helped many poor souls fix flats on rides, and I have no
control over their choice of equipment.
--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu
Peter Cole
Me, too. I've used many plastic levers, but the old steel ones work
the best, especially on very tight tires.
RonSonic
I've still got a set of the steel Brooks levers that either live in the shop or
actually got carried around when I had the Sun Rhynolite wheels on my mountain
bike. Really nice little gadgets.
Ron
Paul Hobson
* * Chas wrote:
> They look very nice. I'll have to try a pair.
>
I've a set and they've been great so far.
\\paul
russell...@yahoo.com
I bought the big Park $15 a pair steel tire levers. And was not too
happy with the metal on metal contact. They did not gouge up the rim
but.... I then bought the Nashbar big tire levers. They are plastic
but work OK. For carrying on the road, I use the Park blue plastic
levers. Sold as a set of three I think for about $3 or so.
LF
russell...@yahoo.com wrote:
> Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> > LF <fie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >titanium levers from king cage. work great.
> > ><http://www.kingcage.com/Home.html#>
> >
> > How badly do they scrape up rims?
> >
> > --Blair
>
small, light weight, and rugged. Andrew got them just right, so that
they easily fit under the bead, even on a tight tire.
Larry
Pete Grey
"* * Chas" <verkt...@aol.spamski.com> wrote in message
news:OeidnduzNvZsyajY...@comcast.com...
>> >
>>
>> Here's the one I use at home, but it's plenty small/light enough to
> carry.
>> It'll remove many tires before it ever bends, and there's lots of
> leverage:
>>
> http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&d=single&c=Tools&s
> c=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers&item_id=AC-QS
>>
>> And to install, this is the best, but it's definitely a shop tool:
>>
> http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&d=single&c=Tools&s
> c=Tire-and-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers&item_id=KS-TJ
>>
>> Lots of steel lever here, if you want to go that route. I'm not the
> biggest
>> fan, as it's easy to dent your rim:
>>
> http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=208862535519&c=Tools&sc=Tire-an
> d-Tube&tc=Tire-Levers
>>
>> -pete
>>
> Thanks for the links.
>
> How does that Kool Tool keep from pinching a tube?
>
> Chas.
>
>
It grabs the bead on the opposing side, then hooks under the bead on the
side to pull over.
I'm not sure that's a great description, but it really works well with
zero-pinch, and I've put on some *really* tight tires!
-pete
Paul Kopit
reinforced. The lever is plastic that covers a metal lever.
<http://store.somafab.com/stcotile.html>
If you make a donation to the Challenged Athlete Foundation
<http://www.challengedathletes.org/>, you get a set of levers FREE!
<http://www.somafab.com/index.html>
I supply the levers at my cost but I donate the full amount that you
contribute, including my cost to CAF. It costs you a little more but
the shipping is free, you are donating to a good cause, you get a tax
deduction, and you get a very warm feeling.
On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:22:21 -0500, "BobT"
Paul Kopit
wrote:
>1. When removing the tire, pinch both beads of the tire towards the
>middle of the rim around it's entire circumference. This will give you
>more slack in the bead, making it easier to pry over the side of the
>rim.
>
>2. If you have cloth rim tape in the rim, try replacing it with plastic
>rim strip or several (3 or 4) layers of fiberglass-reinforced strapping
>tape. This is thinner than the cloth tape, again giving you more slack
>in the bead.
>
>I have Schwalbe Stelvios on my bike. I can remove and install them on
>the rims without using tire levers.
I don't use a tire/wheel combination that I cannot get off with my
hands only. My favorite rim is a Velocity Aerohead and Michelin
tires. The Velocity Aerohead OC is a little trick. It's easier to
remove/replace the tire from the drive side. Using Veloplugs makes
the job even easier.
I get Michelin tires on/off the popular Mavic Rims. Campy rims are
frequently tight and changing out tires is difficult.
Morten Reippuert Knudsen
> Morten Reippuert Knudsen <sp...@reippuert.dk> wrote:
> >BobT <robertle...@movethiscox.net> wrote:
> >> I am looking for suggestions for tire levers that are very
> >> difficult to break but not so big and heavy that they would
> >> not be practical to carry with me on the bike.
> >
> >Michelin, the best, smallest and lightest ever made.
> How long are those?
guess arrond 8 cm
> How do you hook them on a spoke?
its not neccesary to do so. two of them will do the job without.