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The right tools for the job...

by sergius
Mon, Aug 07, 2017 10:20
12

Just a quick post to say thanks to the chaps who stopped to help me on the weekend, and a little warning to others...

 

I've had a set of tyre levers in my saddle bag for as long as I remember, nothing fancy just a set of tyre levers.  Following a change in the manufacturers guidelines, I'd recently switched from Conti GP4000s ii tyres (which I've been using on all my bikes for years), to Schwalbe S-One tyres.  I managed to fit them with only a little bit of faff, tubeless tyres being made to tighter tolerances to support hookless rims; but hadn't had cause to remove the tyres since the first fitting.

 

I got a puncture on Saturday (why is it always the rear wheel?), so pulled over and proceded to (attempt too) replace the inner tube.  The wheels I have (Hunt) have a recess in the middle of the rim to aid getting the tyre on, without pushing the tyre into said recess you've got zero chance of getting it over the rim.

I spent a good 20 minutes trying to force the settled bead into the middle of the rim, trying all sorts of brute force and pushing with my tyre levers.  Note this isn't even getting the tyre over the rim at this point, it's just trying to force the tyre into the middle channel so I can get a tyre lever underneath it to lever the tyre off.

In the end I flagged down a couple of helpful chaps who rode past.  Three grown men were not able to unseat the tyre bead by hand.  The saving grace was that one of them had a Park tyre lever which has a considerably narrower "wedge" end - which we were able to jam into the gap between rim and bead - which finally provided the required leverage to get the bead to un-seat.

So just a friendly warning, if you change tyres/wheels to a new brand - make sure your tooling will allow you a road-side repair!  

On the off-chance they read they, many thanks to the two gents who helped a fellow cyclist on Hounds House road, you saved me a great deal of hassle.

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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12 comments

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hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
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I've found the levers included with the Topeak Ninja Cage are nice and skinny, too. They're plastic, but I don't know how strong they are yet as I've only used them twice.

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racingcondor | 7 years ago
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I have a metal lever from an old Topeak tool which I use to remove tubs (good for forcing the skinny lever between the tub and the rim). Sounds like that type of lever would do well here as well.

Failing that the Park blue levers are great for most things as it sounds like you found out at the weekend.

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hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
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My experience with Schwalbe tubeless is that to remove or fit them, you need to push the relevant tyre bead into the centre of the rim. Tubeless rims have a 'U' profile, so if you make sure that the bead is right in the centre (all the way round), it gives you the maximum amount of slack. I once spent an hour swearing at a tyre (and breaking a tyre lever) trying to get it off before I learnt that trick.

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sergius replied to hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

My experience with Schwalbe tubeless is that to remove or fit them, you need to push the relevant tyre bead into the centre of the rim. Tubeless rims have a 'U' profile, so if you make sure that the bead is right in the centre (all the way round), it gives you the maximum amount of slack. I once spent an hour swearing at a tyre (and breaking a tyre lever) trying to get it off before I learnt that trick.

I had learnt that already 1 The issue was to actual push it into the centre, once it was in the little recess it only took a few minutes to replace the tube and reseat the tyre (via inflation); but getting the tyre bead to actually move was the bit which caused the drama.

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hawkinspeter replied to sergius | 7 years ago
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sergius wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

My experience with Schwalbe tubeless is that to remove or fit them, you need to push the relevant tyre bead into the centre of the rim. Tubeless rims have a 'U' profile, so if you make sure that the bead is right in the centre (all the way round), it gives you the maximum amount of slack. I once spent an hour swearing at a tyre (and breaking a tyre lever) trying to get it off before I learnt that trick.

I had learnt that already 1 The issue was to actual push it into the centre, once it was in the little recess it only took a few minutes to replace the tube and reseat the tyre (via inflation); but getting the tyre bead to actually move was the bit which caused the drama.

I see. Yes, you'd need either better tyre levers or lots of swearing or both.

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The Gavalier | 7 years ago
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Birzman tyre levers, practically unbreakable and are the only brand that will remove a tyre from my Vision wheels which are notoriously tight. 

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sergius | 7 years ago
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HUNT 50Carbon Aero Disc is the wheelset.

 

I'm interested to know what you would do with a shoe lace?  I think I'm going to carry two of my current tyre levers and two of the park ones; the very fine end is a little concerning I'll admit, but necessary for these wheels it seems.

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to sergius | 7 years ago
1 like

sergius wrote:

HUNT 50Carbon Aero Disc is the wheelset.

 

I'm interested to know what you would do with a shoe lace?  I think I'm going to carry two of my current tyre levers and two of the park ones; the very fine end is a little concerning I'll admit, but necessary for these wheels it seems.

Wrap a lace around the tyre to aid pulling it over the lip then just slide the lace out.

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Dnnnnnn replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 7 years ago
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BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

sergius wrote:

HUNT 50Carbon Aero Disc is the wheelset.

 

I'm interested to know what you would do with a shoe lace?  I think I'm going to carry two of my current tyre levers and two of the park ones; the very fine end is a little concerning I'll admit, but necessary for these wheels it seems.

Wrap a lace around the tyre to aid pulling it over the lip then just slide the lace out.

People used to fit car windscreens that way too. Just thought I'd say.

The OP asked, "why is it always the rear wheel?"

In many cases, I believe it's because it takes more weight and so a shard, flint, etc. is driven home with more force than if it had snagged the front (which is also less likely to do in the first place since the front would roll more lightly over the sharp). The puncture doesn't usually happen at first contact - it's the hammering-in of repeated rotations.

The other reason - also weight related - might be that the greater weight over the rear wheel might make it more susceptible to being pinched (snakebite puncture).

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Tjuice replied to Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
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Duncann wrote:

The OP asked, "why is it always the rear wheel?"

In many cases, I believe it's because it takes more weight and so a shard, flint, etc. is driven home with more force than if it had snagged the front (which is also less likely to do in the first place since the front would roll more lightly over the sharp). The puncture doesn't usually happen at first contact - it's the hammering-in of repeated rotations.

The other reason - also weight related - might be that the greater weight over the rear wheel might make it more susceptible to being pinched (snakebite puncture).

 

Additionally, the rear tyre is often the more worn of the two because all the driving force goes through it, in addition to the portion of the retarding force most likely to lead to skidding (and hence rapid wear) [skidding the front tyre is generally bad news...]

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BehindTheBikesheds | 7 years ago
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I carry a Park tool and Pedros tyre lever everywhere I go, the EKIP ones (£1 @ planet x) have quite a fine end to them which are great for most tyres but are more prone to snapping on really really tight fit tyres.

a shoe lace in your bags is also a useful tool to have to get a tight tyre on a rim.

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ibr17xvii | 7 years ago
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What Hunt wheels are they out of interest?

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