I had a flat tyre on my road bike this morning. In trying to change the inner tube I've managed to break 2 tyre levers (the supposedly unbreakable specialized ones) and give myself a pinch flat too. I have no trouble changes mountain bike tyres but these road ones seem so tight on the rim - they are Michelin Krylions. Anyone got any advice on making the job easier or where I may be going wrong?
Ta,
Mark
Pedros tyre levers.
Also, I find the inner tube is most likely to get trapped next to the valve. Once the tyre is on, push the valve in to free any trapped tube. (And you do put a little air in the tube before fitting, don't you?)
Intense tyre levers. They weigh about 3 tonnes, but never had them fail me yet.
tubeless. Worked a treat on the tricross I use for commuting
Never had a problem with my Krylions
As UQDS says, plus always check round the rim for pinched tube, also a little washing-up liquid on tyre rim makes things much easier:-) One roadie I know even carries some with him on rides!
I had some Michelin tyres once that were virtually impossible to mount - made worse by the Trek rims, which were tight also!
Normally you stand a pretty good chance at getting them back on without using tyre levers at all. Getting the tyre bead very well into the middle of the rim helps a lot, as does sort of dragging the tyre around in both directions towards your last bit (pulling it tight where it is already mounted and maximising the slack for the last bit).
Another tip is to have a little bit of air in the tube so that is holds shape, and then using the end of a tyre lever to poke the puffy bits well into the tyre as you go. You can also try wetting the end of a plastic tyre lever and sliding it along the rim, rather than using the normal bending action - but expect to lose some knuckle skin if you try that one.
Once managed to punch myself in the face as I pulled a tyre lever towards me along the rim and it slipped out.
Get some Michelin pro 3 tries, very easy to get on and I use Park tools tyre levers (in a pack from CRC, blue one's) which are great
or Topeak Shuttle Tyre Levers 1.2, ****ing excellent
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-do-you-seat-a-tyre ]As it so happens, I put a nice little set of instructions up here the other day. The secret is in having air in the tube and seating it in the rim before putting the outer bead back on. HTH[/url]
Maybe I am just lucky, but I've never run road bike tyres that you couldn't get on and off by hand, by making sure it is in the depression of the rim at the opposite side of the wheel to where you're putting it on / taking it off.
Tyre levers for taking stubborn tyres off maybe, but I reckon no road bike tyre needs levers to get it onto the tyre.
Downhill bike tyres on wide rims on the other hand, blimey those are a nightmare.
Joe
What Joe said +1
You shouldn't need tyre levers on or off, tubeless or not.
Work on your technique, making sure you push the tyre into the "well".
roger that. will try this evening! thanks all.
drinking wine and preparing to get wrathful........
I'm dreading changing my Krylions as I find them very tough to get on and off - have 50 nicks and cuts in the back one, can't put it off to much longer!
Not all rims are the same, some Alex rims seem slightly o/s. For example I had some Vittorias on some cheap Alex rims and when I swapped them to my Ultegras the rims just passed straight through the tyres.
BikeMagic have a good guide for getting tyres on and off without levers. That one has always worked well for me on road and MTB tyres. Never found a tyre I couldn't get off by hand.
crank brothers speed lever, it attaches to the qr skewer, then you wind it round the rim, pushing the tyre bead over as it goes, ingenious and works great