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I’ve snapped Topeak and Park tyre levers.
The park levers with a steel core are ok but the plastic coating cracks after a while.
I’m not trying some silca tyre levers (with alloy core) after a particularly frustrating session trying to get some Schwabs tyres off some notubes rims and mounting a pair of Vitoria tyres to replace them. The whole process took the best part of 90 minutes for 2 wheels and left my fingers bruised. The park tool narrowly avoided my eye when it snapped and fired off 🤦♂️
Park TL-5. Some of us lived through the days of Sun Ditch Witches and Tioga Factory DH, life is too short and knuckles too soft to piss about with anything else.
Ever since I learned my technique was wrong and I wasn't properly sitting the tyre into the center of the rim I've not had a struggle changing any tyres. When I first got a bike I was more forceful though and snapped a few.
Ever since I learned my technique was wrong and I wasn’t properly sitting the tyre into the center of the rim I’ve not had a struggle changing any tyres.
Good for you.
On the other hand, nobody has ever given me a prize for struggling with tyres for up to half an hour at a time, with levers. Like I said, life is too short, some tyre and rim combo's are just utter bastards and I'd rather be doing anything else than struggling with them.
The Cushcore “butt plug” one is very strong.
Ever since I learned my technique was wrong and I wasn’t properly sitting the tyre into the center of the rim I’ve not had a struggle changing any tyres. When I first got a bike I was more forceful though and snapped a few.
I know that and do it (I think). Some tyres I have no issue with, some do just seem to be real bastards though as squirrelking says. Yesterday it was some cheapish wired Schwalbes. The only non-nobbly, road biased tyre my son could find to fit 27.5 plus wheels - a very niche requirement! They were hellishly tight! His shagged Norco HT with some non-terminal frame damage is being converted to a pub/Deliveroo bike.
Also, I think some of the plastic ones I use, I have had for years and years. I know plastic does degrade and become brittle due to UV - cheapo plastic clothes pegs which shatter when used being an extreme example.
Hopefully problem solved when my parktool and topeak versions arrive. Thanks for all the advice.
Just to add crank brothers tyre lever into the mix - never managed to snap it, soft on rims and great for quick changes on looser tyres, as well as normal changing on tight tyres.
Looks interesting. Have you tried it?
I have not, I rarely struggle with tyres myself and do have some tacx levers for the very odd occasion when I need some help
I've never managed to snap a Park Tools blue one, and god knows I've snapped plenty of others.
I got one of these and works a treat with one issue. So much force can be put on the offside rim edge that after I had installed a VERY tight Challenge tubeless CX tyre I discovered that I had bent and dented my rim!
works a treat with one issue
‘Bazooka works a treat in butter-knife fight, albeit with one issue (risk of permanent self-deletion)’ 😄
Have used the same three Pedro'
s levers for the last ten years after a mechanic friend gave them to me. I snapped one of them the other month trying to get a Schwalbe G-one off a rim.
Replaced with two more Pedros levers.
I had a problem with some superstar Road rims years ago, and it was due to the thick rim tape and me not knowing about getting the tyre right in the centre groove. Thinner tape, better technique and doable by hand. All of this thanks to STW advice.
I got one of these and works a treat with one issue. So much force can be put on the offside rim edge that after I had installed a VERY tight Challenge tubeless CX tyre I discovered that I had bent and dented my rim!
I actually had to use this again last night for another pair of very tight tyres. Normal tyres levers would not do it but these did it easily. Now I know to not go ape with the amount of force my rims were fine.
I’ve always used the blue plastic Park Tools ones or the plastic Pedros ones. Only broken one or 2 of either in 20 years.
Cheap as chips as well
Without wanting to deviate to far from the OP question - this whole 'technique' thing of getting the tyre right into the centre of the rim all the way round - how does it work, then?
I've tried it, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I start to push it in the centre of the rim, but by the time I've got all the way round the tyre it has inevitably moved, is no longer seated in the centre of the rim & seems to make very little difference. How do you get it to stay in the centre of the rim as you work your way round?
FWIW - I generally use the blue Park tool levers, but have some red Bontrager ones that are OK too.
Park tool ones are pretty good - I think I've only ever broken one, although I have bent/deformed the end of another one so much it was pretty much unusable.
Without wanting to deviate to far from the OP question – this whole ‘technique’ thing of getting the tyre right into the centre of the rim all the way round – how does it work, then?
I put the wheel on the floor with the valve at the bottom and leaning against my knees. I push the bead into the centre of the wheel well at the top and with both thumbs push the tyre bead down both sides on the wheel along the wheel well (pushing quite hard) so by the time you get to the bottom there is just enough excess bead at the bottom the pull it off the rim. It doesn't work with all rim/tyre combinations but it will with most.
How do you get it to stay in the centre of the rim as you work your way round?
BITD a couple of toestraps around the tyre and rim; in today's workshop a wrap of tape or re-usable cable ties should do it.
I've never had this method fail but I did draw blood from both thumbnail beds (thumb nail beds?) once on a pair of tubeless-ready wheels using non-TR tyres and tubes
this whole ‘technique’ thing of getting the tyre right into the centre of the rim all the way round – how does it work, then?
It doesn't. Or at least it doesn't with any of the 5 different tubeless tyres I have put onto my Cosmic Elite UST rims.