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What tyre levers?
Just as an(other) extra for my lad for Xmas
Yep, you heard it, 'what tyre levers', I'm still using some I've had for donkeys years but he's still using spoons.
What won't break or damage the rim nowadays? 🙄
Pedro's
More of the same ones you've had for years? 🙂
More seriously I got some free from Alpkit at an event last year and I rate them.
Pink Pedro’s
In the shop we use pink pedros, theblink is easy to see so it’s hard to loose them.
And they last us longer than the park blue we used to use
Park heavy duty ones. Like bringing a Gatling gun to a knife fight
TL5C
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On bike - Lezyne Power
In toolkit - Park BIG GUNS as above.
Park heavy duty ones.
+1
I just got some schwalbe ones from zee germans. They are meant to help with tubless tyres as they clip onto the rim and stop it coming off as you faff to get it on. Not tried them yet but after the battle I had with my xr4s I thought they were worth a go.
These...[url= http://https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/var-tyre-levers/ ]VAR Levers[/url]
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On bike - Pedros - feel and look very solid but so many places for mud to get stuck in
Workshop - Topeak Supersteel
Pedro's.
And there's no need for anything bigger. If he's struggling with them, get someone competent to show him how to fit and remove a tyre.
Superstar steel core have been good for us.
Literally cannot remember the last time I needed to use tyre levers…
crank bros things worked for me trying to fit wtb tcs tyres...
I love these Topeak ones, cheap too. Think I paid a tenner for mine a decade back
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/topeak-shuttle-tyre-levers-1-2
soma steel inner ones. posh bastard me
+1 for pedros
Literally cannot remember the last time I needed to use tyre levers…
Swoon!
Pedros here too
Park blue for me, I’ve got some Topeak shuttle levers somewhere too, I used them once and they did the job.
Bontrager
Schwalbes flat things.
They're fantastic
Decathlon.
As others have said you don't need the big ones.
As others have said you don't need the big ones.
There speaks someone who has never tried fitting box fresh Challenge ope tubulars.
Also, OK, 24?
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Red Bontrager ones.
flat head screwdriver
If he's struggling with them, get someone competent to show him how to fit and remove a tyre.
I've got a couple of WTB on scrapers to come off and the new Maxxis to go on. Thanks for the offer 😀
Do you collect?
Park plastic ones for me at the moment.
If you've been biking that long, I'm surprised you have't got some Greentyre levers - they're the bomb!
Oh, and metal levers are the worst!
Greentyre! Were they the solid tyres that had a brief outing in the early 90s? It took zip ties and massive levers to fit the buggers in the shop I worked in. Terrible things especially if the shop boy did a big skid and flat spotted them
Bez, you are welcome to try and install some fresh out of the box Corsa Speeds. I use the long Topeak for installation and removal. For all others I've been OK with thumbs, but the tubeless Corsa Speeds are just impossible.
Whatever ones that were in the Halfords puncture repair kit I brought 20 years ago. Still fine.
Yeah, I’m sure there are some tight buggers out there, but if I found them I’d probably stop using them for that reason. Mostly though I was just thinking of idly trolling tubeless users 😉
The one tyre lever I do still have just in case is the Crank Bros Speedlever. If that doesn’t get a tyre off, nothing will.
Lezyne powerlevers are way better than Pedros- they're thinner and have a perfect hook. The only downer is they're not as strong- I've broken the tips off a couple over the years. But they're cheap enough that I don't care, since they do the job better than anything else I've tried
Do you find thinner is better? I have a set of decathlon ones that are quite flat and wide and they seem really good, more contact with the bead. Levered a vittoria tubeless cross XL on the other day absolutely nae bother, which is a known beast of a bead.Northwind - MemberLezyne powerlevers are way better than Pedros- they're thinner and have a perfect hook. The only downer is they're not as strong- I've broken the tips off a couple over the years. But they're cheap enough that I don't care, since they do the job better than anything else I've tried
End of the day no tyre removal problem was ever solved with more force (although it might seem that way to the ham of fist). It is more technique that gets the job done - steel cores, strengthened levers etc make little difference if you know what you are doing.
I mean thin in terms of thickness/fatness rather than width. So what you mean by flatter I think. I'd never really thought about width tbh
I keep buying the blue Park ones. I’ve broken a couple but that’s fine, they’re cheap.
Agree with Bez. Tyres that won’t thumb on are a long walk waiting to happen. Levers should be for removing tyres.
You need the thumbs of a cockney nutjob
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Topeak Shuttle for me.
The Park ones I’ve used for years can’t cope with tubeless or my daughters bike.
Topeak Shuttle sorted them in minutes
Ok, can someone fully explain the correct method for removal and fitting as I get through loads of plastic levers.
Thanks!
Sitting the as much of the tyre as possible in the central well of the rim is the most important thing for manipulating a tight tyre, regardless of levers.
For a real brute of a tubeless tyre you should finish at the valve.
As for the levers themselves, I guess techniques differ, but a sort of rapid chivvying on without excessive force is how I do it. Firm persuasion, not futile heaving on the levers.
I wait until I think it's not looking before I try to get the last bit seated. Element of surprise coupled with a zen-like focus is key.
I'm also wondering how bloody strong Bez's thumbs must be!
Yellow Michelin ones but they're like rocking horse poo so probably not.
A good substitute is the blue Schwalbe ones which both lock together so you don't lose them (much) and lock onto the spokes so you can work around the rim.
I have Pedros they are really chunky so hopefully less likely to break, but more importantly [b]bright colours[/b] rather than black - this means when you are in the dark woods in the pouring rain fixing a puncture you can actually find them again after you've dropped them. This has been a revelation for me. So will going tubeless no doubt.
It's a pity Schwalbe levers are so soft (I've managed to bend a couple into uselessness), as this feature is actually pretty useful
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Blue park tools ones. Cheap as chips, pretty hard (NOT impossible) to break. I've got about a dozen in various kit bags, saddle packs, backpacks etc.
It's not that hard to do without levers. There's a knack to it.
All the bead has to be in the well of the rim, otherwise you've got no chance. And you have to make sure you've worked your way around the rim gathering slack. And for refitting, there's a technique of pushing the bead on.
I don't carry levers, not sure I could find any. Last time I needed some I think was about ten years ago when I had some wire beaded Gatorskins on the road bike. Well, I say needed - I fixed a puncture on the roadside without them, but I wished I'd had some as it was a right struggle.
I've some random metal levers but haven't needed to use them in an age. Maybe road tyres are harder to get on than MTB?
They are excellent however for dis-assembling children's play equipment when they have those barbed and slotted joints so that's what they get used for these days.
I thought I was reasonably competent at changing tyres and setting up tubeless until I got stranded the other day on my 27.5+. First time it'd got a flat and managed to break a pair of blue park levers trying to get the thing off the bead - and I think my fingers are reasonably strong (climbing), normally don't need levers. It was cold out but I couldn't get the tyre off at all (WTB trailblazer on Charge 40mm rims).
Took me about 3 tries to get a tube in without it pinching, tried setting up tubeless but it's that tight it splits the tape in the well of the rim. Steel levers are the only option in this case!
Bit of a hijack but anyone got any experience of good rim/tyre combos for 27.5+? Ideally tubeless and not too pricey!
I have park ones, MBUK ones (which are pedro copies), and pedros. I also have a couple of sets of cheap metal ones too
Pedros definitely the best (MBUK ones too)
I would have thought that metal ones would scuff the rim? That's why I haven't used mine
I'm using Scraper i45s and Nobby Nics. No problems here. Easily set up tubeless using 50mm tape, Stans fluid, WTB valves and a track pump.Bit of a hijack but anyone got any experience of good rim/tyre combos for 27.5+? Ideally tubeless and not too pricey!
Specialized Pry Babies (long since discontinued) are the best. Planet X used to do a knock-off version (obviously) which were just as good - the only time I've ever had cause to say something good about PX!