Embarrassing Question - Broken Tire Levers

C Keller said:

I bought a used Bike Friday on Ebay and I'm trying to put on new tires. These are 20 inch wheels
and I just can't seem to get the old tires off.

I'm really very good at changing tires on my regular road bike.

What is the technique for removing a tough tire?

Since you are presumably throwing the old tire/tube in the trash, have you tried prying it off with
a big flat-head screwdriver? It's not a tool I would use on a tire I wanted to use again but it's
quite effective.

I've had good luck with tough tires by using two tire levers next to each other at the same time.

--Bill Davidson
--
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In article <[email hidden]>, "C Keller"

Quoted message said:

I bought a used Bike Friday on Ebay and I'm trying to put on new tires. These are 20 inch wheels
and I just can't seem to get the old tires off.

I'm really very good at changing tires on my regular road bike.

What is the technique for removing a tough tire?

Squeeze the wire beads together all the way around the tire. The idea is that most rims are a little
raised toward the outside and squeezing the beads into the center will give you a little more slack.
I learned this trick as a tire mounting trick so do the same as you put the new tires on, it can be
the difference between sucess or failure (or at least serious frustration and bruised thumbs).

Tom Gibb <[email hidden]

C Keller' may have said:

Help!

I bought a used Bike Friday on Ebay and I'm trying to put on new tires. These are 20 inch wheels
and I just can't seem to get the old tires off.

I'm really very good at changing tires on my regular road bike.

What is the technique for removing a tough tire?

As someone else mentioned, squeezing the tire's beads together in the middle to allow them to drop
into the spoke channel will give you more clearance. I have a collection of cheap spring clamps I
use to make this trick easier. Pull the valve core out of the tube so that you don't have any
residual inflation fighting to prevent this from working.

If all else fails, a big honkin' screwdriver will pry off any tire, but be sure you've got a new
tube to use with the new tire, because you're going to need it.

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Werehatrack said:

If all else fails, a big honkin' screwdriver will pry off any tire, but be sure you've got a new
tube to use with the new tire, because you're going to need it.

...and if you're prepared to discard the tire and the tube, you could just cut them off with a
utility knife; much easier than the big honkin' screwdriver (although you don't get to use the term
"honkin'" to describe it afterwards).

--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian may have said:

Werehatrack said:

If all else fails, a big honkin' screwdriver will pry off any tire, but be sure you've got a new
tube to use with the new tire, because you're going to need it.

...and if you're prepared to discard the tire and the tube, you could just cut them off with a
utility knife; much easier than the big honkin' screwdriver (although you don't get to use the term
"honkin'" to describe it afterwards).

Don't forget the dikes for the wire bead, though. (Although if enough of the tire is gone, the bead
will usually slip over the rim's edge easier than when it had lots of tire attached to it.)

(I should probably note that my largest screwdriver would probably be regarded as a WMD by your
friendly neighborhood paranoid federal government; it's a trifle over a yard long, and the blade's
about 20mm wide.)

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Werehatrack at [email hidden] wrote on 9/6/03 11:59 AM:

Quoted message said:

(I should probably note that my largest screwdriver would probably be regarded as a WMD by your
friendly neighborhood paranoid federal government; it's a trifle over a yard long, and the blade's
about 20mm wide.)

"My, that's a big one..."

-- The Insane Guy in "Dirty Harry"

Werehatrack said:

(I should probably note that my largest screwdriver would probably be regarded as a WMD by your
friendly neighborhood paranoid federal government; it's a trifle over a yard long, and the blade's
about 20mm wide.)

That's not a screwdriver. It's a crowbar, or an automotive tire-iron! <G>

I have 6-foot long demo bars that are shaped very much like a screwdriver...however, I think
it might be overdoing it to use something that weighs 3 times what the bike weighs, to get
the tire off.

--
Rick Onanian

serving spoons, the handle end, are good. nice & strong, yet rounded so they minimize tube
damage risk.

just make sure the wife never sees you sneaking out the kitchen with them!

jb

"C Keller" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Help!

I bought a used Bike Friday on Ebay and I'm trying to put on new tires. These are 20 inch wheels
and I just can't seem to get the old tires off.

I'm really very good at changing tires on my regular road bike.

What is the technique for removing a tough tire?

Cut it off, or snip the bead.

Bill Davidson <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<Pfn6b.113851

Quoted message said:

Since you are presumably throwing the old tire/tube in the trash, have you tried prying it off
with a big flat-head screwdriver? It's not a tool I would use on a tire I wanted to use again but
it's quite effective.

i think the screwdriver method would be more likely to damage the rim than the tire with a tight
bead. seen it happen with metal levers that were designed to do this. a screwdriver has a much
smaller contact point on teh rim, and i think you couldnt help but nick it, possibly even dent it.
depends on your rim, i suppose.

Quoted message said:

I've had good luck with tough tires by using two tire levers next to each other at the same time.

for seriously tight tires, i use the big fat park levers, two of them. i dont know the park number,
but they are notable as the tire levers that no one would ever take in their saddle bag. must be
some sort of shop version, i suppose. anyways, two of these some 10-15 cm away from each other,
usefd at the same time, will pop any tire off a rim. once that first bit is off, there is generally
enough slack to run a normal plastic lever around the circumfrence.

Werehatrack said:

Don't forget the dikes for the wire bead, though.

Who? Around here that is a politically incorrect term.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a _`\(,_ | conclusion. --
George Bernard Shaw (_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson' may have said:

Werehatrack said:

Don't forget the dikes for the wire bead, though.

Who? Around here that is a politically incorrect term.

Around here they spell the politically incorrect version with a "y" to make sure there's no
confusion, or so I'm told.

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My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
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Rick Onanian said:

Werehatrack said:

If all else fails, a big honkin' screwdriver will pry off any tire, but be sure you've got a new
tube to use with the new tire, because you're going to need it.

...and if you're prepared to discard the tire and the tube, you could just cut them off with a
utility knife; much easier than the big honkin' screwdriver (although you don't get to use the
term "honkin'" to describe it afterwards).

Well, you *could* use a big honkin knife, and get the best of both worlds.

Duke

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If all else fails, a big honkin' screwdriver will pry off any tire, >>but be sure you've got a new tube to use with the new tire, >>because you're going to need it.

Uh, I'm kinda new to this, so maybe I'm missing something here, but don't you run the risk of damaging your wheel/rim with the screwdriver option?

I guess it depends on how *nice* (read that expen$ive) your wheels are...?