Difficult tyre removal : puncture.

[531colin]

s you apply pressure to the tyre lever, the bead will want to go into the well of the rim on the sides - if there is too much friction for this to happen, you must maintain the pressure on the tyre lever and squeeze the tyre together so the bead can move down into the well.

I will try this next time.Colin 531 pointed out the problem I am having ie its sticks after long use.I have just bought 2 packs of 5 tubes as it works out to only £3.00 each.

1-The Schwalbe marathon is the one I had problems with.Are Vittoria ,Continental etc easier to fit /remove??
If they are then if I have problems in the future. I will resort to a hacksaw and replace with a easier to fit/take of brand.I did explore Cugels suggestion but opted for another one but would not recommend as took time.I did buy a spare wheel from the local recycling site so that I could practice for £3.00

2- Why are levers so short.? I searched in vain for a long cycle tyre lever.

3-Can we bring back capital punishment for people who litter roads with broken glass.?
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I ride Brompton,Hetchins 531

Just have a practice. You don't need long levers, or special skills or special tools of any sort.
All that is necessary is to understand that to get the thing off or on, you need the bead in the rim well.
i'm now 77, and I have some arthritis in my hands. i can still get tyres on and off, although i might struggle with pickle jars!

or, get folding bead tyres; because the bead is flexible (not elastic!) you can get them off without levers

[Brucey]

IME contis are often a bit tight, but vittorias are more likely to be 'size'. Rims can make a big difference too. In many modern designs, the well is shallow and rounded, making it both less useful and more troublesome than a deeper, square-sided rim well.

Park tool make a longer 'workshop' tyre lever, but IMHO the extra leverage it offers is as likely to cause tyre damage as anything else, in the wrong hands.

[Cyclothesist]

It's true that certain combinations of rim and tyre are a lot tighter than others. Tubeless ready rims often have shallow wells that can try even the experts if fitting a tubed tyre.
Ultegra WH6800 wheels are tubeless ready with v shallow rims. I gave up fitting Lithions to those as it was such a struggle even with all the bead in well plus 2 toestraps tricks. Duranos / Schwalbe Ones go on with significantly less fuss (though fitting a new one does require all the tricks).
It's also much easier to fit/remove a warm pliable rather than a cold stiff tyre. Fine for planned indoor tyre changes but a bit harder to arrange when the p******* fairy visits on a cold dark November evening. Odds on it'll be in the rain too.

[Cugel]

Just have a practice. You don't need long levers, or special skills or special tools of any sort.
All that is necessary is to understand that to get the thing off or on, you need the bead in the rim well.
i'm now 77, and I have some arthritis in my hands. i can still get tyres on and off, although i might struggle with pickle jars!

or, get folding bead tyres; because the bead is flexible (not elastic!) you can get them off without levers

I yam tempted now to make a tyre collection of those that are a right *!$!* to get on and off, especially with certain rims. I will insist you come to demonstrate your technique, in front of the video camera, with these awful rubber rings.

By the way, I should mention that there's no point trying to use pickle jar lids as tyres.

[willcee]

Interesting contris, a quick story, highlighting this issue, some years back pre covid I was providing teck advice , knowledge, services and broomwagon to a friend who ran a Belfast based tour operation , he had a Trio of Aussie men and one woman on a supported tour around Ulster, staying overnite near me, and at 8 am he called me to get up 4 miles away and have a look over their equipment as someone was having tyre issues, so put the stand in my estate a track pump and a few tools and low and behold met the 4 of them about 2 miles up the road and started to find out what was up, quick chat and look at what was happening ..
i knew this wasn't a side of the road repair as the remains of 3 broken tyre levers lay on the ground.. they couldnt get the rear tyre off a fancy 8k Trek which had non std wheels originally tubeless carbon now alloy but fitted with normal tyres but the rims were tubeless ready ..
So i had the chap and his machine down home and sorted in about 45 mins... and he called the others and agreed a stop in a coastal town some 10 miles distant.. they couldnt get the tyre to move down off the small ledge inside the tubeless ready rim so broke the three levers, plastic is no use here I said you need steel , i gave him an old one for his kit i showed him how to use the talc and he over indulged having talc all over himself and his wheel and tyre..he was a nice man, paid me for my bother, and i left him and his machine to the coffee shop and we stopped at a chemist shop and bought 2 small tins of talc ..i left them in high spirits and enjoying the remainder of their outing..w

[Barrowman]

At the risk of thread drift, how many punctures before you bin the tube.
I was on quite a big group ride and my mate punctured for the second time before coffee. I offered to repair the tube until I counted the patches already on it. 27 since you ask.
I gave him a new inner tube.
I have broken a few tyre Levers (mostly cheap plastic) over the years .
I now carry Park Plastic Levers and I do have some steel Dunlop Levers at home.

[willcee]

As you ask..ONE..and it goes in a hook with all the others!!!!! Personally i dont reuse one puncture patch tubes the ''rubber'' and the ''patches'' dont stay adhered especially in sunlight at a coffee stop..i use them for give away to friends who want a spare tube or 3..but 27 is bloody ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!...w

[Barrowman]

As you ask..ONE..and it goes in a hook with all the others!!!!! Personally i dont reuse one puncture patch tubes the ''rubber'' and the ''patches'' dont stay adhered especially in sunlight at a coffee stop..i use them for give away to friends who want a spare tube or 3..but 27 is bloody ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!...w

I concur. One is enough .

[531colin]

I have only just stopped using tubes labelled 27 x 1 1/4; I stopped using them because they aren’t big enough for the tyres I use now, not because the patches can’t be relied upon.
When tubes were real rubber, you cleaned them with a Swan Vesta match and a bit of spit, and put the solution on. Bung the patch on when the solution is tacky put it back in the tyre pump it and ride….because the rubber absorbed the volatiles and it dried on.
Butyl rubber tubes need 2 thin layers of solution and let it dry completely before you patch; best done in batches at home. The original butyl used to split under the patch, so your tiny patch for a thorn ended up on a big split….and failed

[LucyEliz]

Steel levers though - they scratch the rim, don’t they? They do when I use them, anyway.

[rareposter]

Steel levers though - they scratch the rim, don’t they? They do when I use them, anyway.

They're not ideal but sometimes they can be invaluable on really stubborn tyre/rim combinations.

Cycle repair books used to suggest that you could use a spoon handle if you didn't have tyre levers. Many years ago, a guy brought a bike into the shop with a puncture asking us to fix it. He'd fixed it but it had gone down again. No worries.

Inflated the tube a bit to find the hole and what had caused it and there were 4 neat pinprick holes in a line about an inch long. Hmm. Asked what he'd done and he said he'd read you could use a spoon to put the tyre back on but he didn't have a spoon to hand so he'd used a fork as a tyre lever. Except he'd used the tined end rather than the handle and in forcing the tyre back on, he'd obviously unknowingly poked the fork into the tube...

I swear most people should never be allowed anywhere near bike maintenance.

[Jdsk]

...
Inflated the tube a bit to find the hole and what had caused it and there were 4 neat pinprick holes in a line about an inch long. Hmm. Asked what he'd done and he said he'd read you could use a spoon to put the tyre back on but he didn't have a spoon to hand so he'd used a fork as a tyre lever. Except he'd used the tined end rather than the handle and in forcing the tyre back on, he'd obviously unknowingly poked the fork into the tube...
...

Argument by analogy!

: - )

Jonathan

[briansnail]

IME contis are often a bit tight, but vittorias are more likely to be 'size'.

Thanks for that. I am ordering a Vittoria as a spare.If the Marathon Schalwbe does not play ball and cooperate.Straight to the recycling with it.After a few well aimed kicks.

[briansnail]

Interesting contris, a quick story, highlighting this issue, s

We like interesting stories.You have made for a lot of happy people.Nice to know other people can suffer with bicycle tyres. Not just a few.

[Paul A]

Avoid scratching the rim when using steel levers by sliding a piece of cardboard or similar roadside litter between the rim and the lever.