Blood, sweat and tires

[ny biker]

I've never had Grand Prix tires, but I've worn out several pairs of Gatorskins and I find them to be very flat-resistant.

I have a Kool Stop tire bead jack and a VAR tire lever. Both are great tools for getting a tire back on the rim. I think the Kool Stop is easier to find these days. I got mine years ago as a special order from REI. The VAR lever is smaller so it fits in a smaller bike bag, both are lightweight plastic.

http://www.koolstop.com/images/Accessories/TBJ.jpg

http://randonneurextra.blogspot.com/...ire-lever.html

I saw some tire levers at the LBS recently that had a special curve at one end to help you get the tire back on the rim, but I didn't notice the brand. They were red and kinda wide. Looking over the tools for sale on the shop's web site, I think they were these from Bontrager:

http://thebikelane.com/product/bontr...s-195716-1.htm

[rebeccaC]

My campy rims are hard to get tires on. A friend showed me a technique that’s worked well. When I get to the last hard section to get on I’ll start on the left of it on the bottom of the rim and push the tires beads into the well of the rim to give a little slack and use my fingers to roll what I can on. Then I repeat on the right bottom and roll what I can on the right. I repeat left and right until the very last section is rolled on. Finally you can push the tire in all the way around to see and make sure the tube isn’t trapped. I also keep a Visine bottle with a soapy water solution in my seat bag.

[Boudicca]

Amazon has the lever, and also steel cored tire irons. Tempted to buy both. I need to practice the roll on scenario though.