Tyre bead breakers

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by muffles

Yeah I saw someone do that on youtube - it didn't stop burning IIRC though!

Once it's burnt up the fuel (the brake cleaner in this case) then there's nothing left to burn, you only need a little squirt of it to get it to pop

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Once it's burnt up the fuel (the brake cleaner in this case) then there's nothing left to burn, you only need a little squirt of it to get it to pop

Yeah it was a car tyre, don't know why it happened - I'm going to guess it was just too much, or some overspill onto the outside that then got lit?

Actually for seating the bead, I'm getting a 2nd hand compressor off Ebay...they seem to be starting quite cheap at least (some BIN's at ?40-?50) - it needs to have a 25+ litre tank to be good enough apparently. I think they can be quite cheap 2nd hand cos most demand pick-up only (pretty heavy items I guess).

Originally Posted by muffles

Actually I meant the disc problem - I want to be able to change tyres without removing the discs (i.e. minimum effort required). Looking at that design, the rim would lie on the rubber-coated bit, so that side of the disc would be off the ground (assuming the disc doesn't protrude that far out from the wheel). But what about the other side - do you prop it up with a bit of wood, etc?

Can't remember exactly what goes where when you put the wheel in.

All I know is I've never had any problems and never needed to remove a disc.

Originally Posted by Flamin_Squirrel

Can't remember exactly what goes where when you put the wheel in.

All I know is I've never had any problems and never needed to remove a disc.

OK, cheers. I'm going to just buy one and try it with the disc on, if I have to remove them...bah, well, will just have to

[yorkie_chris]

I use a vice to break the bead. Not heavy enough to use a spade directly.

[northwind]

Just a wee follow on from earlier... Removing tyres with discs on = easy. Fitting tyres with discs on = less easy. Personally I find it easier just to remove them and keep them safe, it takes all of a minute but it's one less thing to protect/worry about, and it also makes the wheel lighter and easier to handle (though see above comment about no muscles...)

I'm a huge fan of this:

http://www.nomartirechanger.com/product/show/6

Yes, it's expensive, stupidly so in fact, but it's ACE. Really makes things easy, and removes any risk of damaging the wheel other than through total negligence. It's a million miles from essential but as luxuries go it's a great one. All the videos show it used with a big changing rig but if you watch the vids it doesn't take much imagination to work out how to use it without. I use a big quickclamp thing (ratcheting g-clamp with huge pads) to keep the tyre in the valley (sometimes I use two) and the axle through the wheel as a lever.

I'm not totally sure I'd recommend it, because of the price and sheer needlessness of it... But I wouldn't want to be without mine.

A mechanic I was nattering to at a party reckoned I'd be fine just using the very big wood-lined vice on my workbench to break the bead when doing DIY tyre changes. Does that sound okay/can anyone see a problem with doing that? Also on the subject of DIY tyre changing, any recommendations on where to get tyre weights from? Most sellers seem to be aiming at garages and hence v. large quantities.

TIA,

Ceri

[yorkie_chris]

I use a big numb vice to break beads. Just put a bit of wood on one side so you don't damage the rim.

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

A mechanic I was nattering to at a party reckoned I'd be fine just using the very big wood-lined vice on my workbench to break the bead when doing DIY tyre changes. Does that sound okay/can anyone see a problem with doing that? Also on the subject of DIY tyre changing, any recommendations on where to get tyre weights from? Most sellers seem to be aiming at garages and hence v. large quantities.

TIA,

Ceri

It would work, yeah, but for the £21 (including P&P) that the bead breaker was off Ebay...didn't see the point in the hassle

Btw Ebay again for wheel weights, assuming you don't want less than one strip (4 x 5g, 4 x 10g I think). Which is about £1 lol. I bought a pack of 10 strips...

As long as you have a big vice its ok ... if you don't then its cheaper to buy a bead breaker than a massive vice

As for weights, I use 2nd hand ones (ones I have either taken off myself, or found on the floor at a track when the tyre man has gone!). Bearing in mind 2nd hand weights, the adhesive backing will be de funked, is I just use duck-tape over the top*

*It doesn't matter to me it looks a bit gash ... it actually gives the bike that racy look!!