Bicycle Mechanics - Are park tyre levers (TL1) useless?

The reason I mention this is than I'm putting together my first road bike, I built the wheels last weekend and got the tyres yesterday, since then I have spent several hours and much sweat trying to put some 700x23 tyres on them with the aid of the TL1s (http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_1.shtml). I was planning to give up until my flatmate made a random suggestion about the tyre levers looking weird so I dug around and found my old terry metal levers which are the same length as the parks. Hey presto, the tyre pops on with only a little sweat all thanks to the old levers. The parks are fine for MTB tyres but it looks like they are useless for roadies.

What do you guys use?

I use them everyday on road bikes?

There could of course be a large experience factor here and the everyday comment does perhaps give the game away :rolleyes: yet I'm hardly a novice (just a 700c virgin) and am just amazed that the levers made such a difference. My flatmate had a go with the parks as well to no avail.......

I use Parks ten times a day to remove tires. I use my superhuman thumbs to install them. It really is technique, you shouldn't ordinarily need to use tire levers to get a tire on.

I do sometimes use some old alluminum levers for really tight tire removal as they are thinner and take up less bead room.

KoolStop makes a levering tool that works well for installing tight tires, I couldn't find a picture of it, sorry.

I use Parks ten times a day to remove tires. I use my superhuman thumbs to install them. It really is technique, you shouldn't ordinarily need to use tire levers to get a tire on.


True if you aren't lazy like myself :D

I do prefer the QuikStik tire levers to the Parks, but the Parks are whats on my bench so they get used most of the time.

In all honesty I grab what has not been walked off with. As my coworkers never put anything back I may only have access to a ball point and a quarter.

KoolStop makes a levering tool that works well for installing tight tires, I couldn't find a picture of it, sorry.

Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack from http://koolstop.com/brakes/accessories.html

Thanks Regular guy, that thing is the deal for installing just out of the box folders.

I have the Kool Stop bead jack above. It's a good tool for pulling on tight tires in the shop. I have never used this tool from Park, but it looks like it would do the job.

http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_10.shtml

Crank Bros (www.crankbrothers.com) makes a folding tool that removes and installs tires. It works on the same principle as the Park tool above. It isn't really sturdy enough for the shop, but does a good job on the road.

Here's another take-along tool It works on the same principle as the Kool Stop bead jack. I've used the Crank Bros, but haven't used this one. It used to be made by VAR. I'm not sure who makes them now. Rivendell carries them. Terry may still have them, I don't know. I believe you can get them from www.bicycletoolsetc.com too.

Crank Bros (www.crankbrothers.com) makes a folding tool that removes and installs tires. It works on the same principle as the Park tool above. It isn't really sturdy enough for the shop, but does a good job on the road.


That's the tool I have for removing tires. It's a thumbsaver for sure!

Sometimes, I think you need the jaws of life to get a tire off... but that crank brothers tool works well.

Koffee

zipp wheels are the devil for getting tires off.

Metal tire levers have to be used cautiously to avoid taking divots out the edge of
the rim, or carving grooves and sharp spots in the rim. I have used a variety of
plastic levers, and all broke eventually til I started using the Park or the Performance
clones and have had no further troubles getting 700c tires on and off. My bent,
however had a set of slightly oversized 406 rims from Velocity that are a horror to
put wirebead tires on/off. Finally bought a new set of wheels which are much easier
to mount, about like 700c. Finally some rims are slightly larger and some tires are
slightly smaller and when these combine, it can make for a rasslin match. The rim
slider methods require a modicum of upper body strength to pry off the first 3" on
bead but after that strip the tire right off. Steve

As seen from various posts above, tire lever choice will vary from person to person as well as from tire to tire and rim combinations. Park Tool produces several tire lever choices for this reason:

TL-1 - blue, plastic http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_1.shtml

TL-2 - black, thinner and wider http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_2.shtml

TL-5 - steel, longer, for very tight beads http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_5.shtml

TL-10 - removal and installation system - http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_10.shtml

I have the Kool Stop bead jack above. It's a good tool for pulling on tight tires in the shop. I have never used this tool from Park, but it looks like it would do the job.

http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_10.shtml

I bought this tool and I don't care for it. Great concept with the longer handle to give you more leverage, but the way they designed the handle that goes between the rim and tire is really poor. The handle is not really attached to the bar securely, so it can easily comes off the rim during removal and installation of the tire. It's really annoying. I tried to make it work for me 'cuz it was expensive (for this type of tool), but finally gave up and went back to my Crank Bros.

Crank Bros (www.crankbrothers.com) makes a folding tool that removes and installs tires. It works on the same principle as the Park tool above. It isn't really sturdy enough for the shop, but does a good job on the road.

Great tool. A little flimpsy, but does the job well.

I have the Kool Stop bead jack above. It's a good tool for pulling on tight tires in the shop. I have never used this tool from Park, but it looks like it would do the job.

http://www.parktool.com/tools/TL_10.shtml



Will that fit in my rear wedge pak? I've got the medium sized one :)




Olds

Crank Bros (www.crankbrothers.com) makes a folding tool that removes and installs tires. It works on the same principle as the Park tool above. It isn't really sturdy enough for the shop, but does a good job on the road.

I was really sad to see crank bros. put their name on this product. it sucks. breaks under pressure. my $.02

Will that fit in my rear wedge pak? I've got the medium sized one :)




Olds

No, this thing is huge, it's made for a shop. But the Crank Bros one does. That's what I carry with me in my bag.

Will that fit in my rear wedge pak? I've got the medium sized one :)

The VAR and the Crank Bros tools will fit in seat bag. The Park and Kool Stop tools are made for shop use; they are too big to carry along.



I was really sad to see crank bros. put their name on this product. it sucks. breaks under pressure. my $.02

I've used Crank Bros Speed Levers for years. I like them. I have broken one and replaced another that was getting badly worn. As I said, I wouldn't want to use it daily in the shop, but for emergency roadside repairs, it can't be beat.

For what it's worth, Crank Brothers has a lifetime warranty on this tool. I've never tried to make a warranty claim on one (I figure any plastic tool has a limited life expectancy) but it seems to indicate that the Crank boys believe in the sturidiness of their product.

Sorry, I was just kidding around. I just carry those plastic park tire levers (3), patch kit, spare conti tube and minipump with guage....it works just fine for me. The pump can generate 105lbs, not fast but beats walking.

When I'm at home and need to do tire work I always use whats on the bike so as to keep in practice. Havent torn any tubes (talcum works wonders) and always do one last go around on the rim checking for pinches before final pump up.



Olds

hm..i use the patch kit levers that came in the one i bought at the local hardware store. they're cheap, plasticy, and bend, but they do the job. like the rev'nd says, use your hands. it also helps to have a mavic open pro rim and 23mm folding tires.

sd

I use thumbs to put tires on, and have a set of Park levers to get them back off. Short of extraordinary circumstances, like owning a set of Zipp wheels, you should never need tools to put tires on.

I've got a set of TL-1s and I'm not wild about them. I once had a set of cheap no-name slicks that were a 20 minute fight to get on and I bent the end of the TL-1 levers. A set of TL-5s would have helped!

Thakfully one of the cheap slicks exploded on a ride (thank god for mobile phones!) and I chucked 'em.

I use a park MTB-1 multi-tool (has pretty thick tire levers at the ends of each half) to take off the tires. I put them on with my thumbs. Takes a bit of doing sometimes, but I wouldn't want to have to use a tool to put them on. The couple of times I used a tool to put the tire on, I flatted out in a couple of days.

Installing a tire with brute thumb strength and finnesse is ideal. Occasionally you will find a rim/tire combination that just doesn't want to work. Tire levers like the TL-1 are designed to remove a tire. Using them to install a tire is a pretty good way to pinch or puncture a tube. It can be done, but it's risky. The tools I posted pictures of above a designed to install tubes without pinching them. I prefer not to use tools if I can avoid it. If I need a tool, I use the Kool Stop Bead Jack at home and the Crank Bros. Speed Lever on the road.