Mustang, I got your PM but can't reply to it because I haven't yet crossed the 50 post threshold Since I can't reply via PM, here it is, for all to see.

No worries RE recommendation. I really do like the VAR levers. They have succeeded where others have failed!

The 30 years bit is from when I first started riding as a kid. As a child, I rode my bike everywhere. I never once got a puncture. I stopped riding when I was around 18, and didn't take it up again until a few years ago. So in fairness, there's a big gap there. It's probably more like 10 years (riding when I was a kid) and another couple years as an adult. But 30 makes a good story, don't you think? Mileage is a good question. Thousands, easily, but as a kid I never concerned myself with the numbers. A bike computer was unheard of!

As to what tyres I was running back then.. whatever came with the bike! One bike was a kids' bike with pretty wide tyres. The other was a road bike, and my guess is the tyres were somewhere between 30 and 35mm. The next bike was a mountain bike. Very wide tyres, I'm guessing 40mm or so.

The bike I was riding (and still am riding) in 2009 is a Cannondale Synapse 4. The stock tyres were Maxxis Colombiere folding slicks, 23mm. Very nice tyres, and pretty good puncture resistance for what is ostensibly a race tyre. I didn't change them until I got a puncture and took it as an opportunity to install a Gatorskin at the back. I run a Vittoria Rubino Pro on the front. The Gatorskin isn't bad, but I feel it has slightly higher rolling resistance than the Rubino. Also, its handling in the wet isn't anything special. That said, it does an awfully good job of resisting punctures. I pulled out a chunk of serrated metal from the tyre some time back during a routine inspection. No puncture, so I was pretty happy.

The good news is that the Gatorskins do eventually become easier to remove and install. Over time, they stretch just a little and this does help. My method of removal (and installation too) is to use my hands and regular tyre levers (I use Pedros levers) to do the bulk of the work. Once I get to the really tough part, I pull out the VAR lever or the Koolstop tyre jack, and finish the job.

If you get no joy with the VAR levers (or some other tyre jack device), and you decide to replace the tyre altogether, the Rubino Pro isn't half bad. I routinely travel a stretch of path that I refer to as the Glass Gauntlet. It's never punctured from that glass, so I guess that speaks for itself, really!


Max