Who do I sue?
 

When swapping tires the other day, I broke one of the plastic tire levers. Now I have only two remaining. Of course, this sent me into a tizzy, which can only lead to untold hours, months, perhaps years of pain and suffering.

So...my question is: do I sue the tire lever manufacturer, the LBS which recommended and sold me the equipment, my building manager for allowing me to do bicycle maintenance in my own living room, Joe from Bike Forums for providing a website that encouraged me to ride, eat pie, and repeat, or what?

I realize my Dream Team will sort all this out, but I thought I'd gather a few opinions here first.

Sue me! I have been paying for $1 million personal liabilty insurance for nearly 20 years and have nothing to show for it. I'll plead guilty and go half with you.

When I came across the thread topic, it didn't take long to surmise who posted it. Yeah, that's what I said...it didn't take long to surmise who posted it. Because Buddy Boy, panty waists like you may be a dime a dozen in today's world, but only you have the gall to go public with your immature yearing to exploit the corporate economic structure that has done so much for us all. Oh sure, products fail now and again, and sometimes someone suffers. But you? Your idea of a good time is tripping over the indoor-outdoor carpeting outside of Denny's and squeezing a free meal out of it. Then you put a dead fly in your cheese nachos and demand a free desert. Then you gobble up your free desert, stagger into the men's room, and scribble obsenites about the Denny's manager on the wall. All in a day's work, right Digital Gee? Well not on my watch, Bucko. The next time you decide to exploit the good will of corporate America, think about this: When was the last time you changed a tire with your bare hands, huh? I'm guessing never. So put that in your water pipe and smoke it until your hippy value structure blows out your sorry, litigious ass.

Someone needs a sense of humor injection...

I had a set of cheap Nashbar tire levers that I once applied to a cheezy MTB I was rebuilding. This item had those super-sturdy Kenda Chinese tires. Snap, snap, snap...One after the other broke in half.
I now use Park tire levers.

Someone needs a sense of humor injection...

I had a set of cheap Nashbar tire levers that I once applied to a cheezy MTB I was rebuilding. This item had those super-sturdy Kenda Chinese tires. Snap, snap, snap...One after the other broke in half.
I now use Park tire levers.

Don't think that you have a chance. Knowing your professed mechanical skills- I should think you could be sued by the tyre lever manufacturer as the label will state- "Can be used by any competent Mechanic". Give up now.

Oh, definitely sue......SOCIETY. After all, it's not your fault that you may be.....er, um...less than adept mechanically. They should have provided an atmosphere more conducive to you becoming a mechanical genius. And society has deep pockets too.

You could sue yourself for negligence and enter into a "structured settlement that spread payments out over, say, 20 years. The advantage of this is; any money you pay out for damages is tax deductable, while any money you receive for damages is tax free. Thus, through a structured settlement we can convert 20 years of income to tax free status. Again, because the parties would be amenable to settlement, the attorneys fees can be reduced. There is some complex tax planning involved, but it is doable. In fact, I'd be willing to do it on a contingency basis of 15%. Talk about a win-win! bk

I like this! Look for my PM... :D

Be careful on suing. It could very quickly turn into a defamation of one's own ability admitting to not knowing what their doing......

Get some Pedro's tire levers. The downside is they come in sets of two. I bought three sets so I'd have sets of three. They are much stronger than the skinny black ones. I broke five levers trying to get my Schwalbe Marathon Slicks off a wheel. The Pedro's did fine. Also, use the levers closer to each other on the bead. Sometimes I'm only an inch from the last lever. This reduces the force needed on the lever.

Sue yourself for buying plastic tyre levers. Real men use steel levers and simply deal with the HUGE weight penalty handicap on hill climbs and acceleration.


___
Disclosure:
1) Mountain bikes -- no tyre levers
2) Bianchi (Conti Ultra 2000 tyres on Campag. Omega rims = tight fit) -- 3 steel levers
3) Capo (700Cx28 Specialized) -- 2 aluminum levers
4) UO-8 (27x1-3/8" 70PSI knobbies) -- 2 aluminum, steel, or even Gary's plastic levers

Blame Fate for causing you to buy tires with a tight bead or tough rims or both, and for giving you massive biceps which snapped those rugged levers.

Being more of a wimp, I've had the same levers for years. They're were advertized as carbon fibre (still look like plastic to me) from the early days when cf was the answer to everything.

Incidentally, doing low repetition/high weight thumb presses every morning with a brick will condition your thumbs to push those "tight" beaded tires the last few inches. Old cyclist's trick forgotten by many of these youngsters like John E.

Crank Brothers Speed Lever
 

Crank Bros. Speed Lever comes with a lifetime warranty. I just broke mine and they're sending me a free replacement. Not bad for a $4.99 item!

So.... if my wife sued me we could settle out of court the day after she files saving a bundle in court costs as well....... Hehehehehehe.

We've got a new one in the white house? What happened to Bush? Someone has been drinking to much beer while posting I think.... :D

I say the first thing you do is move to New Jersey or New York. You might just make some real dough from it then.

It was most certainly due to the gibbous moon. Between that and the loss of an entire planet you shouldn't even consider getting out of bed. I recommend keeping pies under the bed.

Go for fatter tires that can be easier to change. You had me going for a moment 'til I realized suing over a tire lever had to be a joke. I am slow when I do not get enough cycling in.

Did someone mention pie and a gibbous moon in a thread about tire levers? Have you been reading my mind???



http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/.../Acid_trip.jpg

Bill Gates has the deepest pockets. Maybe you can figure out an angle there. Or sue the Federal Government because of President Bush providing a bad example by riding a bicycle.

Maybe you can take some pointers from this...Stella Awards

Com' on. If you're a real American, you'll sue everybody.