Tyre levers? spoons, screwdrivers.................

[Steve McQueen]

Fairly new to cycling and just got my 1st P******e.
Tried to remove tyre from rim and broke all the plastic tyre levers in the kits given me as pressies. In the end, i had to use a few stubby flatbladed screwdrivers and have marked the rim, bummed.

What did i do wrong? any tips? The first tyre lever would hook OK, but the 2nd lever couldnt get the tyre over the rim without breaking in two.

where can i get some decent levers or should i just tape up the stubby screwdrivers?
There is no way I would have gotten that tyre off at the side of the road!
Does temperature play a part as the bike was outside and its been sub zero?

Thanks for any help.

[trickywoo]

If you are talking 23 x 700 tyres they are hard to get off (and back on the rim) and being cold is no help.

Tyre levers are the way to go - its possible the ones you had were poor quality...

The trick is not to try and prise off too much at a time. Work in small sections until the first bit of tyre stays off the rim unassisted then you can slide the leaver between the rim and tyre to get the rest of one side off. Once you get that far it should be possible to pop the tyre off using fingers and thumbs.

Putting it back on is even more fun as there is always the risk of pinching the tube and having to start from scratch.

[Steve McQueen]

yeah it was 23 x 700's.

Did some browsing and I'm going to go for some "nylon coated with a steel inner" rather than the crap in Halfords puncture repair kits.

The good news is it's stayed up, so i havent nicked the new tube!

[JPJ]

Pedros make some quite strong nylon ones, which are also quite wide so the don't tend to break. If the levers have been in the shed/garage for a while, it might be worth trying to warm them slightly first to prevent them snapping.