Max's Miscellaneous Musings

I know this because they arrived to this site by way of a Google search for "gatorskins are a bitch to put on and off".  A kindred spirit, indeed. 

Some time ago, I wrote this post, in which I complained about how damn hard it is to remove, and particularly, install Gatorskin tyres.  I found myself avoiding riding, just in case I got a roadside flat and had to either a) spend two hours on the side of the road fucking around with regular tyre levers, or b) call MaxBabe.  I decided that I had to find a way to make it easier to fix a flat.  So I got myself a set of VAR tyre levers from SJS in the UK:

These levers work by using the notched side (in the bottom right corner of the picture above) as a pivot point.  Basically, you attach the notch to the rim, then use the hooked side (upper right corner) to catch the bead of the tyre, then pull the bead of the tyre onto the rim.  In the picture above, the lever in the middle is actually a removable item that you can use as a regular lever.  I just removed it altogether.  The VAR levers are basically a giant set of tweezers.  And boy, are they effective.

Riding home last night, I cycled through an underpass at a pretty decent clip.  It's on a bit of a bend and if you're not careful, your wheel can run over a rock and slip.  So when the back wheel slipped sideways, I figured I'd just gone over a rock (this, after near crapping my pants because I almost went arse-over in the process).  But metres later, I knew something was wrong.  Sure enough, the back tyre was down.  After a brief moment of denial, I decided I just had to get on with it and fix it.

So I flipped the bike upside down, removed the back wheel, got out all my tools, and pulled the tyre off with regular levers.  I found the source of the flat.  It was not a rock, but in fact a huge chunk of glass.  What I'd thought was the sensation of slipping on a rock was actually the tube insta-deflating and the tyre losing traction as it went all floppy.  I used my multi-tool to pry the glass out, and carefully placed it away from the path so that some other unfortunate cyclist would not run over it.

I replaced the tube and walked the tyre onto the rim with regular levers.  I got to the last part of the process, which is always tough, finger-breaking, lever-snapping hell.  I pulled out the VAR lever and sat it on the rim of the wheel, and hooked the other end under the opposite tyre bead.  One tilt of the lever, and the tyre was ON!!!!  I actually managed to change the tube and install the tyre in less than 15 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Happy day!!!!  It was not all rosy, however.  Having hand-pumped a little air into the tube, I pulled out my CO2 dispenser.  I hooked it up to the valve, and the dispenser shat itself and fell to bits.  FUCKIT!  It did seem to still dispense CO2 however, so I pulled out another canister (denial is a wonderful thing, I really should've just accepted it was dead) and tried again.  It dispensed CO2 alright, straight into the atmosphere.  So that's two canisters wasted.  I had no more left, so resigned myself to having to hand-pump the tube to a decent pressure.

Now, I should emphasise that whilst I have something approximating cyclist legs, my arms might as well be made of wet noodles.  I have no upper body strength.  So getting anything near decent pressure with a regular hand pump is nigh on impossible.  The pump is a Tioga model, but unfortunately I can't find a web link to it anywhere.  I guess it's been discontinued.  However, it is very similar to this Topeak pump:

It has a little foot pedal doodad that flips out, the pump head is attached to a tube (so you don't break the valve with vigorous pumping), and the handle unfolds into a L shape.  Basically, it's an eeny-weeny track pump.  And it is ten kinds of awesome.  I was able to pump up to a pretty high pressure.  Probably not the recommended 110 PSI, but I'm guessing somewhere around the 80 PSI mark.  Definitely high enough to nurse the bike home.

Finally, I futzed around for a bit trying to fit the wheel back to the frame, eventually got the thing in, and made my way home.  It actually took me longer to get the tube inflated than it did to fit the tyre!  Overall, I think I spent 30-45 minutes on the whole exercise.

Did I mention that all of this was done in pitch black?  Thank god for my helmet-mounted Ayup light:

Unfortunately, I was set upon by a legion.. no.. a squadron of mosquitoes.  Why did I not bring the little aerogard spray bottle that MaxBabe bought me specifically for this reason?  Why did I leave the bloody thing at home?  I haven't counted them, but I'm guessing around 30 bites on my legs, arms and shoulders.  Oh well.

Lest this post turn into a whinge, I would just like to say this:  my VAR levers are fuckin' awesome.  And so is my Tioga pump.