On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 09:37:14PM -0800, Jay wrote: > Just to be clear, the Kool Stop thing is not a lever. It's a ... > something else, designed specifically to mount tires without damaging > anything.
The Kool Stop tool is called a bead jack (I think). VAR makes a similar tool that has the advantage of being smaller (if you want/need to take it with you). Here's a picture and a post about the VAR tool: http://randonneurextra.blogspot.com/2009/02/making-life-easier-var-tire-lever.html or: http://goo.gl/6t3V3 Not my blog, and I've never seen it before today, but the write up rings true to me. There are people who insist you can mount any tire on any rim without tools... I'm sure the insist-or is right, for him/herself. But jeez... Torelli Master rims -- a rim with a notoriously shallow "well". I've spent waaaaay too long trying to get a tire mounted on a Master in the past. It's supremely frustrating. I know the tricks, but the tricks don't always do the trick. The VAR lever/jack (and presumably the Kool Stop jack) makes mounting tough tire/rim combinations easy. I prefer riding to fighting with my tires, so for me it was worth $15 and giving up the idea of "no tools, all the time" as concerns mounting tires. Not all rim/tire combinations are created equal. Sorry for the rant -- if you're one who can mount any tire without tools, that's great! I envy you! Stuart Fletcher West Seattle, WA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
