The VAR is a good tool, but somewhat fragile. Broke mine trying to dismount a studded tire a couple of winters ago. Wasn't that cold. Below freezing, but above zero. Good tool, but the plastic didn't like the cold.
Would like another one someday. Really was good at getting the tires on in fall and off in spring. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN On Nov 12, 11:33 am, Stuart Fletcher <stuart.fletc...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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-ti... > > 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.
