Broke carbon rim with plastic tire lever

Good, I hope the “dumbass” clause covers it for you, especially now that Giant has said it is not a warranty.

Also, you may wanna get one of these tools for future flat / tire changes…will reduce the likely hood of repeating the mistake.

This looks very cool - have you tried it yet?

Not yet. I may be setting up some new wheels this week, and will report back if I use the Tacx levers for that.

These days, especially with carbon rims, you have to use every trick in the book to get the tire on.

I recently got some Farsports wheels. The first time around I really struggled to mount a new GP4000.

The second time around I went with a GP5000TL tire. I did:

Let tire sit in the sun for 10 minutes (really seemed to help)
Use lubricant (soapy water)
Start opposite the valve stem
Put first half of tire on, then install Valve stem, then start second half of the tire
Again, start opposite the valve stem
You have to really get the bead into the bottom of the center channel (this is key) and keep it there as you work towards the valve.

Also, wear heavy work gloves so you can get a good grip on the tire and pull it over the last bit of rim without hurting hands or fingers.

Doing all of the above, I was able to mount the GP5000 by hand.

If you are using tubes, use talcum powder as your lubricant.

I actually “won” against my insurance company at last. Giant and the seller helped me with a statement that the wheel couldn’t have cracked during riding, which was what the insurance company picked up from my first call to them.
I got a new wheel, a valuable lesson with how to deal with carbon rims and insurance companies.

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Great news - well done :+1:t2::+1:t2:

Glad you got it settled.

Gotta say though, what a copout from Giant.

I was paranoid setting up my Roval CLX64s recently after reading this read. Got one of those Kool Stop tools, but still had trouble mounting some S-works 28mm tubeless tires.

Then I read the Roval instructions, which recommended using a normal tire lever. It took all of 5 seconds with a Pedro’s lever to finish the job.

Hey Chad, did you ever get a chance to test that tacx lever set?

I was playing with it a bit on some new tires a few weeks ago. It seems to work OK, but is lacking on “bite” via sidewall engagement and slipped on a really tight tire. I ended up using the hair dryer technique to warm the tire for easier fitting and finished by hand.

I do think it may be a tool that can work in some cases, but is somewhat limited in ultimate function due to it’s smaller size. I have a full-on bead jack that I can use, but I still avoid that on carbon rims, and muscle with hands in those cases.

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Gotcha, thanks for the update.
I’m trying to decide what to pack in my saddle bag and this seemed like a better option than standard tire levers.
I won’t have a hair dryer, or the full bead jack with me on the bike :rofl:

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I suspect it will be a great tool for the pack. I tend to find that the hard to seat tires get easier once they have been installed and under pressure for a while. So, I think even these tough ones where it “failed” on my would be easier and likely work fine with the Tacx lever for a field repair.

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The best! I have 2: one for at home and one that I’ve sawn the handle down so it fits in my seat bag. I take the modified one on long brevets where fatigue/cold/rain may make changing a tire difficult.

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Yeah…had to call the Uber of Shame once when I couldn’t get the bead off the sidewall of the rim. I solved the problem by switching to a metal tire lever. Thin enough to get between the tire and rim to unseat it.

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