Dear Bikey Sneeze...

May 6, 2013

"Dear Bikey Sneeze,
I have found a method which some of your readers might be interested in..."
etc.
I often lie awake at night imagining that people would actually correspond with me in a similar manner as the famed Heloise!  Ah, the hypothetical glory!  Heloise will hit you upside the head with practical advice about topics ranging from the mundane to sublime with breezy aplomb.  Some of her tips are even bicycle-related such as this one - a timely reminder to get your child's noggin encased in a helm prior to rolling them off down the street on a two-wheeler to joust with their path of springy/summery destiny!  Tally-ho, lads and lassies!  Tally-f-ing-ho!

Here is a bicycle-related tip that I picked up from a friend of mine on Facebook.  I think that if he had actually addressed this tip to me it would have been quite a thrill. As it was, since it is bicycle-related, it was merely mildly thrilling.

To mount or remove a bicycle tire from a rim, you can use any of the 3 methods depicted. Plastic tire levels like the one on the right cost around $8 to $10 a set of 3 at your LBS. They tend to warp under pressure and over time. They make them thicker to compensate, but this thickness makes it tough to grab a seat on the tire so you can stretch it over the rim. Metal levers like the one on the left work way better, but they are ridiculously priced- $20 plus for a set of simple bent steel. Paint can keys, like the one pictured in the middle, are the way to go for my own personal bike tire and repair needs. They're virtually free. They're available in any hardware store. They don't bend. They are perfectly shaped to grab the edge of your tire w/o pinching the tube. Use a paper clip to attach the handle end of the paint can key against the spokes.

I hope this helps you through your tyre tube replacement tasks.

Blessed bicycling to you, Ben Lincoln, and all other potential correspondents.  And if I seem a little too needy, that's probably because I am.