Thread: Latex tubes
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Old 07-30-19, 01:36 AM
  #11  
canklecat
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Try a tire bead jack like the Kool Stop instead of tire levers to mount tight fitting tires. Practically eliminates the risk of pinching tubes while mounting.

Schwalbe and Conti road bike tires fit so tightly on my rims that I can't mount them by hand. No amount of lube tricks will help. After pinching a couple of new tubes while trying to use plastic tire levers I ordered the Kool Stop bead jack. Never had another pinched tube. I even carry the bead jack in my jersey pocket on rides. Doesn't weigh much, just a little bulky, but no worse than the Topeak RaceRocket HP I also carry in the same middle jersey pocket. And it saves a lot of aggravation if I flat on the road. That's happened a couple of times and the KS bead jack earned it's place in my pocket.

Some users will modify the Kool Stop bead jack to be a little smaller -- cutting off part of the handle, or using a moto tool to grind down some of the material. I'd rather have the full tool for the easy leverage. Especially in winter with cold hands and arthritis aches in my thumbs and wrists.

And I doubt I'd bother with latex tubes unless I was running tubular tires. Probably won't do that either. Decent clinchers and ordinary butyl tubes probably get me as fast as I'm gonna get with this engine. I did buy a couple of Conti Race Light tubes but user reviews are pretty negative -- many reports of immediate tube failures, usually around the stem. I'll try 'em before deciding whether to buy more.
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