Under Pressure

As I now ride a tiny little lightweight bike with cheap little tyres I was persuaded that I could and should change my own tyres at home. I spent £10.80 on tyre levers, gave it a try and failed.

Yet again my crappy arbour press came in handy, this time as a bead breaker. "I am become useful, the destroyer of seals."

I levered the old tyre off without any problems.

I put the new tyre on without any problems.

I couldn't get enough airflow to seat the beads with my footpump.

The machine at he garage did no better.

I turned another wheel into an receiver, pumped it up to 60psi by foot and connected it to my wheel. Still no luck.

I turned the pressure vessel of my week sprayer into a similar contraption and failed again.

Eventually I had to ask for help, and completely negated the point of the whole exercise.

I could just go and buy a little compressor, but I don't think it would help. You need a huge receiver and high flow rate couplings and hoses. The helpful man at National Tyres said that their compressors are set to 200psi and blow down a hose as thick as your finger.

My spite filled research led me to another technique for mounting a tyre: A small explosion. People are successfully mounting tyres in an emergency by setting light to a ring of brake cleaner or cold-start sprayed into the rim.

Even by my standards this is a bit dangerous and a bit rough. I have been researching nice safe butane explosions and I've built both a butane deliver system and a piezo igniter that will fit through an automotive valve stem.

Here it is successful test of using it to open a shoe box.