What's the trick to not scratching my new black rims when changing tires? Tried heat shrink on tire irons ,did not last.thanks for any suggestions.Kerry
http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-Rim-Protectors/dp/B000WJH28M or something similar. You have to use them religiously. It's easy to think "I'll be careful" this on this third lever and skip it.
Always tried to be careful, but the first deep rut or thorny vine that wrapped around them scratched them more that changing the tire ever did. Gives it some character though.
Rimsavers are your best bet, but as xymotic stated, you have to be diligent about using them as you move around the rim. Going to take a bit of getting use to, and a pinched finger or two, but it can be done. Have been having good luck with the large handled "Spoons" too. Found them to be not quite as rough on the rims as say the Motion Pro tire irons.
I think I saw something in the Motion Pro catalog on these. I just added a clear rim tape to the sides of my rims to help protect them. Honestly I do not see this doing any good as it is very thin.
When changing sportbike tires on painted aluminum wheels, I have used long rectangular pieces of plastic 2 liter pop bottles. The go around the tire irons. It's a bit of a PITA but not overly so. For dirt bike tires, I don't bother protecting the rims. They get scratched worse from normal riding than from changing tires even if no effort is made to protect them during tire changes. At least this was true of my anodized Excel rims.
I use the bottom couple inches from a laundry detergent bottle. Using the natural curve the bottle has, cut into 3-4" strips, you can use them to pry against and not worry about wrapping them around the irons. It works, it's a PITA at times, it's not 100% scratch free every time. Hope that helps.
That's what I use. I ride in rocks and change tires often. My rims look like crap. Black rims are worthless on an offroad bike. They look good in the showroom. I'm hoping the fad will return to silver rims again.
First ride on my new TXC and got a branch in the front wheel and stripped the rim all the way around. Made changing tires EZer.
All my rims are black on my bikes so I find myself changing tires a lot. I cut 2" length of 3/4" Plastic pipe (Pex tubing) then slice the pieces from one end to the other. Every time you need to move your tire iron just use another piece of pipe. Only bad thing is they don't have a rope attached to them and you must be careful they don't go inside your tire. A good tip is to count how many you start with...don't ask me how I found that out.
Follower Happened to me at D Mill back in May. I was not happy. First black rims ever and the rear gets lathed by a alder branch the 3rd or 4th ride. For real!?!?!?
Yup, would rather ride it than look at it. Still, I always thought silver rims looked better AND were easier to keep looking good. Hope they'll come back. For now, using rim savers.
Thanks for the ideas, not gonna sweat it much ,just the first bike we've had with black rims. Looked good in the showroom !
Duct tape on the tire spoon helps. A sharpie has been suggested and another is a Birchwood Casey super black touch up paint pen available from gun shops.
Just do like me and dont worry about the scratches and you wont get near as many. After all it is a dirt bike and not a show bike.
Take your wheels to a shop that does sport bike tire mounting. They use a machine and special tips so the rim wont get scratched. That's what I've done with my sport bike rims and supermoto rims. Cost's a few bucks but if you are not up to the task with spoons this is the only gauranteed way to not knick them up. I'm pretty good with spoons and irons and warm my ties up really well first and use lube but still... it's tough not leaving any detectable marks, esp in winter when the tires get like bricks.
