| I've done it before, it's not difficult really. One thing: it's hard work, though. You get better at it with time, but it does take some muscle. Also, it's very difficult to leave the rims unmarked when doing it by hand, but I suspect that's not really important on race wheels. The Abba bead breaker works well, but often times you can break them by hand, especially if you change tyres often (as you would on race wheels). The hardest part is getting the new tyre on the rim. You'll need 2 or 3 tyre levers for this. The only thing you can't do is dynamically balance the wheels as they do on a spin balancing machine. The Abba balancer only allows for static balancing, that is finding the heavy spot as it will rotate to the bottom.
Best thing is to have someone show you the ropes at a race meeting, who has done it plenty of times before you invest in the tools. |