10-22-2024, 10:17 AM
(10-22-2024, 05:06 AM)m in sc_imp Wrote: to me, Balancing the wheel plus mounting is worth the 45-50 bucks per wheel that I pay (off the bike). they supply the weights, and take liability if the rim is damaged. maybe just me but it's liter³ally not worth my time. I can drop them off on way into work , pick them up on way home. I'd be ok paying 75 bucks tbh. but maybe that's just me.
(10-22-2024, 05:29 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: I pay to have my wheels done. Don't have or have room in my garage for a lift and tire changer, not going to kneel or bend for that long (I'm too old) and for me it's just a pain to do. For most people it's not even a once a year thing. For me it's probably 3 times a year between the two bikes. I make an appt, ride them in, wait an hour and both wheels are done, mounted and balanced (spun balanced at that) and reinstalled. Plus you get a free chain adjustment out of the deal.
One time I got a bad front tire, took the bike back in, test rode it and agreed, mounted a new tire out of their stock and balanced it for nothing.
I'd rather pay someone to do it, honestly.
There is a lot of truth to both these observations, and one needs to think about whether messing with it is what they really want to get into. I think ideally one would split the cost between a friend or two because it's a tool that's not going to be used frequently.
The main reasons I never wanted to change street tires are 1) the sheer physicality of breaking the bead 2) the difficulty of using tire irons with stiff street tires, which leads to 3) messing up the rims. But watching the videos and reading comments led me to believe that this unit might change the game a bit. And I think it does. It was almost laughably easy to break the bead and remove the tire. I can see that with repetition one could get more efficient with the process. Hopefully, this will be the case and I can do my own for a number of years yet.
An on-line acquaintance told me getting the rear tire of the W800 back on the bike can be an ordeal, so maybe I'll be whistling a different tune once I get there. Still, I like the challenge.