With a heavy EQV needing new front tyres every 20k I was looking into options to change my own tyres. I did replace tubed cross tyres before with tyre irons and motorcycle boots to get it in place. But tubeless is another level. So during a sale I decided to get this tool pictured below. I think I paid just over 100 EUR.

However I can’t recommend it at all. Normal price is 199 EUR which is way too much for something that doesn’t work that well. The things that did work for me are mostly limited to the tyre bead breaker at the bottom. With the big lever that is very easy and effective. Besides that it’s a benefit from most other similar tools that the wheel is off the ground to work on.

And that is where the good news ends. There is a tyre spoon included which I was clearly expecting too much from. For starters the tool wasn’t finished smoothly so I had to grind the rough edges from it before even using it and then coated it with plasti dip. That doesn’t work though, the plasti dip is stripped off right away. At least the tool was smooth now.

After trying it on my rear wheel I noticed it still scuffed up the paint of my rim so I put it away and just used tyre leavers like I would normally do on tubular wheels. That worked and with the help of some rim protecters I could prevent more damage on my wheel.

The other issue I had with this tyre changer is that it is listed for 17″ wheels but the chuck that sits on a spindel to move it outwards doesn’t go outwards enough to easily put a 17″ wheel in there. So it is either out of spec or just bad design. That looks like something I can easily fix for the next wheels, but the point is, at that price I shouldn’t have to.

Then the front tyre I got the tyre off, not using the offending wheel spoon. Getting the new one on I somehow thought I should give that tool an extra chance and try it again on the front rim also. The 90° degree ball is for mounting tyres, getting the last bead over the rim. The straight one on the other end is for removing a tyre from the rim. Anyhow I managed to also damage the paint on my front wheel using this part.

And then it didn’t even get the tyre on the rim. It looks like the issue is that I couldn’t keep it angled straight and then it gets stuck. So I put it away for good this time, decided to just cover the damage with some plasti dip to repaint it later on and used regular tyre irons and rim protectors again to get the front tyre on the rim. That worked perfectly and even more controlled in my experience.

Needless to say I’m disappointed in this tool. I looked around for alternatives and so far I could only find one design with a different approach on forcing that tyre on the rim and it looks very similar to how automatic machines work. Those have some kind of duck looking head that goes around the rim. On the picture below you can see it in action.

At this point I’m not ready to cash out again. Downside of this one might be that you’ll have to either use it on a table or work on the ground. Price is similar at 99 EUR with current discounts. So if you don’t have anything yet and you want something I would rather look at this. Although having nothing but tyre irons and rim protectors should also work. And you still need those with these tools anyway.

For me, I’ll probably take my grinder and welder out and see if I can adapt the tool I bought to have a more fixed, adjustable length, arm with such a duck piece pivoting on the center.

I’ve already found those tyre ducks for sale on amazon, just need to work out a way to mount it similar to the pictures above. That one even includes protective plastic caps. The product pictures also show how these things work.