#992 in Sports & Outdoors
Reddit mentions of Park Tool TL-1 Tire Lever (Pack of 3)
Sentiment score: 4
Reddit mentions: 10
We found 10 Reddit mentions of Park Tool TL-1 Tire Lever (Pack of 3). Here are the top ones.
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The unique design of the TL-1 actually lifts the tire away from the rim and keeps the tube from being pinched.Tire Levers are made of nylon to ensure long life and damage-free operation.Sold in sets of three
Specs:
| Color | Blue |
| Height | 0.75 Inches |
| Length | 8.5 Inches |
| Release date | June 2008 |
| Weight | 0.02 Pounds |
| Width | 3.25 Inches |
You require a tire lever good sir. This is especially true for the particularly narrow road tires (25-28ish) where it's basically a necessity.
If you live in the states I would treat every road the same. Keep oncoming traffic to your left, and pass slower traffic, moving the same direction as you, on their left. <- edited.
Here is a video that shows you the general idea about adjusting a front derailleur. I would suggest searching youtube to see if you can find a video that addresses your exact derailleur.
Give your chain, chain rings, and cogs a look over. If they appear to have a lot of sand/grit in them brush it off. I would then run the chain thru a cloth with some degreaser on it. Then reapply some chain lube like this stuff as shown in this video.
> I keep seeing people post about how they'll never ride after a rain because of their brakes. Why not?
I am at a loss for this one. Riding in the rain is wonderful.
I would highly recommend spare inner tubes or a patch kit, a tire pump and bike tire levers. I have been unfortunate enough to have both my tires pop while on a long ride. If you plan to go on longer rides get a cage or two and water bottles.
I would inflate the tires to 65-70 for a firmer ride.
What kind of saddle does your mom's old bike have on it? If it is one of those massive gel saddles, get rid of that thing and get a harder seat asap. I know it is counter-intuitive, but harder saddles are actually more comfortable than those big gel seats when the ride lasts longer than a few minutes(the gel seats tend to let you sink in to where you are sitting on your perineum instead of your tailbones which gets really uncomfortable fast). You will also want to change the saddle out if you are a male, as seats are designed differently for men and women.
Riding with traffic is a bit scary at first, but you soon get used to it. Learn your local laws about a cyclists rights on the road, as they vary from place to place. One thing you need to learn as a cyclist on the road is to realize that you need to control the situation as best you can. Do this by taking the whole lane when you need to, and remember, ALWAYS TAKE THE WHOLE LANE WHEN CROSSING THROUGH INTERSECTIONS WITHOUT A DEDICATED BIKE LANE. This prevents some cager from cutting you off into a ditch/car/sidewalk/pole etc. Another good way to control the situation I've found is to stare people down who are planning to turn in front of you. Somehow forcing that eye contact lets them know not to pull out in front of you. The biggest thing to worry about is complacency, if you get complacent, you might just end up dead.
As for commuting, I commute to school(3.3 miles), and I use a book bag. But by the time I get there I'm normally sweaty, and the area of my back under my book bag is really sweaty, so if that is a problem for you, you might want to look into getting a rack and/or panniers to put your bag on while you ride.
Maintenance is pretty easy on most bikes, and you shouldn't have to do much in the ways of maintenance. They most you will really have to do is occasionally wiping off your chain and re-oiling it, especially after it gets wet, and the occasional brake wire tension adjustment. You should check your tires before every ride, and by this I just mean squeezing them to make sure they are still pumped up, no need to check the pressure or anything. For all your maintenance needs, you can consult Sheldon Brown, that site has just about everything you will ever need to know about bikes on it.
On the subject of tires, if you are going to commute you must learn how to patch a tube(consult Sheldon Brown to learn how), and keep the supplies necessary to do that with you(not as hard as it sounds), unless you want to be walking your bike home after a flat. The things required to fix a punctured tube are all cheap, you just need a few tire levers, a patch kit, and some sort of pump. I recommend a full-sized frame pump over the other smaller hand pumps, as the frame pumps can achieve much higher PSI ratings, which is essential for road bikes.
p.s. Sorry for the long post
Mine are older and milky white but look close.
http://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-TL-1-Tire-Lever/dp/B001B6NFH2/ref=pd_sim_sg_1
I run a bar of soap and a wet finger along the inside of the bead when I'm trying to install a difficult tire (e.g. Gatorskin).
I also pry pretty hard with the Park Tool tire levers. They're made of durable plastic which
You just need some plastic tire irons, some tires are really hard to just get on by hand, they only weigh a handful of grams and you can easily pack them in a saddle pack. https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-TL-1-Tire-Lever/dp/B001B6NFH2
Park Tool or Pedro. Last forever, can't go wrong.
http://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-TL-1-Tire-Lever/dp/B001B6NFH2/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335817776&amp;sr=1-1
I did not purchase the repair stand but that would make working on your bike a hell of a lot easier. I'm pretty satisfied with the purchase I made although the multi tool is a bit of a pain to use. Always good to have one handy though. Upgrading from a pair of $15 headlight/taillight combo, the difference is incredible. Unless you do off road riding, the metro and hotshot get the job done pretty damn well.
The biggest difference between cranksets is roundness, a more expensive crank is going to be rounder which means there's a smaller difference in chain tension which means it "absorbs" less energy is more silent. Expensive cranksets are also stiffer, but unless you're putting out 3000 watt that isn't really an issue.
That conversion kit looks like a bad idea, it's a bunch of the cheapest components being marketed as "hip".
They're called riser bars, as long as you find a bar with same diameter (probably 25.4 or 26 mm on older road bikes) you can keep the stem and headset.
Park makes super nice tools, and that stand is a great choice. But I'd really consider buying tools along the ride, instead of shelling out big time for this huge set. Since you are a tool guy you probably already have a good part of those wrenches and keys, so it'd be better to move a bit of that budget towards your bike.
For this conversion you'll need these tools:
This totals about half of what you'd pay for the complete set, so I'd go for the complete set if you need all the wrenches, but otherwise you can put an extra $100 into your conversion.
A simple tool to help got the tire off and on when you need to change a flat.
Here is a shot of a tire lever in action...
http://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-TL-1-Tire-Lever/dp/B001B6NFH2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1372116179&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=park+tool+tire+lever