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Let me start with the summary because I’m sure some of you have short attention spans.
Overall: I am pleased with the stand, and in comparison to the No-Mar changers, I think you get what you pay for in either, and both appear to be of excellent quality. If I were to do it again, I might make more of an effort to catch the No-Mar when they are doing the free shipping thing, but otherwise I am still quite pleased with the Cycle Hill, and for my own use it is great. It is far quicker and easier to change tires with this unit as opposed to doing it the old fashioned way with tire levers, knees, and 2x4s.
I ordered one of the Cycle Hill Tire Changers a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to installing the changer last weekend. The initial assembly was a piece of cake even though it did look a little overwhelming with the number of parts in the box. I think there were 11 bolts and screws for the assembly of the changer, all in SAE sizes. The assembly was very well described in the instructions that came with the stand. Even if you couldn't manage to take a wheel off a bike, you could follow these directions to assemble the stand.
After the initial assembly, comes the bolting of the changer to the floor. Having never really drilled in concrete before I didn't really know exactly what I was up against, but at least I already had the hammer drill, so off to the store to pick up a 3/4" masonry bit. (For the record, that is one big damn hole.) By about the third hole (when I was seriously running out of patience,) I figured out the trick is to start the hole slowly until the carbide portion of the bit was below surface level, at which point I could throw the drill into high gear and run her as fast as she would go. Now the unfortunate part is that it took me two and a half holes and four battery charges to figure that out. Oh well, I got it bolted to the floor and was happy.
Now enough of the install, how does it work?
I have changed out both tires on the Uly, and there is definitely a technique that has to be learned. I'm still learning it. The first tire was a huge pain, hell I probably could have come close to doing it by hand in about the same amount of time. (Of course I did start with the rear, which is definitely the tightest on the Buell.) By the time I made it to the front, it went much easier and quicker.
The bead breaker works as advertised, but I can definitely see the advantages of the No-Mar bead breaker doing the breaking at working level versus on the floor for the Cycle Hill as well as having the wheel sit up on top of the blocks so no worries about damaging rotors or sprockets. My method for keeping expensive bits out of the way was to throw a 2x4 on top of the wooden block on the changer and a 4x4 on the floor for the opposite edge of the wheel to keep sprockets, rotors and rims from the concrete. The bead breaker usage is kind of self explanatory if you have ever changed tires. I opted for the non marring bead breaker because I really don’t want to have to think about the paint on the wheels. I have some old car wheels that I need to strip of tires, so I may try the other bead breaker just to see what the results are, and if the alternative tip was money well spent.
I’m still working on trying to figure out how tight the rim clamps need to be to keep the wheel from spinning. Both times I had to retighten the wheel locks. I would start with them being what I thought was tight enough, and then proceed to chase the rim around the changer. (I sure am glad I left myself more room than I thought I would need.)
If anyone is interested, bring wheels and beer and we can change some tires.
Overall: I am pleased with the stand, and in comparison to the No-Mar changers, I think you get what you pay for in either, and both appear to be of excellent quality. If I were to do it again, I might make more of an effort to catch the No-Mar when they are doing the free shipping thing, but otherwise I am still quite pleased with the Cycle Hill, and for my own use it is great. It is far quicker and easier to change tires with this unit as opposed to doing it the old fashioned way with tire levers, knees, and 2x4s.
I ordered one of the Cycle Hill Tire Changers a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to installing the changer last weekend. The initial assembly was a piece of cake even though it did look a little overwhelming with the number of parts in the box. I think there were 11 bolts and screws for the assembly of the changer, all in SAE sizes. The assembly was very well described in the instructions that came with the stand. Even if you couldn't manage to take a wheel off a bike, you could follow these directions to assemble the stand.
After the initial assembly, comes the bolting of the changer to the floor. Having never really drilled in concrete before I didn't really know exactly what I was up against, but at least I already had the hammer drill, so off to the store to pick up a 3/4" masonry bit. (For the record, that is one big damn hole.) By about the third hole (when I was seriously running out of patience,) I figured out the trick is to start the hole slowly until the carbide portion of the bit was below surface level, at which point I could throw the drill into high gear and run her as fast as she would go. Now the unfortunate part is that it took me two and a half holes and four battery charges to figure that out. Oh well, I got it bolted to the floor and was happy.
Now enough of the install, how does it work?
I have changed out both tires on the Uly, and there is definitely a technique that has to be learned. I'm still learning it. The first tire was a huge pain, hell I probably could have come close to doing it by hand in about the same amount of time. (Of course I did start with the rear, which is definitely the tightest on the Buell.) By the time I made it to the front, it went much easier and quicker.
The bead breaker works as advertised, but I can definitely see the advantages of the No-Mar bead breaker doing the breaking at working level versus on the floor for the Cycle Hill as well as having the wheel sit up on top of the blocks so no worries about damaging rotors or sprockets. My method for keeping expensive bits out of the way was to throw a 2x4 on top of the wooden block on the changer and a 4x4 on the floor for the opposite edge of the wheel to keep sprockets, rotors and rims from the concrete. The bead breaker usage is kind of self explanatory if you have ever changed tires. I opted for the non marring bead breaker because I really don’t want to have to think about the paint on the wheels. I have some old car wheels that I need to strip of tires, so I may try the other bead breaker just to see what the results are, and if the alternative tip was money well spent.
I’m still working on trying to figure out how tight the rim clamps need to be to keep the wheel from spinning. Both times I had to retighten the wheel locks. I would start with them being what I thought was tight enough, and then proceed to chase the rim around the changer. (I sure am glad I left myself more room than I thought I would need.)
If anyone is interested, bring wheels and beer and we can change some tires.
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