Local shop here is now up to $40 a tire when I bring in loose wheels, and that's buying the tires from him as well ... other shops in the area are $50 per tire. Getting tired of it ... my riding buds and I were thinking of getting a changer/balancer and doing our own ... looking for recommendations of tire changers please ...

Thanks

 

it is not that hard to change a tire with tire irons, and a Marc Parnes wheel balance tool can be had for $115.00. for breaking the bead an 8 inch c clamp works pretty good.

 

https://www.nomartirechanger.com/tir...ycle-hill.html

 

I bought and used the Harbor Freight set up... once... It's ok, but you have to secure it to the floor really well and get a different tool to run around the wheel to get the bead over the rim (the supplied bar is all metal and too big/thick at the end). It does have a built in bead breaker, so that's nice. Depending on your wheels, you may also have to modify the shaft for what size your bearings are.
I have spoke rims, so now I just use three spoons and rim protectors. Just have to be careful not to pinch the tube putting it back together. For balancing, I used to manually balance with the wheel on a shaft by spinning numerous times to first find the heavy side, add weight, and repeat until it stopped at a different point with every spin. I then switched over to the balancing beads and will never go back to weights again (just have to really take your time with putting the beads inside an inner tube).

 

Depending on how much you want to invest in equipment (skys the limit), you can do as mentioned and go with tire bars, an inexpensive manual breaker, and tires beads for balance. Myself after changing my tires using the most basic tools and simple gravity balancers , I purchased a NO-Mar manual (can get pneumatic) tire changer, and a top shelf electronic computer controlled balancer. Problem solved, but you have to change a lot of tires to recover the investment!

 

this is the one i have and it works well but if i had to do it again i would get this one https://www.nomartirechanger.com/tc-ch100hd-plus.html that support arm that holds the center bar makes a big difference on larger tires

 

$50 a tire is cheap compared to what they charge around here. The local guy here that does it in his spare time charges $50.

 

We get $40 at the shop for a mount and balance on a carry in.

 

my dealership used to charge $1 to install tires that you bought from them. but they quit doing that and instead went to 1 hr labor per wheel. coupled with the higher cost of tires from the dealer anyway, and it made sense to buy myself a no mar changer. I didn't go bottom of the barrel, but not top of the line either. with a black Friday sale, it came out to less than $800 shipped. seems like a lot of money, until you figure out that the first time you change your own tires, using tires that you order online, you've already recouped half the initial outlay. I don't do a whole lot of tires, but with 2 bikes, I use it once or twice a year. I've already come out ahead.

the best part is being able to do it on your own schedule. if you feel like changing tires at nine o'clock at night, you've got the freedom to do so.

 

Absolutely! Why be held hostage to the dealer for what is basically a simple service due to not having the proper tool?
I picked up a No-Mar Tire Changer (Jr. Pro model) eight years ago and haven't looked back. I made the decision to purchase the unit based on what many here are saying. The labor charge of changing a tire is creaping higher and higher to the point it makes sense if you put on the miles to just do it yourself.

The No-Mar tire changer itself isn't absolutely necessary, but it makes it much easier. If one was to just purchase a bead breaking tool and a couple of good tire irons (the No-Mar tire irons are excellent), you wouldn't even need the machine.

The key to using a manual tire machine is understanding the proper way to get the tire both off and back on. Watch the No-Mar videos. The IMPORTANT point is to make sure you keep the tire bead in the drop-center of the tire. You need to push/hold it down or use some wood blocks.

When looking at the various No-Mar machines, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1. They offer two different bead breaker options. Ground level or waist high. Waist high is going to be much easier on your back and you'll be less likely to damage/scratch a wheel.
To make it easier for me to break the bead, I purchased a piece of 3 foot, 1-1/4" back pipe. I slip the pipe over the bead breaking lever and due to the increased leverage, it's very easy to break the bead.

2. On the machines with the waist high bead breaker, you'l be using the dog and cam blocks to support the tire. The actual process of using the No-Mar mount/demount bar, you will need (or should use) the No-Mar posi-clamps to clip the rim to the machine.

Personally, I'ver never had an issue removing a HD tire. But, I can't seem to use the mount/de-mount bar to install my rear 180/65B-16 tire. The sidewall is just too stiff for me. For this tire, I just use the No-Mar tire spoons.

A couple of ways to justify a No-Mar
1. Safety. Since I can change my own tires and I'm not worried about the labor charge, I tend to change my tires before they become a racing slick.
2. It makes a convient platform for changing your wheel bearings.

If you do end up purchasing a No-Mar, look into one of their package deals that includes the tire spoons, YellowThing and static wheel balancer.

Classic HD model --> waist level bead breaking
Cycle Hill HD model --> ground level bead breaking

YellowThing tech tip: When you remove the YellowThing tool from the tire and rim, you need to decompress the tire and then twist out the yellow thing. If you do not do this, you will rip the coating every time. Yes, I ripped the coating on mine. For a small fee, if you send the YellowThing back to No-Mar, they'll send you a new one.