Bead breaker means when your tire has got a puncture and you want to uninstall the tire from the wheel then it is hard and stiff at the edges which are known as a bead, there are many things and tools which help in breaking the tire bead.
on the trails in emergency conditions, It becomes harder to break the bead since you might not have any tools on you, so here are best practices to break the bead easily and safely
Breaking the tire bead is usually a difficult process for a new tire and new rims and if you have replaced a mountain bike tire with a hybrid tire, some tires are thick and their rubber is tighter even though they need much more time to break the bead from hands or by using any tool.
Easy and Safe Bead Breaking Methods :
Apply force with your palms and hands on each and every place of the sidewalls of the tire bead pinching in the inward direction.
Wet the beads of the tire with isopropyl alcohol, it will easily penetrate into the inner side of the tire bead and make the bead flexible.
while riding on the trails always carry a small tool or small wrench by wrapping on the bike frame with the band through which you can easily pop out the tire,
The other simple and common method is that place the tire on a flat surface and stand on the sidewalls of the tire with your feet above the tire and push the force downward with your feet to press the sides beads of the tire, you can easily break the bead by applying this method, but it is also harmful if the tire is fully deflated, deflate half the air pressure from the tire and leave the next half air psi pressure within the tire, this process does not damage the sidewalls of the tire and the valve stem.
Break the tire bead from more than a single place, when the tire bead pops out from 4 to 5 places, it will easily unmount with the hand later.
bottles of sealant have a long nose which helps the sealant fluid to penetrate deeply within the beads of the tires, when fluid goes inward, the bead becomes slippery and soft and easily breaks from the rim.
You can also use the air pressure pump you are carrying with you on the trails for breaking the tire bead by hitting the pump on the tire bead but make sure you don’t use rocks or something pointy that can puncture the tire in the process that will just beat the whole purpose of it.
If your bike has a kickstand it can also work as a tool for breaking tire beads, you can uninstall the stand and apply force with your hands by holding the stand on the sidewalls of the tire, it will work the same as usual as the other tools.
Sometimes the tire is too much tight and a single tool is not working, you can use two tools, hook one tool in the tire bead and leave it in the same condition, now hook the second tool from a few distances like 5cm to 6cm away from the previous tool, apply force with your hands on both the tools the tire bead will pop out.
Why tire bead becomes stiff and how to prevent it :
Using a small amount of sealant within the tire then it evaporates and dries after a few months and makes the tire bead very stiff and harder, always uses a recommended amount of sealant within the tire and add more sealant in the tire for bead breaking and making the beads of the tire soft.
Use a better quality rim tape for the recommended tire, sometimes the width of the tire and the rim tape won’t work for the tire and it causes more difficulty when you are breaking the bead.
wrap a double layer of rim tape so that width of the tape would be enough long to reach from the right bead to the left bead, this process helps a lot in breaking the bead.
There are also removable valves available for the wheel which can be easily removed from the tire and through this hole you can easily pass the sealant fluid into the tire which goes inward, then shake the tire well with both hands, leave it for a few minutes when you will notice the sealant seat on the beads of the tire then the bead will easily break from the wheel.
There are many tools that are longer and shorter and are recommended for specialized tires and widths, you can check the width of your tire and then buy any tool from amazon.
Avoid the rim from scratching when breaking the bead :
if you are using any tool or any other method like a wrench, park tool or any other tool method avoid them to hit on the rim, the inner and outer surface of the rim will damage by using tools. it happens to beginners who don’t know the exact method of bead breaking, the tire needs to break the bead from one place by using any tool after that you can use any wood or hands to remove the tire from the rim.
Place any plastic cover or any rag cloth on the opposite side of the rim which is in contact with the flat ground to avoid scratching or dents and place the tire on the muddy surface which contains sand, avoid rocky and hard surfaces.
Park Tool For bead breaker :
It works best for wider and thicker tires especially for winter seasons when fat tires got punctured or any issue like you want to change the rim tape and replace the tire, park tool is recommended for breaking the beads of mountain bikes, gravel bikes, fat tires because it is heavier in weight and you can easily carry it on the trails in the safety kit. Roads bikes have thin and narrow tires and you can use any type of tool the breaking tire beads.
Can you use a screwdriver for breaking the bead tire :
The end of the screwdriver is pointy and naily when you try to hook them within the bead of the tire, it can cause damage to the rim bead and also the edges of the tier, sometimes if you have hooked with enough force into the bead it will tear the edges of the tire and it scratch the rim if its end went a little forward towards the rim, it’s not a good decision to break the tire bead with the screwdriver if you are a beginner always avoid screwdriver for breaking the tire bead.
Plastic tools and levers for breaking the tire bead :
Plastic tools are used for road bikes and narrower commuting bike tires, not for aggressive trail bikes like mountain bikes and gravel bike tires.
Plastic tools are made of plastic material with fiber that does not remain straight when you hook them into the tire beads, they suddenly break or become flexible and stretchy if the tire beads are hard and stiff, especially for mountain bikes.
What Does A Bead Breaker Do?
The above discussion about the tools of the bead breaker describes the mounting and unmounting of the front and rear tires of road and mountain bikes. bead breakers work to bring comfortability and easiness to bead and tire work by using them in a proper way, there are some tools that can cause damage to the rim and the tire beads and these will increase the rubber stretch of the beads which mostly do not remains tight in the future, all of these tools are described above.
Safety Tips :
Never hook the tire bead near the valve stem of the tubeless tire, and avoid the tool and your hands from touching the valve stem.
When one side of the tire bead is broken you can easily remove the other opposite side of the bead without using any tool.
Hook the tool within the tire bead just a single time for a single place, if you are hooking the tire bead for more than a single time your tire will stretch and it does not become normal at the time of installation.
hand thumb is powerful but dragging a downward force causes pain, wear gloves in both hands which can double increase the power of your hands for breaking the tire bead.
Deflate the tire fully and remove the internal pressure even a single air particle would not remain in the tire, if the tire is not fully deflated, it will cause a negative effect on the beads and the tire will remain stuck with the rim.
C clamps for breaking tire Bead:
C clamps are the recommended tools for tire bead breaking, you can hold the tire from both sides in the teeth of the C clamp and move the clamp in right and left position with your hand to make the bead flexible and easily removable, after repeating this process you will notice the tire become unstuck from that place, now change the position of the clamp and repeat the holding of clamp on four to 5 places of both sides of the tire, until it fully becomes unmount from the rim.