REVIEWS OF EZ-CLINCHER BIKE TIRE MOUNTING TOOL
EZ-Clincher Pocket Tire Tool Review
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley
Rating: 4 stars
Hot
- A ride-saver for too-tight tires
- Small, flat and thin to easily fit in a pack or pocket
- Only 32 grams
- Easy to use
- Tool won’t pinch the tube or damage tires/rims
Not
- With the trend toward wider rubber, a tool for those tires is needed, too
One of the most frustrating things about fixing flats and changing out tires today is that not all tires are user-friendly to install. Some simply fit way too tight or don’t fit at all. And, even when a tire is an easy fit, it’s possible to mess up during the installation and make it difficult to install.
For example, if you run a too-thick rim strip or a tube a little too wide for the tire, it makes installation much more difficult. Also, if you don’t know how to easily install a tire, you can end up with the tire cockeyed on the rim, which turns the install into a wrestling match you’ll lose.
Another issue is flatting on a cold day when your hands are so numb you can’t work the tire on. Or maybe you have weak hands or arthritis that limits your grip and dexterity.
Risks of Using Tire Levers for Installation
For all these reasons, you might reach for your tire levers to force on the tough tire. Even though you’ve probably heard or read the old adage, tire levers are only for removing tires not installing them.
The reason for that rule is that tire levers, because they get slid beneath the tire, may contact the tube during tire installation and puncture it again or pinch it and pop it. And on tubeless tires, forcing a tire on with sharp edged prying tools can damage the tire and cause a leak that sealant may not fix.
Safe Tire Tools
Fortunately, inventors have been working on the problem of safe tools for tight tire installation forever. The thing is that it’s about 9 inches (23cm) long so you probably won’t want to carry it in your pocket or pack (though you could if you had the space).
The Pocket Tire Tool
This is where the new Ez-Clincher Pocket Tire Tool comes in. It’s only about 5 inches long (13cm) and 0.5 of an inch (11mm) thick. It weighs only 32grams. It’s the perfect miniature tire jack to carry in your pocket or pack.
According to Ez-Clincher, their tool is made of a high strength engineered resin and it’s designed to provide a significant mechanical advantage to let anyone mount stubborn tires.
The way it works, it only touches the tire and rim. It can’t puncture the tube and it’s designed to be safe for tires, too, so you don’t have to worry about harming the bead on tubeless tires.
Using the Ez-Clincher
Operating the tool is easy, but it didn’t come with directions in the package, apart from the illustration on the front. So I visited their site and watched their short video/animation. [Note from EZ-Clincher: On the card that comes with ez-clincher is a QR code that takes you to our website that includes written and video instructions. See our videos here.]
Easier to Do Than to Explain
It may sound complicated but I found it intuitive and easy to do. Overall, I think it’s a very nice new tire jack tool that you’ll want to have if you ever struggle with too tight tires. I suspect the gravel gang will see these reviews and Ez-Clincher will decide to come out with a version for fatter tires, too, which will be just as well received I’m sure.
Read entire review on Road Bike Rider
Unsolicited Review by Tony Marchand of Tony 10 Speed
I like your tire tool though it took a bit to get used it. I’m going to drop by a couple shops locally and let them try it. I live in a cycling city and think there would be a market for your tool. I guess if the shops are interested they’ll contact you. Good luck.
Oh yeah. [I] wanted to mention that I’m 79 and my wife is 75 and we want to keep riding ‘till we can’t. So any tool or device that allows us to carry on with cycling is welcome.
- Denis M., Eugene, OR (November 2022)
I got my EZ Clincher tool in the mail today, I just tried it out with a tubeless Compatible rim and a Continental Gatorskin tire (known for being hard to mount on any rim, but particularly difficult with tubeless compatible rims). It works flawlessly!!! I’m putting it in my fanny pack now, [so] I’ll always have it with me on rides. I’m leading a club ride this weekend, I’ll be sure to show it off to my riding buds.
- Bill G. in Baltimore (November 2022)
I found out the hard way how breaking the beads of 700 X 25 could be without tools. And I do have lot of experience with lot of frekin pain and blisters those last 10 inches of beads on bike tires. I had so many issues with breaking the bead of tire and installing new inner tube and reinstalling my old outer tube.
I found about your smaller version of bike hands tool that helps with installation of beads. In fact your tool showed amazing results. I do like it and it does help with last few inches to install tire pretty quickly and efficiently. See my videos: EZ Clincher Tool Demonstration | EZ Clincher Tool #shorts
-Ismar, Redondo Beach, CA (October 2022)
I purchased four ez-clinchers from you some time ago. The bunch I ride with (about 20 cyclists) were pretty impressed with the tool and several asked me to order some for them which is why you’ve received an order for 10 more. Thank you so much for inventing this tool and saving many retired old guys fingers.
~ Jan A., Sydney Australia (August 2022)
I highly recommend the ez-clincher regardless of the type of tire you have on your bike. I ride with as many as 20 other riders and inevitably someone will experience a flat. The ez-clincher takes the struggle out of the game, work smarter not harder. It’s a must for all cyclist.
~ Douglas S., Los Angeles (October 2021)
I use Continental Hardshell Gatorskins on deep rims for commuting into London. I dread that flat and the struggle to get the tyre back onto the rim without straining and shredding the skin off my thumbs. I did some online research regarding Gatorskins and fell upon EzClincher……..compact and simple to use. Amazing. Thank you!!!!!!
~ Timothy H., United Kingdom (2021)
I am thrilled with the Ez-Clincher tool. I run with 650 tires that are notoriously difficult to put on. My heart falls when I feel that tell-tale mushy ride. I have struggled for hours trying to get those darn tires on and some times I admit defeat and take it to the bike shop. Even the bike mechanic said these tires are really hard to install. Not any more!! I just had the easiest tire installation EVER using the Ez-clincher. It literally took seconds. No more pinched tubes, calling for rescue, sweating, blisters or sore thumbs trying to get that last bit of bead onto the rim. It is so freeing to know I can fix a flat by myself. The tool is worth every penny. Thank you!
~ Sherry W., Cerritos CA (2021)
I’ve been an avid cyclist for over 30 years. I commute to work by bike, ride about 8K miles a year and do my own repairs. Two years ago, I bought a FUJI carbon fiber road bike. It had OVAL aero rims. After several rides I got an inevitable flat tire. I thought, "No problem, I carry two spare tubes, I have a pump and 3 cylinders of CO2. I’ve fixed many flats in my 60K+ miles of cycling (including a cross country ride from Colorado to DC)." To make a long story short, I ended up calling my wife to come get me because I now had three tubes with holes in them, no CO2 cylinders left, and you can’t pump up a tube faster than the air escapes through the hole. I could not get the tire back over the OVAL rim without using my tire irons, and they were pinching the tubes.
I saw an ad for the EZ Clincher and thought that it was worth a try… And it was. For the first time with the OVAL rim and Continental GatorSkin foldable tires, I was able to get the last part of the tire bead over the rim without pinching the tube.
Thank you for a really great tool!
~ Arnie B., Sammamish, WA (2021)
Just wanted to let you know that I got another flat today and used the EZ-Clincher. Based on my feedback, the other cyclists we were riding with placed orders. I watched your video and the one on youtube when I got home but with any luck (and a new tire just installed), I won’t get a chance to try it out again for a long time.
Thanks for developing a needed tool.
~ Lisa B