thanks big H (what whould this sound like in Swahili?) for the info. when i thought of slipping the tyres off, I had in my mind the two metal tablespoons my dad used when he initally taught me to fix a puncture. however, that idea didn't really go with these black metal (whatever its made of.. -i bought the bike secondhand...), and the scrapes i'll probably have when done. but i found a set of similar (some sort of plastic) levers and it came off without incident... haven't thought of checking out the Gipiemme site tho - i'll go check it out even only for furture reference ;-) will also take a look in the bike shop for those levers you mentioned, coz my old plastic ones i'm concerned may not be that nice for those flat spokes (?). so thanks for the tips!
