Hey buddy... It was no offence to you. I hadn't even seen your post let alone your comment about the tubes heating up.. Saawwwy

Levers are a very personal thing. I probably own every type imaginable. I've used them all A LOT. Spoons are no gimmick. They've been around from the beginning. I find them lovely to put the tyre back on. I actually use a combination of one smaller motion-pro lever to get them off too. Having a lever with good grippy handle helps a lot too. Especially if it's cold and your hands are sweaty or it's raining. Frozen *heat transfer* fingers and skinned knuckles anyone ??

As for tyre damage. I believe they cause less. The smooth 'spoon' rolls the bead nicely over the top and spreads the load. In my experience, it's the smaller 'pointy' levers that tear rubber off the bead.

But hey.. Horses for courses.

15 punctures a day in Tanzania. They weren't mine. They were my riding buddies that I fixed for him. Along with countless others. Standard BMW tubes on his F650gs. I only got one flat that day on my HD's. We were riding thorn bush hedged roads. It's almost impossible not to get a flat on them.

I think I fixed near to 100 punctures on mine and mostly other peoples bike while in Africa. The tubes and patches are always cheap crap from Asia. They puncture like water balloons and the patches and glue are also bicycle stuff. They're not heavy duty enough.

Quality counts...

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.