How to get Schwalbe Marathon MTB tires over the rim

[Steve O]

@wheels&wings 131704 wrote:

After studying all the input (thank you!) on my tire decision a couple months back, I ended up purchasing online a pair of Schwalbe Marathon MTB tires. It was shortly thereafter — before swapping out my old tires – that I ended up cracking my ribs, so I decided to wait on the tire change and just keep riding on the freebies from the shop. This morning, I got bloodied up again when my old tires slid on the wet pavement, so I decided it was high time to put on the Schwalbe Marathons.

Holy smokes, those things are crazy hard to get on!! I did one (the back tire), a process which destroyed five tire levers and took every ounce of strength I could muster. I watched a YouTube video which didn’t help much, but ultimately what saved me was a butter knife from my kitchen. I’m figuring the front tire will have to wait for another day.

Does anyone have any nifty tricks on how to get such tight tires over the rim of the wheel? Is it mainly a question of brute force? Thx!! w&w

Make sure all the air is out of the tube. It helps if you pinch the tire on the opposite side of where you are trying to get it over the rim. What this does is push the beads into the center of the rim, slightly shortening the distance across the wheel to the other side. Also, if you work from the edges of where it’s over the rim, just pushing an inch over at a time, it generally won’t break your levers.
Let me know if you want me to stop by to help (I’m back from LA Monday afternoon). I have tire levers with metal cores, which are pretty hard to break.

[trailrunner]

Some tires are notoriously tight and hard to mount. As Steve said, once you get the first bead on, move it to the center of the rim to free up a little wiggle room. Use the bottom of the palms of your hands to work the second bead on, and don’t be afraid to use some serious brute force. A little profanity will help. If that still doesn’t work, then don’t bother with plastic levers but go straight to metal levers, but be careful not to pinch the tube.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Mix dish soap and water and slather on the rim and tire bead, and the tires should slip right on. Just rinse off the soap once you’re done.

[DismalScientist]

I had the same problem with the studded version of the Marathons. I had to take it to Bikinetic to used their serious levers. In the meantime, my studded tires are permanently wedded to my mountain bike wheelset.

[hozn]

Investing in a tire jack is great; however, you do still want to be sure you can unmount and remount them trailside. The Crank Bros speed lever makes tire mounting really easy. Otherwise these other suggestions sound like best practice. Some rim-tire combos are just very hard. I would avoid using kitchen cutlery or metal levers if at all possible for risk of chewing up the rim.

[Rootchopper]

There are several videos on YouTube that show how to do this. Basically you can get one bead on. Then about 2/3rds of the next and then you are stuck. Make sure the tube has minimal air in it. Pinch the tire into the low point of the rim on the opposite side of the unseated tire bead. Pinch the tire around the rim. A little more bead with seat. Then repeat. Over and over. Don’t use any tire levers. Don’t try to force the bead with your thumbs.

Also, beer helps. Orally. You can try it on the rim too.

[Rockford10]

I had the same problem with that same tire. I broke two levers – one in the tire – and swore up and down trying to put them on earlier this year. The hubs eventually got the tires on and I decided if I get a flat, you will see me crying softly on the side of the trail until someone stops to help. Someone got me speed levers for Xmas because he thought they might help in case of a flat. All the you-tube videos in the world didn’t help.

[hozn]

Yes, some rims after just too large and tires too small. The tactics/standard practice of ensuring beads are in the center channel only go so far — and some rims (esp non tubeless ready) do not have a deep center channel. The good news is that once they stretch out a bit on the rims they should be easier next time.

Another option is to replace your rim strip/cloth tape with a layer of Stans yellow tape. That may reduce circumference enough to make a difference. I have lots of Stans tape and am happy to tape the rims if you would like. (As a bonus, then they will also be tubeless ready.)

If I were to buy one tool for this it would be the Speed/Speedier Lever as that might save you bloody knuckles.

[Tania]

@hozn 131736 wrote:

The good news is that once they stretch out a bit on the rims they should be easier next time.

I was going to say the good news is that once you figure out how to successfully wrestle a difficult tire/rim combination, you’ll be a tire changing wizard…

[Raymo853]

I am feeling guilty for not pointing out this risk in the original thread. I once somehow got a Schwable Racing Ralph tire on a Bontrager Rhythm rim. I do not know how. It never flatted which I should be very thankful for. The only way to get it off finally was to cut through the Kevlar bead of the tire. I was so mad, I may have suppressed the memory. But it ended my purchasing of Schwable MTB tires. I am sticking to Bonti AW3, Conti X-Kings and Maxxis Ardents henceforth.

[vvill]

I had this issue with studded tires too – broke a lever and rendered at least one tube kaputt. I suspect those tires are staying on those rims forever – it was a cheap durable wheelset anyway. (I would probably get a ride home if I had a flat too far from home on it, but studded tires tend to be pretty tough.)

[Raymo853]

@Raymo853 131758 wrote:

The only way to get it off finally was to cut through the Kevlar bead of the tire.

I found my photo of this cutting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/4uK-yAETJ0/

[TwoWheelsDC]

I was able to mount my new Marathon Winters on my MTB with just my hands, which totally surprised me. For a minute I thought I must’ve bought the wrong size, but the 29×2.00 are the biggest they have, so obviously that wasn’t the case. Also, the tires that were on the rims came off equally easy, so I assume my disc-only MTB rims are just really forgiving…folding tires probably helped too.

[hozn]

@TwoWheelsDC 132452 wrote:

I assume my disc-only MTB rims are just really forgiving…folding tires probably helped too.

They are probably designed for tubeless so they have a deep center channel. Or you are just lucky to have slightly small rims or tires from a larger batch. That said, I have never had any problems with MTB tire un/mounting, at least in recent memory (which has been 100% Stans rims for a number of years).

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