Tight Tires

[Dirt]

Gotcha covered here…

Some are really tight. I’ve had some that are so tight that I got frustrated and cut them off. That is, by far the exception.

Most modern rims have learned from Stan’s and put a groove at the center of the rim that the bead can drop down into in order to help make it easier to remove them from the rim. Make sure all the air is out of the tube and slide the bead of the tire to the center of the rim…. do this all the way around the tire. Most of the time this makes things a little easier.

Using good tire levers helps. I like Pedros quite well. Lyzene makes Awesome levers… strong, but a little pricey. Michelin make the best I’ve ever used, but they don’t sell them in America. The bastards. Quite possibly the only place that Park Tool completely fails as a company is in their tire levers. They work for the most basic of tire installations, but are nothing but a headache on tires that are challenging at all.

Technique helps too. Once you have the bead moved to the center of the rim, insert your first tire lever. Don’t start to pry the tire out yet. Just hook it under the bead. 2-3 inches to the side, install your second tire lever the same way. Hook the bead. Then and only then do you pry out the bead with your first tire lever. If it is a moderately tight tire, you should be able to pry the second lever and then start working your way around the tire. If it is a really tight tire, then you should hook the first tire lever on a spoke and reach for a third tire lever. Hook the bead on the third tire lever before prying out the bead with the second tire lever. If after the second tire lever the bead is still really tight, remove the second tire lever and hook the bead on the other side of the third lever before prying the bead out with the third. Continue this until you can slide the tire lever around fairly freely.

I’ve gotten pretty good getting even problem tires with 2 levers. I don’t have to reach for the third one very often.

All else fails, Lyzene make alloy tire levers that work remarkably well. They put a LOT of stress on the rims and usually are best handled with work gloves on to make sure you don’t chew up your hands by applying so much force to them. Lyzene specifically makes them fairly small to make sure that you’re not exerting enough force to really damage the rim.

Hope that gets you a start at least.

Rock on!

Dirt

[ShawnoftheDread]

Isn’t he asking for techniques to get them ON, not get them off?

[Certifried]

@ShawnoftheDread 35704 wrote:

Isn’t he asking for techniques to get them ON, not get them off?

In which case, a little glue or duct tape needs to be added to the cutting method.

[culimerc]

@ShawnoftheDread 35704 wrote:

Isn’t he asking for techniques to get them ON, not get them off?

Yup, tires off, not usually a problem. Tight tires on, seems to be a problem that I have with increasing frequency

[Bilsko]

I recall watching one of those how-to videos on youtube that recommended (both for tire on and tire off) that you start at the side opposite the valve stem. This is more important for getting the tire off, but may help in getting it on as well.

If you’re just swapping out the tube, and not the whole tire, then you may just want to get one bead of the tire off the rim, swap out tubes and then all you have to do is reseat the one side…

I run Michelin Pro-4s on my road bike’s Bontrager wheels and I frequently have trouble getting the tire on too.

[Dirt]

Interesting. Never had trouble getting tires on before.

Make sure that the bead is at the middle of the rim and not right next to the hook for the parts of the tire that are already on the rim. One tire lever to ease the bead on. Try not to let the tire lever come completely unhooked from the rim… slide and pry it on, slide and pry it on. You’ll need a firm grip on the rim and tire with the non-prying hand to keep the bead from popping off on as you pop it on elsewhere.

[Rootchopper]

I have this problem big time on my Bike Friday. Dirt was right in that you need to work the bean into the vallley in the center of the rim. I don’t recommend using tire levers to get a tire on. It’s too easy to puncture the new tube.

There is a YouTube video of a guy seating a Schwalbe Marathon tire. It pretty much tells the tale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

The killer is getting the stubborn last part over the rim. I use gloves to avoid getting blisters. Don’t try to push the bead of the tire over. Instead put your fingers toward the top of the tread. Somehow this gets the job done. Good luck.

[Dirt]

@Rootchopper 35722 wrote:

I don’t recommend using tire levers to get a tire on. It’s too easy to puncture the new tube.

Great point and great post. I still use one when I have particularly tight tires. You just really have to be careful.

[Greenbelt]

@Rootchopper 35722 wrote:

I have this problem big time on my Bike Friday. Dirt was right in that you need to work the bean into the vallley in the center of the rim. I don’t recommend using tire levers to get a tire on. It’s too easy to puncture the new tube.

There is a YouTube video of a guy seating a Schwalbe Marathon tire. It pretty much tells the tale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

Awesome video — deserves an embed:

[Tim Kelley]

@Dirt 35702 wrote:

Quite possibly the only place that Park Tool completely fails as a company is in their tire levers. They work for the most basic of tire installations, but are nothing but a headache on tires that are challenging at all.

Park Tool’s traditional tire levers may be a bit flimsy, but that’s why they make these! I prefer using one of the Pedro’s levers and one of the Park Tool TL-4s when working with tires.

[culimerc]

Apparently I’ve struck on the nightmare situation tire/rim wise. 32mm Marathon Plus tires on Stan’s 29’er rims. Good Times. I gave up and had The Bike Lane do it.

I did learn something tho. One was to work the bead that you’re mount into that center groove to help get any and all slack you can. and 2) I had taken out the Stans rim tape because I was breaking spoke nipples constantly, and had replaced it with Velox tape. The difference in the width of plastic over cloth made was the difference between not possible and one of the hardest tire installs EVAR!!

[DismalScientist]

I’m partial to just ripping the hell out of my thumbs.:mad:
Did that with a set of 27×3/4 Pasella Tourguards.

[vvill]

Most 29er rims are supposedly tough for mounting CX style tires because of their width (haven’t tried it myself but have been researching new wheels for my CX bike, and read this quite a bit online – even the bit about Velox vs plastic rim tape – my conclusion is I will get CX wheels for CX tires and 29er wheels for wider tires).

I have Pedro’s (due to a Dirt recommendation many moons ago) and Lezyne levers. I almost always need levers at some point. My thumbs can’t take the strain.

I definitely try to make sure the opposite side of the tire is seated as deep as it will go. I’ve only pinched one tube badly enough to kill it so far – it was a 26″ rim with a wire bead Nokian studded tire though. Due to that I decided to dedicate those wheels to the tires once I mounted the tire. Married for life. The 2 tires cost about the same as the wheelset anyway! I just hope never to flat on those.

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