cat0020

I've picked up a pair of 5-spoke carbon clincher wheels, they seem to be just a tad larger in diameter than 700c.



I have tried 700x25c Hutchinson, Panaracer and Maxxis tires.. all folding tires, but none of them seem to be able to even get one bead onto the wheel.

I know Michelin and Zipp tires are usually tighter fitting, are Continental, Schwalbe or Vittoria tires any easier fitting?

Sy Reene

My Vittoria Corsa controls were quite difficult to mount the first time. After inflation and sitting for a few days and then doing a tube swap, I found them to be the easiest tire I've ever mounted.. I guess they stretch.
edit: Were any of the tires you tried ever mounted and/or used on other rims previously? Or are all brand new? If brand new and if you have another wheelset, try mounting on that wheelset and inflate to 110psi or so and let sit for a while (eg. 48hrs).

You could try heating your tires in the oven.. eg. heat to about 150 degrees. Turn off the oven and let it sit for a few minutes. Bake the tires for 5 minutes. If you live in cold weather, put the rims outdoors for 20 minutes. Marry the hot tires to the frozen rims? ... just an idea; never tried it myself.

canklecat

Schwalbe One V-Guard and Conti Ultra Sport II were very tight the first time I mounted them or needed to repair flats. But they seem to loosen up with use. I suspect it's just excess rubber being worn off the bead from horsing them across the rim. But I got a Kool Stop tire bead jack to ease the process (with aging arthritic thumbs and wrists, it helps in cold and/or wet weather).

New tires have a layer of sticky gunk, possibly mold release, that makes them really difficult to hoist over a rim. This wears off quickly with regular riding. I use regular road bike tires on my Cycleops trainer and new tires always leave a gummy residue at first on the trainer's metal roller. It wears off quickly as the tire breaks in. I suspect that's the main reason some new tires are so difficult to mount.

If you already own a tire you can experiment with, trying carefully removing some rubber around the bead area. Nothing too dramatic, no skiving or shaving. Just burnish the bead area with something like a kitchen steel for burnishing knife edges, or a jeweler's file. I'd avoid sandpaper, etc., since it might embed grit in the rubber no matter how careful we are. And clean any burnishing tool carefully first since it would have fine metal shavings embedded.

cat0020

Both wheels and tires are all brand new..
Maybe the Polar Vortex cold weather doesn't help things, but I've put the new tires next to the wall radiator that warms up the house for a few hours,
storing the wheel in my basement that's usually around 40 degree,
additionally talc powder on the inside and just along the lip of the tire bead,
have one bead stretching on the wheel since last week,
I'll keep hoping for warmer weather..

Elvo

Maxxis tyres have been loose and easy to fit in my experience

Rocket-Sauce 

Tire bead jack

cat0020

I have tried bead jack, usually works best when you already have one tire bead on the wheel...
but I can't even get a single bead onto the wheel.
As pictured, the first bead can only go onto wheel about 4/5 of the way...

Dean V

27" tyres are bigger.

cat0020

These are not 27" wheels, they are 700c wheels.

Nagrom_

Mount your tires up on another wheelset 10 psi over the max. Let them sit over night.

Thank me tomorrow.

cat0020

Bingo, the same tires (that didn't fit the carbon wheels) mounted easily onto my old Ksyrium wheels.. pumped up to 140 psi.

biketube guy

Make sure you're using a clincher and not a tubeless tire. Tubeless beads can be a bear.

Clipped_in

I've found Vittoria Corsa G+ clinchers to be loose fitting. Great riding tires, easy for me to mount and remove without levers, but not all that durable.

I'm guessing that with a wheel like you have OP, durability is not that much of an issue.

burnthesheep

I'll agree with the above about buying a clincher vs. a tubeless ready. I'll also say, sit the tire over a heat vent in your house, a warm car, etc... I also didn't ever heed the advice of keeping the bead in the center of the wheel when mounting. Now that I do that religiously, mounting tires has gone much better.

Otherwise, that appears to be a Chinese copy of a FFWD track wheel. I wonder if a track tire would work better. They don't have the same sidewall protection as road clinchers do and might be more pliable. Rider beware on road riding those though.

Is this for a track bike? If not, that'll be a handful in the wind. That's even more area than a tri-spoke has.

cat0020

Wheels are Chinese copy of the Mavic iO, going to be used on a tandem front and 10-spd cassette in the rear.
Not going to be a track bike, but non-competition, casual road use.
I've had a set of Hutchinson tires stretching on my other set of wheel for nearly a week, pumped up at 160 psi. I'll see if if the tires can be fitted this weekend.

tagaproject6

Leave the wheels out in the cold and warm the tires.

burnthesheep

Cool, enjoy. By tandem, do you mean two person bike, right? Making sure it isn't something else.

If on a tandem that wheel should be fine in the wind. Plenty of combined weight and that should be a pretty strong/durable front wheel.

If you were riding on a normal road bike with that, well, good luck if you weigh anything less than 200lbs. When I run my HED trispoke on my TT bike, it's a handful if the wind blows.