OverTheTop98 

I’m looking for tubeless-ready tire and wheel combinations, with very difficult to break tire beads. I’m in the process of developing a bead breaking tool and need to get reliably bad ones, which will put my design to the test. Please include brands, models and tire sizes with your descriptions. I’ve already found several very difficult MTB combinations, so am less interested in those at this time. Your help would be appreciated.

Sy Reene

So.. not to answer your call for entries, but do you intend to actually go out and procure various wheels and tires to verify?

OverTheTop98 

Yes I will, but I'm trying to narrow it down. I've already acquired a few MTB tires & wheels and had good success, but finding the right specimens of road tires and wheels is proving more difficult.

ThermionicScott 

I take it "Over The Top" will be the name of the new tool?

Personally, I think tubeless-ready rims are great. People make them harder to use than need be.

If you want a challenge, some 700C rims from the 1980s/1990s were so bad that people swore they were 27": https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...rada-rims.html Those combined a tight fit with very little concavity in the rim well.

OverTheTop98 

Thanks for your quick reply with question. This whole project started in 2017 after I bought a Specialized Diverge in 2016, with “Tubeless-Ready” tires and carbon rims, which meant nothing to me at that point. I had a flat tire the first week and was astounded when what should have been a 5-minute job, turned into a 45-minute ordeal. The tire, which had been mounted with a tube, took all my strength, plus the help of a riding buddy to get the tube out of the tire. There was much cursing, sweating and even trying to stomp on the tire just to try to break the tire’s bead. I developed and did a preliminary patent on a tool which did a fairly good job on this tire & wheel. However, when I later tried it on a local bike mechanic's ENVE M70 wheel and Schwalbe Magic Mary tire, my new tool failed miserably! That too was a lucky break. I've since developed a tool that works very well on that MTB combination. I'm currently improving the tool further and preparing to patent it. I’m also working on designing a new version, specifically for road bikes. I was lucky to find tough examples in a MTB and larger gravel bike tire & wheel sets, but haven’t yet found my really tough road bike set.

OverTheTop98 

Actually the "Over The Top" name was related to a totally different idea, but I can see the connection you are making. My tool does not completely remove the tire. The tires I'm talking about have such tight beads that you can't move them away from the rim sidewall, even a little bit, without heroic efforts and can't dream of getting a tire lever under them. Doing so often damages the tire or rim. (See the YouTube video titled, " Extremeley difficult tubeless tire removal from Enve Carbon rim. " for a good example of this. You'll also get links to other similar videos.) My tool pushes the tire bead off the rim bead seating diameter and past any retaining safety bump, if present, and into the rim central channel. From there the bead easily separates by hand all the way around into the central channel. Then you use tire levers as usual or necessary to finish the job of getting the bead 'over the top' of the rim sidewall. Still not always easy, but definitely possible. I've heard many stories of people resorting to cutting the tire off.

canklecat

Mavic has developed rim/tire combinations designed to minimize this drama with fitting tubeless.

ThermionicScott 

I just watched it, that is gnarly! I wonder if a pair of curved wood blocks could do the job of the vise out in the field. One could lay the wheel on the ground, stick a block under the tire, its mate on top, then step on that while pulling the rim up to dislodge the bead.

OverTheTop98 

The difficulty you see in that video and others, is the reason for my invention. I can break that bead on the same tire on the same rim in under 30 seconds. Little force required, no damage to the rim, no damage to the tire. Easily done on the trail too.

WhyFi

The worst I've experienced was Giant Gavia (they were the top end model at the time... SLR?) on Reynolds Assaults. I was tempted to cut them off.

OverTheTop98 

Thanks WhyFi, this may be just the info I'm searching for. Can I confirm that the first problem in removing these tires was the tightness of the tire bead on the bead seating diameter at the bottom of the rim sidewalls and not that they are just difficult to get up and over the sidewall?

canklecat

While not rated for tubeless use, Continental Ultra Sport II folding bead tires are notoriously difficult to work with. Read the user testimonials on Amazon and Bike Tires Direct.

I've used them for a couple of years in 700x23 and x25 because they're good for the money -- grippy, durable, good rolling across a range of pressures. But I usually carry a Kool Stop bead jack just to deal with those dang tires. I've had only a couple of puncture flats in two years and thousands of miles, but both were on chilly days and the bead jack helped get the repair done quickly before my fingers were numb. Before getting the bead jack I'd end up nicking the tubes trying to use plastic tire levers to remount the tires.

Schwalbe One V-Guards were almost as difficult to mount without a bead jack. I don't know whether the later tubeless ready Schwalbe One tires were equally difficult.

No such problems with the Conti Grand Prix Classic. Very easy to handle.

Princess_Allez

I had a heck of a time replacing one of my tires. I had to use two levers and a fair amount of hand strength to get the tire on the rim. It probably took me a good 15min. I also had to seat the bead with a co2 cartridge; a regular floor pump didn't cut it.

canklecat

Which Mavic wheel/tire combo? I've read very different user reports depending on which combo. Most folks seem satisfied with their entry level Ksyrium UST WTS with Yksion tires. But there were complaints about the combo that was next step up in price.

Princess_Allez

cosmic pro UST w/Yksion tire

WhyFi

Correct. Once seated, breaking the bead was very difficult.

blakcloud

Though not technically tubeless tires, I tried Compass Chinook Pass 28mm on Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3TLR and it was impossible to get those tires mounted. After 90 minutes I just gave up. I have mounted hundreds if not thousands of tires and nothing compares to that combination. I did get to use the tires on Bontrager Paradigm Elite TLR, that mounted in minutes. I don't think I have ever been so frustrated with any cycling repair in my entire life. I still use tubes, not ready for the dark side with tubeless, though it looks and sounds intriguing.

Good luck with your work. It is much needed that is for sure.

DrIsotope

Maxxis Padrone with: Shimano Ultegra wheels, Shimano RS500 wheels, Kinlin XR31 wheels, and I'm assuming every other wheel on the planet. The toughest to mount tubeless tire I've ever encountered, by an immeasurably wide margin.

JeffAbe

How is your project progressing?