kdbamaman

I have a 1990's vintage Trek 820 (my dad's) that I want to replace the dried-out knobby tires with something more street friendly

The old wheel is 26 x 1.5 / 559 according to the sticker on the wheel. BUT, there is second sticker that also notes 519

The old tire is a 26 x 1.95


The new tires I have are Continental Doublefighter III 26 x 1.9 50-559. I have installed plenty of bike tires. The bead(s) don't set at all; it seems the tire is too wide.


Question 1. Just checked the specs on the bike; they note Weinmann 519 - so guess it won't work?

Question 2. I have already replaced many components on this bike in a rebuild. The wheels are in pretty bad shape anyway. What specs do I need to be mindful of if I want to use the new tires and buy new wheels? Best source?

Bill Kapaun

No reason the tires shouldn't fit.
519 is a model# of the rim, not a diameter.
If the old tire 's "metric" designation is 559-xx, and the new tire is 559-xx, the bead seat dia. is the same.

DiegoFrogs

Some tires are just a real bear to install on some rims.

bpcyclist

I am a not half-bad little tire installer. So I thought. Don't have any special tools, just levers and usually, use my hands. Got tired of getting so many flats on my Vittorias, so just gave up and bought a set of Hardshells. Not interested in tubeless right now, but also bought some new tubeless-ready wheels (aluminum., as I have rim brakes and live in the Land Of The Never Ending Rain. Anyhoo, tires and tubes off. Warmed up the new tires, started to mount. Like I've done a hundred times before with many other tires. Couldn't do it. Could not really actually even get that close, I am sad to report. Used every trick I know of. Not really sure what the problem was. Maybe me. The truth hurts.

Walked up to the LBS. Guy said Hardshells can be a bit tough. He had them on in 5 minutes using only his hands. I watched him. Piecea pie. I slunked home. Apparently, some people are better at mounting some tires than others.

Andrew R Stewart 

There's a lot to be said for practice. Mounting tough to fit tires can be a personal point of pride for some shop wrenches. If we have to use a tool the tire won As others said 519 is a label of rim model, not a size reference.
As to the wheel replacement, your wheels are about the most common size available, you should have many options. You already know the tire/rim interface dimension. The rear hub is most likely a 135mm lock nut to lock nut width (or the frame has a 135mm inside of drop outs width). I suspect the hub/cog set are of the freehub/cassette design as opposed to the freewheel and threaded hub shell one. But do figure out which your bike has and duplicate it so the gears/cogs are reuseable. The rim will require a brake track, one that's machined will have a smoother feel to the brakes. I don't suggest a wider rim as street tires rarely get as wide as off road rubber tends to be. A hollow, double wall or box section rim will be somewhat stiffer for the same weight (note that I didn't say stronger as that's a different thing). Spoke count these days seems to be less number or weird patterns the better. But the longest lasting wheels statistically have had more spokes. I like Shimano hubs in the moderate replacement cost range but there are a lot of cheaper options too. Most will just duplicate the rear wheel specs for the front with the obvious difference in the hub/axle fit. Likely the common 100mm wide axle and using a 5mm QR skewer. Andy

WizardOfBoz

I had the exact same experience. Sigh.

Anyway, don't feel like you're alone.

Oh, and btw, because I knew it was possible, the next time I made sure that the bead went into the center well of the rim, and it worked like it was supposed to. I was able to get the tire on with only my hands.

kdbamaman

All, thanks so much! Learned alot from all the information passed via the forum. The trick on this one was that I really had to rely on the tire tools to get it the job done.

cb400bill

The Kool Stop tired bead jack has saved me much aggravation. Around $13.