aquarelman

Hi, I have just purchased new vittoria randonneur cross tires for my '81 Specialized Expedition, after completely wearing out my beloved (but expensive) schwalbe marathons. I got the new tires mostly on but for the life of me could not pry the last 10 or so inches or bead over the rim. The tires are technically 700x28s, which are the correct size for my wheels, but these ones run so tight that even after getting my friends to compete to see who could get the tire on, no one was able to do it. I humbly dragged my problems to the bike shop, where someone did something magical because when i picked them up the tires were fully on. Problem is, I now have a flat in the front wheel (i think down to a shoddy patching job at the get go, so i can't even blame the bike shop), so now I have to take the darn thing back off and start over. Does anyone have any tips for how to maneuver a really, really tight tire onto a rim, so i don't have to go back and pay to have it fixed for me again? I'm pretty good at changing tires, these ones are just WAY too tight!

Help!

Wanderer

Pop it in the dryer for about 15 minutes. It will be much more pliable.

kludgefudge

That dryer Idea sounds good, but just to make sure, were you using tire levers to mount the tire? I have to do that sometimes. careful not to pinch the tube though, and it pays to have quality tire levers for this, as I snapped on of my cheapo ones the other day doing this.

DArthurBrown

There are many, many threads on this. A search should turn up more suggestions than you care to read.

The drier method works very well, but can make your drier dirty. Any heat source has the same effect. If you have space heater, you can place the tire near it (not touching it) and wait a few minutes. If the tire has been out in a garage or unheated area, often bringing it inside for a while will help.

Those Vittoria tires the OP mentioned are extremely tight on some rims. Make sure you get one bead (one side) of the tire on the rim first, than try the second side. If you try to put both beads on the rim at the same time you'll never make it.

CliftonGK1

My suggestion is to ditch the Rando-Crosses and pick a different tire. I had a similar experience with these tires on 3 different pairs of rims. They're nearly impossible to mount; it was only by lucky chance that I managed after multiple tries to get these things on a pair of rims and not mess up the tube in the process, and they just don't ride that well.

Short of new tires, I've been using a pair of Insane steel levers for the past couple years and like the leverage I get from the extra length on them.

Panthers007

Here's two:

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...&item_id=KS-TJ

And...

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...item_id=VR-425

The VAR is smaller and fits in a bag or pocket. The Kool Stop is better in a home-shop.

aquarelman

I got it!! I was nervous to try the dryer thing, although that would have been my next step if necessary.

A bike mechanic recommended using baby power on the edges of the tire and the rims to help them glide better, and it actually did help just enough. I always powder the inside of my tire but had not thought about doing this on the edge. with a little (ok a lot) of patience i got that sucker all the way on . I use park tool levers, i've heard bad stories about metal ones wrecking your rims, although i don't know how true that is, so i've never tried those. Anyway, it took a lot of grunt work but now i can ride my bike again, thanks guys!

Sixty Fiver

You should not have to use undue force when you are using a lever as this can translate into a damaged rim and warming up the tyre and using powder can really help things slide.

Something like tye mounting fluid serves the same purpose but baby powder is cheap and effective and makes your wheels smeel fresh.

I mounted up a Comet Primo 20 inch tyre last night and it gave me fits... very few tyres do this and being that this one has been mounted already I did not expect it to put up such a fight.

I can usually mount any tyre completely by hand unless I have spent the day changing tyres as then the hands get tired.

Quality levers are essential.

bikinfool

I remember a friend had a set of wheels he wanted to change tires on to do some commuting with instead of his nicer knobbies. He just couldn't get the tire on the rim (this guy was fairly experienced with bikes, changed many a tire/flat), and as he was doing this while at work, one of the older technicians, a bike mechanic in Europe in his younger days, came over and said let me see. Grabbed the tire/rim and popped it on nearly instantly with just his fingers/thumbs. My buddy was floored, as he thought his hands were plenty strong. Depends what your tools are I guess...

When I get a tire that damn tight that I can't get it on the rim, or just barely with a lever, I figure better to exchange it rather than have the frustration out on the road/trail with that situation. Especially when there's lots of mosquitoes around, as that's when I pinch the damn tube in trying to htfu and have to start over again.

DinoShepherd

soapy water is always good...

-Z

Sixty Fiver

Forget to mention that you have to know the secret words but for some reason the filters block them all.