snaildr

Hi there

I'm a beginner, riding a Raleigh revenio 2.0 road bike, I have't got a flat tire on the road so far, but as I'm biking for longer and longer distances I fear I might come into that situation some time soon. I really don't want to waste the time of other people who are riding with me when I'm trying to fix a flat tire. So I'm here for some suggestions of a tire + wheel combination that'd be easy for me to deal with when I repair the flat.

Currently my tire and wheel are:

Forte Pro DC 700x23 tire
https://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/f...d-tire-reviews
Forte Titan Wheel
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes..._1034381_-1___

Yeah, pretty cheap stuff...

I've been practicing replacing tire at home lately and discovered my tire is extremely difficult to be put on the rim. I succeed twice but with substantial time spent. The third time, I tried with a new tire, and it's just impossible, it was something like being discussed here https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in...p/t-29517.html

I checked out a lot Youtube videos, those just look so simple... I wonder if anyone can suggest tire+wheel that's proven to be easy to install and affordable? I'm not sure if the problem is my tire or wheel, when they are put together I really liked them.

Thanks a lot!


Updated on 6/16, 11pm EST:
- Thanks very much for the replies! This was almost my first post here and I'm glad to get feedback so quickly.
- Suggestions of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) tire and wheels or special tools that you had good experience with are most welcome (like the ones "Commodus" and "10 Wheel"suggested)
- Of course, experience and techniques are much appreciated too!
- BTW, my hands start to hur now, I made some more progress with a hair dryer...

Beaker

Chances are it's that your tires are still new. New tires are always really tough to deal with, after rolling a couple of hundred miles you should find it substantially easier to pop tires on and off a rim.

DOS

I don't know, in my experience the rim is the key factor in how hard or easy it is to mount tires. My wife has a set of Bontrager rims that are a nightmare to mount irrespective of tire. Similarly, I have a Mavic open sport rim on one wheel and an old Campy rim on anther that are a pain no matter what tire I use. However , just about any tire , right out of the box -- Conti gp4000, Vittoria Rubino Pro, various Michelins -- slide on and off Mavic Open Pro rims with almost no effort. Hence, I have built most of my wheels with Mavic Open Pro rims.

dstrong 

On the other hand...there are sometimes combinations of rims/tires that are tougher than others. Two years ago a friend of mine was riding Easton EA50 wheels with Conti Gatorskins. The first time a Gatorskin was mounted on the tire was at a bike shop. It took the mechanic 30 minutes to get the tire on. We commented that we hoped we wouldn't have to fix one out on the road. Jinx! Two weeks later she had a flat. It took us at least 30 minutes to get the tire off and back on, at times with both of us tugging and pushing...it was rough.

I took the tire into the place she had bought it, and the mechanic there admitted that only one tire they sold was "somewhat" easy to install on the EA50...it was the cheapest tire in the store, was the one originally on the wheel, and had shredded after about 500 miles.

10 Wheels

Some rim, tire combos are most difficult to get mounted.

This works on the most difficult ones.

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

shoota 

The rim is the key in my experience too. With the same set of tires the wife's Bontrager SSRs = not fun, but on my Shimano R561s = no tire lever needed.

flashpoint145

700x23 is the most common and you should be fine with it.

Beaker

I agree, but think you need to get a few miles on the tire before you know. I've been using Micheline PR3's, Krylions and recently PR4 endurance tires on Easton EA70's, Open Pro's and Williams Sys19's. The Michelins are always somewhat annoying to mount out of the box but ease up dramatically by 3-400miles. Yes, the OP might have a bad wheel/tire combo, but he's noted that he's pretty new to the sport. It takes time to get accustomed to changing tires efficiently too.

chaadster

Hmm, I've never noticed mileage makes a difference; not saying it doesn't, just that I've never-- not in 27 years of cycling-- noticed that it does. Is this common knowledge?

prathmann

A factor that's often overlooked is the thickness of the rim tape. A key to getting the last bit of the tire bead over the edge of the rim is to get the rest of the tire bead down as far as possible in the deepest part of the rim channel. Thick rim tape keeps you from doing that and makes the job harder. If you have a really hard combination of tire and rim it can be worthwhile to use the plastic 'Veloplugs' instead of tape. They come in two sizes depending on the size of the spoke holes on the inside channel of the rim.

I agree with Beaker that most tires get easier after they've been used for awhile - especially folding tires with a Kevlar bead. Wire bead tires tend to be easier on initial installation but don't improve as time and mileage increases.

Commodus

Shimano RS80 C24s and Vittoria Diamante Pro Radiales. No tools required.

KantoBoy

You gotta PRACTICE it at home. It doesn't matter what tyre/wheel combo you have. What you're trying to accomplish here is unnecessary spending.

Imagine going out alone on a long ride not knowing how to change tubes. That should be your motivation.

Now if you're trying to mount a brand new tubular tyre onto the wheels then that's a different story.

snaildr

Nice, thanks, will save up for these.

ARPRINCE

+1000 Get THIS and you don't need the PRACTICE.

snaildr

Yeah, that's the motivation, I've been practicing, at home, and at this point I'm convinced a large part of the difficulties I experienced are due to the fact it's intrinsically a hard problem (I mean in my specific situation: new tire, plus a not-so-easy wheel/rim). I guess I'll just change to a different wheelset soon.

snaildr

Yeah, awesome

Sean Gordon

I generally find folding bead tires to be easier to mount than wire bead.

Jseis 

I've a 90's set of Wheelsmith 27 x 1/14's with Bontragers. A set of 700c Ambrosia Excellence, old Weinmanns...their all similar and different. Prathman is right about centering the bead in the channel as you work the bead up both sides of the rim. Also make sure all air is out of the tube. I check at least twice. I also recheck the bead being centered on the rim at the bottom of the wheel as I bring the bead up at 9 O'clock and 3 O'clock. Above that it depends. I've succesffully popped a bead over using hand strength and thumbs only and I've had tires that refused to flip tha last 6"-8" and needed lever persuasion. But I'd always go back and squeeze the bead into the center channel trying to get another fraction of fit to kick the bead up and over. Practice helps.

bael

This. The tire jack works wonders with stubborn tires!

Menel

Mavic and Shimano rims, Continental and Michellin tires. All combinations of those have been pretty easy and straightforward.

Bah Humbug

Buying GP4000S tires is never unnecessary spending!

That said, they're painful to get onto the rim until they've been well broken-in. I understand the Michelins are easier but I don't have personal experience with them.

chaadster

Absolutely.

chaadster

Also, wider rims are easier to mount tires on than narrower ones.

mprelaw

Same here. I have Bontrager Race rims, with R3 folding bead tires, and they go on as easy as pie. If I wanted to struggle a bit, I could remove the tire without levers, but one lever does it.

The other advantage of folding beads is that you can easily turn the tire inside out to eyeball what caused the flat. As well as carry a spare on you or the bike, just in case.

Gatorfreak

I've gone the cheap route with tires. I will NEVER again buy wire bead tires. I value my knuckles too much to subject them to the torment of trying to change a wire bead tire. Just get some folding tires and your life will be 10 times easier.