Folding non folding tyres.

[themosquitoking]

How much can non-folding tyres have their shape distorted. Enough to get them in a suitcase or does the figure of eight trick work with them?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I did ride back the 4 miles from the LBS with a pair of Marathon Originals, folded in a figure of 8, attached to the rack with straps.
The tyres got a bit distorted but went on the rims ok a few days later.

 

[andrew_s]

Non-folding tyres are best folded into 3 loops. A simple figure of 8 can damage a wire bead.

Hold the tyre at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock
Bring the hands together and grip both sides in one hand
Take 12 o'clock, and swing it away and down to the gripping hand to form 3 loops
Move the left and right loops together, swinging the bottom loop away and up.
fasten the 3 loops together at the top with a bit of string, a toestrap or whatever.

The same fold can be achieved in a number of different ways. If you can't work it out from the above, try looking on youtube.

 

[themosquitoking]

I'll practice with a folding tyre first

 

[froze]

I have a rigid tire that I folded into 3's and it's my spare touring tire that goes with me when touring and the bead is fine. I keep it in the folded position using 4 reusable zip ties.

 

[robjh]

I recently picked up a pair of Gatorskin non-folding tyres from a branch of a well-known shop, and they were folded to roughly half their diameter- quite possibly as described in post#3. I guess they'd been like it for some time and have suffered no ill effects.

 

[DaveReading]

Non-folding tyres are best folded into 3 loops. A simple figure of 8 can damage a wire bead.

I'm trying to get my head around why folding into 3 loops should be better for the bead than into 2.

Happy to be educated, it just seems like rather twisted logic, so to speak.

 

[froze]

There are videos that show how to do this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6i1Con0gPE

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndMfLHG0T3U

 

[DaveReading]

There are videos that show how to do this:

Thanks for those. They certainly don't seem to support the earlier poster's assertion that folding into 2 loops is inherently worse for the tyre than folding into 3, although of course the latter takes up less space.