Getting new tyres on rims

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dragon72

Guru
Location
Mexico City
After two hours of wrestling with this bleeding new tyre, I'm just about ready to chuck all 3 of my broken tyre levers as well as my wheel at the neighbour's cat and take up stamp collecting instead of cycling as a hobby. My hands feel like they've been through a mangle and I've rubbed off my fingerprints trying to "encourage" the tyre on the sodding rim. It's that last bit that just won't go on and I guarantee that when it does, I'll try to pump it up and find that I've got a pinch puncture like what happened on the first attempt today.

I assume there are people out there who don't go through this trauma every time you change a tyre. How do you do it??
 

rogersavery

New Member
Make sure the tyre is sat in the middle of the rim all the way round, when it comes to do the last bit

If you look at the cross section of the rim it should be slightly dished in the middle
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
search the site for this topic, people have been there before you

as i recall, wipe the rims in some fairy liquid and if necessary heat the tyres gentley in the oven, sometig to do with a plum pudding if it's the mightly jumbo's method

what tyre is it out of interest, Marathon?
 
OP
OP
dragon72

dragon72

Guru
Location
Mexico City
they're Continental "Touring plus" - new to me. I used to use Conti Top Tourings before they became Contacts. Now it seems they have brought back the "touring" moniker...
I think my tyre woes stem from the fact that I'm using 700x28's on a rim designed for a slightly wider tyre.
 
All tyres I've fitted brand new have been a biatch. Try some talc to give them some sort of lubrication. Start at the valve and work your way round working the tyre into place with your thumbs, if you get all the way round and they've still not popped in, don't worry just continue they'll pop in eventually. If its not seated right let the air out of the tube and again work round this time squeeze tyre making sure it is correctly seated. Reassuringly once loosened off they seem to go off/on quite easily in the event of a p'ture.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
There's a trick you can do with a loop of string. Hard to describe but... Put the string all the way around the rim and have both ends together at the valve end. Put the remaining tyre side on (starting at the valve end) as far as you can (the point when your fingers bleed) and then take bothe ends of the piece of string at the same time an pull them apart... the string will then pull in the remaining tight part of the tyre...
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
FF - that's a very clever trick - I reckon it would work! I'll give it a go some time though I've got pretty good at putting tyres on with just my hands (I hook my fingers over the top of the tyre and work the side nearest to me on using the palms of my hands, protected by the padding on my mitts).
 

gaz

Cycle Camera TV
Location
South Croydon
I put the tyre on the rim without an inner tube and leave it for around an hour. Then take it off and put the tube in. works fine for me :smile:
 

betty swollocks

large member
That last tight bit can be a bastard can't it?
Here's how:- you've got to make the tyre looser elsewhere. To do this, push as much of the rest of the tyre down into the well of the rim and if necessary zip tie down. This will create the slack you need to pop that last inch or two over.
I get Marathon plusses on now without breaking sweat, or my thumbs.
[media]


]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4[/media]
 

accountantpete

Brexiteer
Get a pair of Pedros tyre levers - lifetime guarantee and they will get any tyre on with the minimum of effort

pedro_tirelevers.jpg
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Problems fitting tyres isn't always down to poor technique.
Tyres, even of the same model, vary a bit in size, and if you get one at the small end of the range you've got problems. The give away is that you need tyre levers to get the first side of the tyre on.

If that's the case, I recommend the use of steel tyre levers (thinner than non-bendy plastic ones - Lezyne do some nice ones), and a Simson bead jack (like the Var but stronger). I also recommend fitting it to a spare wheel and leaving it pumped up very hard indeed for a month or six to stretch.
 

Chris S

Legendary Member
Location
Birmingham
>> I guarantee that when it does, I'll try to pump it up and find that I've got a pinch puncture like what happened on the first attempt today.

I changed a tyre for the first time yesterday. I watched a number of videos on youtube first to see how it was done.

They said you could avoid pinch punctures by slightly inflating the tube first (just enough to give it some shape) and then pushing it up in to the tyre before putting it on the rim.

It worked for me. Unfortunately I twisted the chain and spent ages trying to untwist it but that's another story!
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
strong thumbs and tackling the rock hard last section a tiny bit at a time, mind you, I've only used relativelt lightweight tyres for the last few years, I assume this problemsare with the heavier duty tyres
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
That last tight bit can be a bastard can't it?

I replaced a broken spoke lasty night and took off my M+ to true it.

Getting the last bit can be tricky, but if you pump the tube up slighty at this point, the tyre drops into the rim nicely
 
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