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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    Quote Originally Posted by DebW View Post
    For really stubborn tires, sometimes you can cheat with a tool like this. But avoid using tire levers because they are likely to pinch the tube.
    Deb, I've seen this a few times now, but truth be told I use tire levers all the time and have yet to pinch a tube. But I'm mostly changing mtb tires, if that makes a difference. I only use plastic levers, and am very careful about where I put them i.e. just using them on the very edge. Some of the tires I've put on I can't imagine how I could ever manage without 3 levers, and preferably 3 hands too!
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    2,556
    Quote Originally Posted by lph View Post
    Deb, I've seen this a few times now, but truth be told I use tire levers all the time and have yet to pinch a tube. But I'm mostly changing mtb tires, if that makes a difference. I only use plastic levers, and am very careful about where I put them i.e. just using them on the very edge. Some of the tires I've put on I can't imagine how I could ever manage without 3 levers, and preferably 3 hands too!
    If you're very careful, you can usually get away with it. If you can do it, that's great. But most newbies would pinch a few tubes before learning to do it correctly. Or maybe it's just "better", "more elegant", or "more accepted" without tools. Or maybe those of us who can do it without tools are just snobs with sore thumbs?
    Oil is good, grease is better.

    2007 Peter Mooney w/S&S couplers/Terry Butterfly
    1993 Bridgestone MB-3/Avocet O2 Air 40W
    1980 Columbus Frame with 1970 Campy parts
    1954 Raleigh 3-speed/Brooks B72

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Md suburbs of Wash. DC
    Posts
    2,131
    I love having sore thumbs, makes me feel macho

    Another trick, if you haven't already tried this, is to hold the wheel with the section opposite the unseated part pressed into the crease of your hips as you work on that last bit. Doing so flattens that side of the tire and creates just a tiny little bit of space around the rest of the rim. Usually makes it a tad easier to ease that last bit over the edge.

    Hard to describe that, I hope it makes sense.
    "How about if we all just try to follow these very simple rules of the road? Drive like the person ahead on the bike is your son/daughter. Ride like the cars are ambulances carrying your loved ones to the emergency room. This should cover everything, unless you are a complete sociopath."
    David Desautels, in a letter to velonews.com

    Random babblings and some stuff to look at.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Hancock, MI - North of "Up North"
    Posts
    127
    Sara - I have tires with a Kevlar bead that are really hard to get on. I usually put them on as far as I can, let them sit for about 10 minutes, then finish the job. I think the material just needs to think about giving a bit. If you left the tire on and all it needed was for the last bit to get pushed back on, that may have made it easier for the LBS guy.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    somewhere between the Red & Rio Grande
    Posts
    5,297
    Yep, non-folding tires take me about 30 minutes to get on. I HATED learning to change a flat on gatorskins. My new tires are folding bead and so much easier. I can actually get them on myself without having sore thumbs for days later.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    Quote Originally Posted by DebW View Post
    If you're very careful, you can usually get away with it. If you can do it, that's great. But most newbies would pinch a few tubes before learning to do it correctly. Or maybe it's just "better", "more elegant", or "more accepted" without tools. Or maybe those of us who can do it without tools are just snobs with sore thumbs?
    Actually I'd love to be one of those who effortlessly pop the tires on toolless, but I'm too impatient to practice. But I should, it would come in handy if I'm stuck w/o a lever, like in winter when tire levers tend to break. This winter I managed to break the single lever that came with my Blackburn Airshot inflator+multitool gadget - but what's the point of a steel core if it doesn't go all the way out???
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Bendemonium
    Posts
    9,673
    Sara, sometimes certain rims and tires are a bad combination. I had Michelin Carbons which were horrible with Ritchey rims. Turns out once is notoriously small and the latter is notoriously slightly oversize.

    And you aren't really pushing with your thumbs, you really roll the pinched tire away from you over the rim until the bead snaps over. Put the wheel in the crease of your hips as Kalidurga suggests and try rolling the tire away and down over the rim on the far side of the wheel.
    Frends know gud humors when dey is hear it. ~ Da Crockydiles of ZZE.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Sierra Foothills, CA
    Posts
    800
    Quote Originally Posted by SadieKate View Post
    Sara, sometimes certain rims and tires are a bad combination. I had Michelin Carbons which were horrible with Ritchey rims. Turns out once is notoriously small and the latter is notoriously slightly oversize.
    This is going to be my official excuse!

    Next time I need to get a tight tire on, I'll try out all your great suggestions. I really think part of the problem is my little hands. My ring finger is a size 4-1/2, which is pretty small. I think my thumbs would be about a size 6. So, small weak hands plus smallish Michelin tires and possibly biggish rims means Sara needs help with her tires!!!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA
    Posts
    414
    Sara, I hear you! I also have small hands, but it is true that there are just some tire/rim combinations that are much tougher than others. I have struggled with tires at that last 3 inches, given them to my large-pawed, muscular, bike mechanic BF and watched him struggle also! He will, however, eventually get them on!

    I sometimes find it easier to turn the wheel so the side I am putting on is away from me and using my whole hand and fingers to roll the tire on. I have a bit of arthritis in the thumbs and they just don't have the strength to do the job sometimes.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    2,059
    Quote Originally Posted by sara View Post
    This is going to be my official excuse!

    Next time I need to get a tight tire on, I'll try out all your great suggestions. I really think part of the problem is my little hands. My ring finger is a size 4-1/2, which is pretty small. I think my thumbs would be about a size 6. So, small weak hands plus smallish Michelin tires and possibly biggish rims means Sara needs help with her tires!!!
    OK, girl. My ring finger is a 5, my middle finger is not quite 3" long (despite all the exercise it gets ), and I can barely reach my brakes despite shims. You can change your tires!!! (Get the right tire/rim combo, though.)
    "The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it." ~ Doug Bradbury

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Bendemonium
    Posts
    9,673
    I have very small hands also and can mount tires as long as the tire/rim combo is right.
    Frends know gud humors when dey is hear it. ~ Da Crockydiles of ZZE.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,506
    Quote Originally Posted by Starfish View Post
    OK, girl. My ring finger is a 5, my middle finger is not quite 3" long (despite all the exercise it gets ), and I can barely reach my brakes despite shims. You can change your tires!!! (Get the right tire/rim combo, though.)
    This, strangely, inspired me to measure my middle finger and it is about 2 5/8" long.

 

 

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