Tight Tires - SO Frustrating!

[RolliePollie]

I just put a new front tire on my bike. Well, I put it most of the way on...I had to take the wheel to my LBS to get the last bit over the rim. So here I was, struggling with the tire for over an hour. I tried everything but that dang tire was SOOOO tight! I get to the LBS, hand the guy my wheel, and he just pushes the tire over the rim with him thumbs. It took him 2 seconds. I hate it when I feel like a weak woman who needs a man to help me. And I don't have a man around the house for these things. I must go find a man immediately.

Anyway, I just needed to vent. I love my LBS and I have a wonderful new Michelin Krylion tire on my front wheel. All is good. I just wish I could've done it all by myself!!!

[Starfish]

I don't know what kind of tire that is...but once I switched to foldable tires, it became very easy to get them on the rims.

[lph]

Oh I hate tires like that! Once in while you just get ones that are a tad too tight. I've had some luck getting the tire almost all the way on so it's really tight, then just leaving it for a while to stretch. A little later it seems easier to get on, at any rate. But an hour spent struggling should have been enough for that to work.

[Blueberry]

Sara-

Don't feel bad

The LBS guys (and gals) do this all day, every day. They have strength in different places, not to mention that they do that motion dozens of times a day.

Some tires are just a b!tch. Sometimes a tire iron can help with the last little bit. Sometimes I need to rest

I agree, folding tires are easier. Some rims are also worse than others.

CA

[DebW]

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. Keep practicing, Sara. It's a matter of leverage and body mechanics more than strength, so you CAN do it.

[Melalvai]

He probably snuck some clever little gadget in while you weren't looking.
My bike shop mechanic has the coolest device, I can't possibly describe it but you get it in there and just push a lever up and presto! (or schrader!) the tire is off. It is pretty big actually. You couldn't take it with you on a ride without big storage device. I mean it wouldn't fit in a seat pack by a long shot.

[lph]

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!

[DebW]

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?

[Kalidurga]

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.

[Di bear]

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.

[Aggie_Ama]

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.

[lph]

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???

[SadieKate]

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.

[RolliePollie]

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!!!

[wavedancer]

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.