Bicycle Mechanics - Packing Armadillo tires. How?

Think this question has been posded before..The resistance/sturboness of Specialized Armadillo tires...Packing the bead...You loose you fingerprints off of your fingertips....
Put on new Armadillos yesterday and my commuting bike...Same stubborness. Pack one side other comes out...(I was freaked out by going through two sets of tubes on one ride.) So , I switched over to Armadillos.
And, at first I took I took the whole tire off of the rim....Stubborn as ever...then , I tried with only one side being off the rim and inserted the tube within the tire , while half on the rim...I lost less skin that way and the stuffing was bearable...Is this how one usually stuffs new tubes into tires...I always feared they would get pinched more easily that way....
Maybe, a silly thread...Put with Armadillos, making them a little easier to change seems like a major revelation...

Think this question has been posded before..The resistance/sturboness of Specialized Armadillo tires...Packing the bead...You loose you fingerprints off of your fingertips....
Put on new Armadillos yesterday and my commuting bike...Same stubborness. Pack one side other comes out...(I was freaked out by going through two sets of tubes on one ride.) So , I switched over to Armadillos.
And, at first I took I took the whole tire off of the rim....Stubborn as ever...then , I tried with only one side being off the rim and inserted the tube within the tire , while half on the rim...I lost less skin that way and the stuffing was bearable...Is this how one usually stuffs new tubes into tires...I always feared they would get pinched more easily that way....
Maybe, a silly thread...Put with Armadillos, making them a little easier to change seems like a major revelation...

Don't like them as a tyre, too harsh for me. I have other tyres and touch wood have gone 4 months no puncture. But I do check the tyres once a month for glass.

Brian

what other tires has the puncture proof properties of Armadillos, yet are more pliable?any recommendations.

That's the way that I install any tire: With the tire completely off of the rim I inflate the tube just enough to give it shape (I do presta tubes with just my mouth), then I put the tube inside the tire caseing, thread the valve stem through the rim and just install the tire. To me that's much easier than forcing the valve stem through the rim with the tire half on the rim. Starting at the valve and working with one hand in each direction, I force one bead onto the rim. Then starting opposite the valve I do the same with the opposite bead. When it starts to get hard, I try to force both beads opposite the valve stem into the center of the rim and force the last bead onto the rim with my thumbs.

Armadillos are among the more difficult tires to install because the sidewalls are so stiff.

Michelin Carbons. I've been using them for about a year and have done some NASTY things to them (ride through piles of glass, hit foot deep potholes, etc.) and I swear they aren't able to be punctured. I'm thinking of trying to shoot one with a .22 pistol, just to see if it's possible to put a hole in one.

[QUOTE=Retro Grouch]That's the way that I install any tire: With the tire completely off of the rim I inflate the tube just enough to give it shape (I do presta tubes with just my mouth), then I put the tube inside the tire caseing, thread the valve stem through the rim and just install the tire. To me that's much easier than forcing the valve stem through the rim with the tire half on the rim.
Grouch..most any tire..I just do not sweat it..Easy stuff...so they come completely off the rim and easily back on..but these Armadillos..
as I think you are saying...Well, I agree..when comletely off the rim, I think there is less chance of pinching the tube, since packing it through a half installed bead, causes more twisting during the installation...
have to check out the Michelin Carbons..thanks.. it is so nice to ride months on end without a flat.