Classic & Vintage - HELP!! My tire will NOT go on the rim.

I recently picked up a 1998 Trek with weinmann 415x laced to joytech hubs. I took them to a local shop to have them trued and couldn't wait until I put my new schwalbe tires on...not. The rims are 700 but will not accept these tires after quite a bit of time struggling. Does anyone know of a tire that will work? I really like the look of the concave rim and wanted to keep the bike as is.

I recently picked up a 1998 Trek with weinmann 415x laced to joytech hubs. I took them to a local shop to have them trued and couldn't wait until I put my new schwalbe tires on...not. The rims are 700 but will not accept these tires after quite a bit of time struggling. Does anyone know of a tire that will work? I really like the look of the concave rim and wanted to keep the bike as is.

Vaseline?
Second pair of hands?

Some tyre - rim combo's are a tight fit, but I can't imagine it being impossible.

Some tyre - rim combo's are a tight fit, but I can't imagine it being impossible.


+1. My Amrosio rims were a SOB to mount tires on regardless of the tire.

After blistering my thumbs and causing pain in my hands that lasted a week trying to mount a set of 700x28 Panaracers on my sons Raleigh I found out about this tool http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=16231

That Kool Stop tire jack is a miracle worker, one of the best tools I've bought for working on bikes.

Thanks for the quick replies. I tried soap but not vaseline, a second pair of hands and I will definitely look into the tire jack.

I am taking a break from the tires before I go crazy, thanks guys.

After blistering my thumbs and causing pain in my hands that lasted a week trying to mount a set of 700x28 Panaracers on my sons Raleigh I found out about this tool http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=16231

That Kool Stop tire jack is a miracle worker, one of the best tools I've bought for working on bikes.

Looks like it may be a bit awkward to carry on a ride.

Looks like it may be a bit awkward to carry on a ride.

Good point.... if a tire is hard to get on.....it will be hard to get off if you need to fix a flat. I had one set of tires that I had to use metal tire levers on, plastic would not get it off the rim

Good point.... if a tire is hard to get on.....it will be hard to get off if you need to fix a flat. I had one set of tires that I had to use metal tire levers on, plastic would not get it off the rim

I like teflon-coated metal levers. I find Continental tires and Campagnolo Omega rims to be a very tight combination.

You know those soapstone sticks welders use to mark their work? one of those can be handy to run around the tire bead and rim edge.

Vaseline?
Second pair of hands?



Punch line to a John Holmes joke?

Talcum powder makes a great lubricant for installing tires and inner tubes, for that matter. In fact, I always powder an inner tube before installing it. The powder will reduce wear between tire and inner tube as well as preventing the inner tube from sticking to the inside of the tire.

As for some tires are tough to get on? I have been there and some are so tough that the word impossible seems to be appropriate. Don't fit those tires unless you are certain you can remove and refit them on the road. Well, you can if you want to but I don't think it to be wise.

Vaseline is not a good idea to aide in tire installation, in my opinion.

punch line to a john holmes joke?
:lol:

Talcum powder makes a great lubricant for installing tires and inner tubes, for that matter.

I had a really tough time installing Hetres on Velocity Synergy rims, and talcum powder helped. Same tires on VO Diagonale rims slipped right on with no effort. Sometime certain tire/rim combos are just a tight fit.

Turtle Wax "super protectant" in a little spray bottle. Tires mount themselves...

I had a really tough time installing Hetres on Velocity Synergy rims, and talcum powder helped. Same tires on VO Diagonale rims slipped right on with no effort. Sometime certain tire/rim combos are just a tight fit.

Strange. I had no trouble with Hetres on Synergies. Maybe a different batch of tires and/or rims.

My "no way in hell" tire/rim contribution: Continental 4000s on Mavic G40 rims. Everything I've read says that 4000s run small and G40 rims ran large.

i've used a terrycloth rag (old towel) to wrap around the rim, protect my hands, and give me more leverage.

it may work...

i know you can put more torque on the tire with less pain to the hands. FWIW...

oh, and make sure you squeeeze the beads as tightly together, all around the perimeter, as possible before attempting last 10 inches of do or die effort.

VAR tire lever:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mmv-q4MFOeM/SavJvhJWixI/AAAAAAAAAFM/Qj7jPFECR9o/s320/var1.JPG

Though I read recently that they've been discontinued. Bummer!

Neal

I have the VAR tire jack, too, and have found it to be great for those situations where my thumbs just won't do the job. I wonder why they discontinued such a good product?

-Gary

Looks like it may be a bit awkward to carry on a ride.

Actually it weighs next to nothing and fits in a medium size saddle bag quite nicely :)

ArmorAll - I spray the armorall liberally over the tire tube and rim - Makes for a great lubricant as well as protect ant and will not degrade the rubber...

Especially helps to seat the tube properly so you don't get a pinch...

Any luck? I fought a new tire for 25min once, keep fighting. If its the right size, it will fit. Use two tire levers, one opposing just wedge into the bead and the other driving the tire in.

Kool-Stop jack and Atroglide lubricant -will not harm rubber! ;)

One could probably mount 650B tires on a 650A rims with that combination. STRETCH!

Turtle Wax "super protectant" in a little spray bottle. Tires mount themselves...

:roflmao2: I'd love to see that!

This is off topic re bikes, but I've got a wrong size tire story for you. A couple years ago, at the horse stable where I spend some time, the made in China wooden cart that gets used for manure patrol needed a new tire. Original (made in China) tires read 26x1.95 as the size. I figure that's a pretty common MTB size and I'm a bike guy so I volunteer to replace the tire on the cart. I buy one at a LBS and when I get it out to the stable the thing doesn't fit around the rim. Figure I could probably get it on at home so I took the wheel home and tried there -- for days. Couldn't get it to go on. It was too small for the rim. I finally went back to the LBS and asked if they could get it on or else I'd have to return the tire. They couldn't get it on either.

At that point I was a little angry, and I later went to the Sears website (where the stable owners purchased the cart) and discovered that Sears sold a replacement wheel including the tire for $75 or so, but not the tire only. Learning that, I then ranted in a product review on the website that the cart was very functional, but that no one should buy one because dead tires couldn't be replaced without buying a entire wheel for $75 plus shipping. That review disappeared a day or so later from the website.

After some more internet research I finally discovered the company that sold the cart through Sears was in the Midwest somewhere, and I tried to get some help from their customer service reps. They couldn't help me with a tire only, and the website only had for sale full wheels as well, so I ended up speaking with the customer service boss. He asked me to write down the scenario in a email and then he'd pass it along to their company's engineering department and upper management. I did that, asking anyone to purchase tires and try to get them on the rims of the cart.

From that point it eventually took six weeks or so, but they finally obtained some tires from China to sell as replacement parts. The Chinese tires still had that same 26x1.95 size on them, but they fit those rims like gloves.

Moral of the story: Don't give up!

moral of the story: you need to special order a tire from china :lol:

this tire is a major PITA no matter what wheel i try to put it on: http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1866/p1010044x.jpg and i hurt myself removing it too

I'm going to tell you guys a secret that will change your lives, at least in lubrication terms. And that secret is:

Team McLube Sailkote!

It's an amazing dry lubricant that gives a waterproof, durable and incredibly slick layer between almost any two surfaces, especially plastic and metal. Any sailor will know this stuff but it has so many more uses. Seriously. It's a game changer. Cheaply had at any marine supply store like WestMarine.

i've had a similar situation with schwalbe tires on a new cr18. i knew the cr18s at one point have had a history of not being true to size, but i was literally yanking on it full steam, no reservation and neither tire nor wheel would mate. it was like a zebra and a donkey, lol. anyway, it took two experienced people (my father and i) a serious amount of coaxing to get the tire on. don't give up!

tl;dr: schwalbe tires are pretty effing hard to get on. try harder, or use lubricant/more leverage.

Measure the rim...

Just because it has a size printed on the side of the tire doesn't mean that it is RIGHT.

I bet your rim was 571mm rather than 559 and the chinese mfg that made the rubber didn't understand tire sizing systems & terminology (http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html). It wouldn't be the first time. Sometimes you have to be smarter than the people who made your tire and/or rim.

I've had luck with laying tires out in the sun for a while. Once they heat up they get some strech to them.

I tried fitting some Pariba Provolution tires on Campy zonda wheels once. Nearly lost my thumb, got a little tool and it was solved. It's about the same size as a small pump, same handle, so no problem to carry it in a saddle bag.

I think a list of what tire and rim combos work well together would be a good idea. Struggling with tires has to be my least favorite part about working with bikes. I know I am never buying Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases again...

I think a list of what tire and rim combos work well together would be a good idea. Struggling with tires has to be my least favorite part about working with bikes. I know I am never buying Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases again...

Sheldon, as always, to the rescue (http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html).

I understand the different sizes, I meant more what this thread is about, like some 700c rim and tire combinations working better than others.

I think a list of what tire and rim combos work well together would be a good idea. Struggling with tires has to be my least favorite part about working with bikes. I know I am never buying Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases again...

The irony! I with you on Bontrager Race Lite, I spent an hour trying to fit a pair of those a few weeks ago. Not helped at all by having a broken tip on my little finger! Finally, I resorted to a tyre lever and gently eased it on. Well, I thought gently until if found it was flat next day. So, same all over again, this time I fluked it and its stayed up!!