lhphillips

I am looking for some sugestions and insight to mounting the Marathon Plus tires. I have XERO Lite XSR-3 rims that came with Kenda Kaliente tires (700x26c). I was able to dismount and mount these tires with no problems inflated to 125 psi. When I switched to the Marathons I had problems with the bead of the tire squirming out of the rim as I increased the the tire pressure, got to 80 psi when this problem started.

I know these tires are stiff and as the sidewalls flexed they became some what less difficult to mount. Is the stiffness/thickness of the bead the root casue of it squirming out of the rim under pressure? Is it the rim? Or am I missing something in technique when mounting the tire? BTW the bead always squirmed out where I finished the install even though the bead looked as though it was engaged with the rim.

I was able to get the beads to hold at 70 psi. However, I don't trust the tire to hold at 90/100 psi.

Batavus

Where did you finish the install? If it was at the valve, did you push the valve back into rim to prevent the inner tube from getting trapped between rim and tire?

If you did, the culprit is most likely the Schwalbe tire. They had a bad run of Marathons ( but also other models) which had problems popping off rims due to the bead of the tire not being up to spec. In combination with certain rims that have their bead seat tolerance in the lower part of the spectrum, these tires will just pop off.

Cyclist0383

What size Marathons are you using?

lhphillips

The Marathons are 700 x 25c. I finally got the beads on the tires to engage the rim, after three blowouts.

lhphillips

I did push the valve stem into the tire to make sure I got the tube up and away from the tire bead. I also noticed that when I had success I had to use a new tube and did not partially blow it up to get it inside the tire. It seemed as though I could work the tube and the tire without pinching the tube when the tube was completely flat. Note that I was using Pedro's tire levers.

operator

You may want to spin your wheel and inspect the tire for any deformities - as a previous poster has noted there were some bad schwalbes before. Sidewall bulging manufacturing defect i've personally come across.

lhphillips

I was able to inflate the tires to 90 psi front and 100 psi rear and took my first ride on the Marathons Plus. Very nice riding tire and no pinch flats. I did spin the tires as suggested and saw no imperfections. Thanks for your input.