Deontologist

I hate dismounting and mounting my tires ... I haven't successfully done it once. Anyone got any suggestions for easy to remove and easy to mount tires? Something a bit stretchier and looser on the wheel?

It doesn't seem like I'm the only one with this issue as well:

Kenda kaliente tires

Kindaslow

If you mount 27.5s on 26 inch wheels, they go on and comes off very easily!!!

in all seriousness, it gets a little easier with practice.

SalsaShark

It is all about technique. Dismounting takes merely seconds with basic tire paddles, and mounting can be done in a minute or two. "Walking" the tire bead around the rim is the key here. Practice a few times, and you will get the hang of it! Once you get real good, you can do all your own repairs on tubeless auto tires as well!

catgita

To remove a tire, release all the pressure, then push the tire bead into the center well of the rim all the way around. Pull on the tire a little so the bead stays in the well as you progress. There will then be enough slack to lift the tire right over the rim wall by hand.

To put the tire back on, inflate the tube just enough so is stays tucked up in the tire, but you can still work the bead back into the well and have it stay until you get the last bit back on.

Practice this at home until it is easy, because it is much harder to do with cold hands on the side of the road.

CliffordK

There was a discussion on RBR about "tubeless ready" rims vs the old standard rims.

I can generally mount just about any tire on my old style rims without tools, and can usually get them off too.

I think I only have one tubeless ready rim, and when I first encountered it, I didn't realize it had the drop center. IT WAS TIGHT. In theory the drop center should make dismounting tires easier, but I'm not convinced, especially on the narrower rims which can be tricky getting the tires dropped down in the slot.

trailrnr

In my experience, some rims appear to be slightly larger around the outside edge, making the tires harder to go on an off. My wife and I have Bontrager wheels, and I need tire irons, while I have some ROL and HED rims on other bikes and I can change them without tools.

a77impala

I don't have any trouble without tire tools, I use folding tires on drop center rims. Easy! The only rims that are hard are the Rolfs on my Zurich, not drop center!

Brennan

There can be all sorts of variations in ease/difficulty of mounting depending on the tires and rims involved, and I have found it true that some tires are indeed harder to mount than others. I recently purchased a set of Vittoria Randonneurs, despite reading several reviews about difficulty in mounting. I was confident that I would be able to install them as I have with many tires before. As I began, I quickly learned that it would take some extra effort. I went to the technique described here, which has always been successful for me in the past, but even this didn't work with the Randos. I finally dug out this tool, which I had bought on a whim a couple years before, and it did the trick. Of course, now I am a bit worried about what will happen if I flat and need to repair the tire in the field, but I've read that difficult tires stretch out a bit after mounting, making subsequent mounts/dismounts less of a struggle. I can't yet confirm or deny this. These tires are supposed to be durable, and they have proven to be so far. No flats yet. When the time comes, I'm counting on some loosening to have occurred, and I will likely try to sort of reverse the process described in the first video if there is difficulty in removal. If you just want a tire that's always easy to install/remove, a folding tire might work. In my experience, folding tires tend to be pretty easy to mount/dismount, but I don't have enough experience with them to proclaim it as a rule.

Elvo

Just buy this:
Kool-Stop Tire Bead Jack With Handle > Accessories > Tools > Tire Tools | Jenson USA

No more raw thumbs or blisters trying to put on that brand new Schwalbe Marathon

BlazingPedals

You don't want tires that go on and off easily! They're the ones that peel off the rim when you get a flat, leaving you riding on your rim for about 1 second. Riding on your rim is like riding on ice.

CliffordK

Wow, they reinvented the screwdriver.

The problem with the Marathon isn't that it is particularly tight on the rim, but that the bead has a bad habit of popping back out after you push it in. But, I did manage to get a 25mm Marathon mounted on my Aerohead rims without any toestraps, or tools. After the first time I removed it, it was much easier to get back into place (or I was getting better at it).

LGHT

I might be easier to get a good tool. I tried at first with a single plastic tire tool and it was a PITA. Then I got 2 steel ones that where thinner and heavy duty and I can change a tire in a matter of minutes with them.

fietsbob

Big wide tires on Big wheels are easier to mount and remove , than thin tires and small wheels .

not every rim has exactly the same bead seat diameter, either even though the ETRTO standards are there

to make tires and rim makers use the same Numbers

dynaryder

Nothing like a screwdriver. First,it's plastic so it won't damage the rim. Second,the hook stays outside the tire and pulls the tire onto the bead. So there's very little chance of pinching the tube,and nothing will get damaged if it slips. A screwdriver is just like a tire lever,the bead jack is a mechanical version of your fingers.

Deontologist

How does that work? The reviews are glowing and I'm really tempted to get one. On the other hand I don't want to be disappointed. I'm mechanically incompetent. I remember being so excited getting a set of iron core tire levers. That didn't quite work out.

GP

Some rim/tire combinations are tighter than others but I've never broken a Pedro's lever.

Pedro's Tire Levers

jaxgtr

I find folding tires mount easier than wire bead. I also find that the rim \ tire combination can also be an issue. I had some Mavic Reflex rims and mounting Michelin tires was an absolute bear, but I also found that issue with Velocity rims. Now....Boyd rims I am using now, Michelin tires mount up very easily. I also have that tire jack for my mountain bike rim\tires.

Brennan

It works well, and is easy to use. See a demo in the second video I posted above. I have only used it once, but I was able to get a tough-to-mount tire on rather easily with it after all other efforts failed. They are also Sheldon Brown approved.

SlowAndSlower

I use one tire lever, steel core, to get my tires off. The technique I use is similar to what many others have said. Let the air out and then squeeze the tire into the center of the rim. The next step is the critical one. I hook the tire lever on the tire and lock it down to a spoke. Then I go around the tire the second time squeezing the tire into the rim. The tension seems to hold the tire down into the rim. I am generally able to unhook the tire iron and slide the tire off with the lever.

The first go around breaks the tire out of the bead hook and the second effectively reduces the diameter of the rim mount.

dynaryder

Yes,it's my Plan B when a tire is giving me issues. As I said above,it doesn't lever the tire onto the bead,it pulls it up onto it. It works exactly like your fingers,just with greater mechanical advantage.

GravelMN

The tire/rim combination definitely makes a difference. I had some 1990s vintage narrow rims on a Trek 1500 (I don't recall the specific make or model of the rims) and putting Specialized All-Condition Armadillos on them would make a nun swear like a drunken sailor. Now I have Open Pros with Bontrager AW-3s and can mount them by hand with little difficulty or with a single tire lever with no difficulty. I've also noticed that folders are usually easier than wire beads and that most tires mount more easily the second time than when new. Someone recommended warming a new tire to make it easier to mount but I've never needed to.

mulveyr 

Yep, some combos are close to impossible. I can generally get any tire off and on with a single lever very quickly. But last year I stopped to help a lady and her family who were on a tandem + trail-a-bike on the Erie Canal towpath, and it was completely and utterly impossible for me to get her flatted rear tire off, even after trying to use three additional levers I borrowed. I spent literally 45 minutes on it before giving up and helping her call a local bike shop, who sent their mechanic out... and he couldn't do it either. They ended up driving the family and bikes back into town, where presumably they eventually got it dealt with.

It was an ancient tandem, so I first suspected that perhaps someone had managed to shoehorn a 700c tire on to a 27" rim, but alas, that wasn't the case. I forget what brand of tire it was.

fietsbob

Too easy, & they Blow off the rim, when you pump them Up.

Deontologist

I have a set of Easton Vista Velomax rims and Kenda tires ... are these a bad combo or something? Although I noticed that the people at the LBS have no problem getting tires off with a bit of effort.

CliffordK

What does your rim profile look like.

See these two Velocity A23 profiles.



The profile on the left would be considered the old or traditional style. It usually isn't too hard to break loose the bead all the way around the wheel, then push it over the edge of the rim, even without tools.

The profile on the right is the new "drop center" design, specifically for "tubeless" tires. You have to be very aggressive at forcing the tire into the center groove, then it should install, or come off.