Hi everyone! I own a set of these wheels and always have a problem getting tires to fit. I can never put them on by hand and always have to use levers with great force. I can use the same tires on other wheelsets and apply the tires by hand with little effort. Does anyone have a set with the same problem? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

i have this problem too on some of my Bontrager wheels, i've wanted to sand 1mm off of the edges to see what it does but i'm not brave enough.

Try a different set of tires. Some tires do not get along so well w/ some wheels. Curiosity, what tires are you using?

I'm using continental, and vittoria tires.

It's natural. Why does it bother you? Do you change tyres every day or what?
There's a technique to using the tyre lever that makes it a lot easier but as long as you can get your tyres on/off there's no reason for you to give a damn.

It's not natural. I have Alex rims and had the same problem. I got some MAxxis folded bead tires and those appear go one a little more smoothly. But they're still more a pain in the butt than my Araya rims. Also as a general warning, if they're the Alex double-walled presta rims, know that in the Alex models I've seen, the outer(hidden under the tire) wall is drilled schrader and the inner (the hole you see the stem emerge from) is drilled presta. I run 120 psi and was constantly blowing flats at the stem... the schrader hole was allowing the stem base to shoot up too far and popping and tearing the tube rubber in a way that can't be patched. At first I thought there was debris or a sharp edge at the hole, but no, it was just the design. I drilled the inner hole schrader and put in a scrader to presta adapter and that appears to have solved the problem for now.

Rugen, your right, its not natural. What can be a pain is getting a flat and trying to pry the tire off. I have broken the tips off of the levers. Not fun! No tire should be that tight on any rim, there is no need for it.

I agree with the recommendation of trying different brands of tire. I also found that making sure that the beads were in the center of the rim channel at the area of the rim opposite the location where I was beginnig my lever action.

^^^ Well, we can haggle over nomenclature for any length of time... The fact remains that there are a million tyre+rim combos that are pretty difficult to work with. That's been the case for decades and the cycling world can deal with it. That's what tyre levers are for. We only have the OP's word for it being extremely difficult. BTW, if you're clumsy it's very easy to break weak tyre levers even with relatively easily mountable tyre+rim combos. Get good levers and have your LBS mechanic show you the trick.

I have a 440 rear and my Conti's are a relatively tight fit (though still go on by hand), my Michelins are somewhat loose and Vittorias are a pain in the ass on any rim in exisitence.

+1

That's my problem too, it seem to go away (at least for now) when I put electrical tape around the inner hole. FYI I also run 120 psi.