Originally Posted by
MikeWMass
2. When seating the tire near the valve, push the valve up into the tire and seat the bead, then pull down on the valve. Also, pinch the tire opposite the valve while you are doing this so it goes down into the depression in the middle of the rim and gives you as much slack as possible to seat the tire.
...
4. 700x32 tires tend to be thicker and stiffer than 23 or 25 tires, so may be more difficult to wrestle over the rim for the last few cm. Try to resist the temptation to use levers for this, as it is very easy to put a hole in the tube doing this.
5. Keep at it, and you will eventually get it. Perhaps the next time you have to go to the shop, you could ask them to let you do it and coach you, but pay the usual price (or ask a more experienced friend).
I recalled reading your second point (made by someone else) on these forums before, and attempted it the second time around. I just couldn't manipulate the inner tube far enough to get the tire in. I appreciate your fourth point - the tutorials all seem to use very thin road tires, which could explain why it seemed a bit more difficult than what the presenters did. Your fifth point is a good one, I'll see if the shop is willing.
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
OK the most serious error was to not seat he tire evenly before inflating. After mounting a tire, inflate enough to fill the tire out and give it shape. Then spin the wheel slowly and look at the molded reference line just above the rim's edge. It's there as a guide "reference" to let you know if the tire is seated evenly. Unevenly seated tires blow off, so this is a critical step.
I neglected to mention it, but I did spin the tire and inspect it for asymmetry before fully mounting it and riding on it. The issue is that there were no obvious signs of asymmetry while spinning, the bead at that one small part just looked slightly off compared to the rest of the tire. I'm guessing it was the issue, but at the time I couldn't remember if that's what it had always looked like.
I'll keep the rest of your advice in mind for next time.
Originally Posted by
AnkleWork
Hmmm, you used parts of two different techniques and added your own variation instead of following a simple standard procedure. Does not sound like a formula for success.
Think a minute before you try again. Many millions -- probably billions -- of bike tires have been mounted correctly and functioned well for countless miles. Does that give you a clue how to proceed?
I take it you're referring to my first effort, to which I can only say that you're probably right. I couldn't recall exactly how that part was done in the tutorials and figured that it didn't matter too much so long as the tube was nicely covered by the tire, and the tire was mounted properly into the rims. That part seemingly wasn't the problem, though. My main reason for posting here was because even when I followed the guides exactly, I was unable to manipulate the inner tube and/or the tire properly. Millions or billions of tires have been successfully changed, but I'm not trying to say that there's some flaw in their design. I just figure that I'm not the first to have had this issue, and wouldn't mind hearing how to overcome it from those who have either experienced or observed it, themselves
