Last summer I got a 1985 Gitane Performance off of Craig List. I do like the bike but I wanted to put "fresh" inter tubes on it. The tires looked new with little to no wear. Getting the Forte Strada-K 700C tires off turned out to be project from Hell. I am used to being able to remove and install tires using my hands only and only rarely needed the help of a spoon. Getting these tires off was EXTREMELY difficult and required 3-4 spoons working together. Indeed I ended up installing several inner tubes because of spoon pinching causing leaks. I thought maybe the problem was the Mavic module-E 700C rims. I have never had a problem like this before.

Very pleasant surprise today when I installed Michelin Dynamic Classic 700C tires. Yes it was a fight getting the Forte tire off but the Michelin's went on with no problem and no spoons required. Situation normal. :-)

No wonder the guy hadn't road the bike and sold it to me cheap. No way could I change the Forte on the side of the road, in a reasonable time, if I had gotten a flat.