Originally Posted by
Batavus
If it is that easy to get a tire off with a string, it's a doodle with your bare hands.
The only tip I can offer is using the palm of your hand to get the last bit of second bead over the rim, not your thumbs. I haven't met a tire/rim combo that required a lever to get the second bead on.
I also own Kinlin XR 300 rims, but use veloplugs because they were a weight weenie build. This might explain the ease with which I can mount tires on these rims (especially Conti GP 4000's, they are super supple!) as teh veloplugs leave more room in the rim well to mount the tire vs a traditional rim tape.
Veloplugs make more slack than Velox (.020" thick), and were enough for me to hand-mount Continental GP4 Seasons on Kinlin XR300s.
1 mil Kapton (.005" for two wraps) takes up less space than Velo Plugs which weren't enough to get GP4000s on my powder coated Velocity Fusions, although the thinner tape was.