Originally Posted by Fugazi Dave
FWIW, my personal feeling is that Conti's are generally total pains to mount. Much harder than other brands of tires. If I didn't like 'em so much, I'd stop putting up with it.
I've heard the same thing. Why didn't anybody tell me this last week? It could have saved me some skin on my thumbs. and 5 tubes. and 2 tire levers.
The weird thing is I got the tire on the back wheel on the first try. It took me 5 attempts and on the front tire before letting the LBS do it. The mechanic there used some crazy old VAR tool to get the tire on, only to have pinched another tube. So I finally gave up and took the tire and wheel back to the shop where I bought it, where the guy let me exchange the tire for a sheistier and more expensive (but easier to mount. so much easier to mount) Hutchinson POS. So now i've got mismatched tires.
Also, I just measured my chainline. I've got 41mm up front and 42.5 in the rear. I don't think flipping the chainring is going to help much.