So many tire/tube issues...
 

I'm going on my sixth tube in less than a year between two bikes. You'd think I'd be really good at replacing tubes by now, but NOPE!

It's because this dang tire is so firm and thick! (no jokes, guys!)

The issues I'm having:
When removing, it's impossible to get my tire levers to grip the bead.
- I have 11" tire irons that I sort of get in there enough to get a few inches of the bead to stay off the rim.
- Once that's done, I go around the tire, smashing it from the top over onto the opposite side of where I raised it off the rim. Takes a lot of brute force, but it's the only thing that works.
When reinstalling,
- Getting the last few inches onto the rim is absolute torture. If my hands weren't sore already, they always are after thumbing and smashing (or attempting to) the rest back on.

More issues:
- My JoeBlow floor pump is destroying my Schrader cores. The head is too large to fit between the spokes properly, so it never seats perfectly. I can't find an adapter that'll allow me more wiggle room either.

You guys got any tips here?

A moped tire? Used on what bike?

2015 Juiced ODK U500 midtail e cargo

Maybe it's time to put some sealant in your tubes.

A few random tips:
Get some easier-to-mount tires
Use better tire mounting technique
Find what is causing the tube problem and fix it
Learn how to patch tubes
Use a different pumphead
Hire-out tire repairs
Less drama

That should be a flat-free tire.

What AnkleWork said --> 'Find what is causing the tube problem and fix it'

Seattle is blessed with a number of bike co-ops. Pick one, and get one on one hands on education so you can put this behind you once and for all.

This won't magically prevent flats, but will make dealing with them a snap.

Which would be?

I don't have one.

I did find a video of a gentleman using toe-straps to cinch the tire down, which holds some slack for later use when the bead gets super difficult to get in towards the end.

Which problem? Constant flats or the core getting destroyed? I know the causes of all of them. Working on all of them.

Today's flat was brought to you by my spokes being so tight that the JoeBlow head can't get in there well enough to seat properly, so my brand new tube's core is busted.

The flat that I was repairing before that was thanks to the spoke ends going through the rim tape and into the tube. So I got some Velox rim tape.

Before that, it was three nails. These are all on my wife's bike. Poor wife. :( For the nails, I'm installing tire liner on all new changes.

I looked into tubeless, but I figured I would wait until we have to buy tires again.

I've watched videos. Not sure what I've done wrong in the past.

See above. I did get a Topeak Schrader connector and despite having "anti-air loss" in its name, I couldn't get a good seat on the valve.

Might have to at this point.

I didn't realize that asking the Bicycle Mechanic section for advice was drama. My sincerest apologies.


Working on it. :)

Flat free tire? Man, do those exist if they're not Kevlar/Tubeless/etc.? I wish this were the case. However, I think I may go back to the tire that Juiced was using before. Had much fewer flats with those, though the tread wear was much more and the grip was a bit less.

Good idea. I'm not sure how to do so in the moment, however. Say I get a flat. Only way to transport the bike then is to get a stupidly-expensive Zipcar and hump the back into the back of a Honda Fit. Haha.

I suppose I could be smart, though, and go on a day I don't have a flat. Hah!

I think you need to post a pic of your Joe Blow not fitting up.. no room...
I'm not visualizing the problem, and find it hard to believe.

Get the Kool Stop Tire Jack:
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...4&category=214

Yes, it's sort of like a roof.

It leaks whenever it rains, but you can't fix a roof when it's raining. Of course you could fix the roof on a sunny day, but why bother when it's not leaking.

If the rim was spoked wrong it could interfere with an air chuck.

Not that much room between the spokes on a 16" wheel.


A regular chuck run off a compressor should work, 'tho...

Oh, goodness! I am excited about that tool! I'm ordering right now.

. :lol:

Attached are photos of the head in the spokes, and of the attachment I tried to use that wouldn't create a seal.


Apartment dweller here. ;)



I'm thinking this flexible hose from Lezyne might do the trick as far as preventing broken cores in the future goes.

Good old Randy from MyTenSpeeds.com suggests to use talcum powder.

Before installing a new inner tube, put it into a plastic bag, add a little talcum powder, close the bag, and shake it well.

The talcum will act as a dry lube when squeezing the inner tube into place.

About having no space for the pump: look for pumps with slimmer heads. Heere's the Topeak range:
https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/pumps

And get the wheel to a respected wheelbuilder. Sometimes a different spoke pattern might give you more valve clearance.

No one is asking why the o.p. is using a moped tire on a bike wheel. Surely the bead seats are different? Surely the ride quality is awful. Surely the efficiency is abysmal. Surely this is another troll thread! WTF is going on around here? This is like the third one this week.

It's a little different.

For installing moped tires I've seen guys put a little air in the tube, insert it in the tire, then put about 8 tie wraps around the tire to draw the tire beads together, spray some soapy water on both sides of the bead, and then force the tire on the rim by hand. In fact, I just searched YouTube and found a video of a guy using the technique:
Motorcycle shops usually carry angled Schrader valve extenders that make it easier to get the air chuck on the valve.

From my experience with electric scooters and downhill tires it's always a pain. We charged hourly for changing tires on electric scooters at one shop, usually was $65+ charge when it was all done.

I'm a big fan of the Koolstop tire bead jack but it really doesn't work on wide tires with stiff sidewalls.

Wear gloves to save the hands, Mechanix gloves or similar.

Lube the tire bead with soap or special stuff made just for that.

Talc the hell out the tire and tube, electric bikes/scooters tend to shift the tire under power and cause flats. Sometimes from damaging where the valve attaches to the tube and sometimes just from abrasion to the tube.

Get the whole thing warm if possible, warm tires are waaaaay easier to mount.

I would always bust out every single different kind of tire lever when doing it. You never know what specific shape is going to work well for what tire/rim.

It's definitely a "unique" bike. ;)

Roger that. I was about to order one of those on Amazon, but wasn't sure it would work well, so I ordered Lezyne's flex-hose.

Roger. Giving it a go tomorrow. Didn't want to do the soap thing because I thought maybe it would make it even harder to get purchase on it.

Soapy water can be a much bigger help than a hindrance when trying to install a reluctant tire. We used it all the time at my motorcycle shop.

I put moped tires onto my heavy cargo trailer. I just remember they were a pain to install. And, just hope for the best. So far I haven't had any problems, but perhaps only a few hundred miles since putting them on.

What size of bicycle tires? 20"? Note, the rim size for bike tires is different than auto tires.

What type of tire irons are you using? Harbor Freight has some auto/farm tire irons that might be worth a try.
24 in. General Purpose Tire Iron

You might also consider something like the Tannus tires.
http://www.cycletogo.com/product/tan...-406-midnight/
See notes here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...olid-tire.html

I've got the narrow 700x23 Tannus tires on my winter commuter, am reasonably happy with them. I think they slow me down a bit, but perhaps not too much overall. And, at least in the winter, they are good for peace of mind.

Still somewhat "experimental" for me, but perhaps 2000 miles or so, and doing well.

Definitely wishing I'd gotten the stuff to go tubeless now...

The brand new tube is flat. I thought it was a broken valve core because the air was coming out the valve immediately upon pumping it in. Upon proper inspection, however, I found a small hole on the side of the tube about ten inches away from the valve. Looks like a pinch flat hole, but there's only one of them.

This could have happened in all sorts of ways. With how rough we have to be with the tire, I can see it getting punctured when putting it back on. I was doing the palm-rolling technique to put the tire back on, so maybe while doing that, the tire pinched the tube against the rim.

Time to get a patch on there and figure this out...

If anyone wants to send me the appropriate supplies to do a tubeless setup, please shoot me a PM. :P

Couldn't get a patch to work. My patches don't like to come off the plastic, so the edges of the patch got marled.

Anyways, I've got a new tube in, got the tire on fairly easily. Current setup is:
- Velox rim tape
- Mr. Tuffy tire liner
- Sunlite 20x2.0-2.25 tubes

These Sunlite tubes are already way nicer than the Kenda I had in there.

I'm going to replace these tires with ones that aren't so large when the time comes. Possibly next flat! Hah. Let's hope that's not anytime soon though...

Probably going to go with Bell/Schwinn Kevlar tires, as they can be had for <$20 each and are Kevlar. Recommendations?

I suggest you learn good mounting technique, since attributing all your problems to bad luck won't get you anywhere.

Not sure what you're saying here, but you are not supposed to try peeling the plastic off of the patches right after patching. You remove the foil back, stick on over the glued section, and rub. The plastic won't hurt anything, but it sure will pull a [not totally cured] patch off enough to cause issues. After a few miles, it'll flake right off, anyways.