tire installation
 

this may seem like a stupid question, but i experience great difficulty in getting the last bit of the tire to snap into the rim when i change tires

i am not able to completely force the bead of the tire into the rim with my hands; i generally try to use a tire lever to force the final bit of tire into the rim, but the tire levers tend to snap when i do this (this gives an impression of the amount of resistance i am encountering); since all my levers have broken, i have resorted to using the blade of a screwdriver or hammer to force it on (fortunately hammers don't break too easily)

can anyone offer any suggestions on how to approach this problem? should i consider buying a tire from a different manufacturer that might not fit quite so tightly? the amount of force required to seat the last bit of tire into the rim seems quite remarkable to me..

anyways, thanks in advance for your help

1) push the tyre into the middle of the rim - if it's a deeper channel there the bead will be easier to set
2) Do not use sharp tools to put the bead on, in the last 3 years (and about 1000+ tyre changes) i've only seen one rim/tyre combo that was too tight for the standard lever
3) Take small bites out of the last bit of bead. Do not try to put the entire last section on all at once - you'll break the levers as you've found out. With experience you'll know how much is too much just by the force on the lever.

And for other lame things like - make sure you're putting on the correct tyre for the correct sized rim. For example you can with great difficulty force a 700c tyre onto a 27" rim.

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...&item_id=KS-TJ
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...item_id=VR-425
for difficult tires

Both of these tire tools are great. I have both. The big one stays at home and the small one goes with me in my bike seat bag.
Get them - hassle over!

The VAR tools is hard to find in the US but you can find you can find it here with reasonable shipping cost to the US

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-V...-Lever-903.htm

(in my case it was not useful but you may want to give it a try).

Also, whatever you do, make sure that while on the road, you can uninstall and reinstall your tires.