adamrice 

My wife's commuter got a flat yesterday, and that brought back unfond memories of what a PITA it was to get those tires on in the first place (they're Contis, which I've always found to be on the tight side).

So far, the tire has defeated my attempts at unmounting it. I've got half a mind to cut the bead, except that the tires are still in great shape, so it would be a waste.

Any tips or techniques for dealing with this situation? Any special tools? I've got plain-old plastic tire levers and (to remount) a Kool Stop tire jack.

cny-bikeman

1. Push as much air out as possible.
2. Push the valve stem slightly into the tire.
3. Push the tire bead on one side toward the center of the tire, starting opposite the valve and ending to one side of it. "Scrub" around the tire with your thumbs and palms, creating as much slack as possible
4. Lever off the bead on one side of the valve.
5. Lever off on the other side of the valve.
6. Continue to remove.


Good luck.

adamrice 

I cannot get the bead over the edge of the rim with a normal tire lever. Like I said, this tire is balky/tight.

noglider 

Try another lever. If you're careful, you MIGHT get away with using a screwdriver.

Why can't we buy steel tire levers any more? Jeez!

FBinNY 

Your problem is actually the rims, not the tires, but unfortunately that can't be fixed. Mounting/demounting tires requires creating slack by pushing the tire to a smaller diameter well in the middle of the rim and shifting the tire to the opposite end to clear the rim flanges - picture two quarters stacked neatly then pushing one sideways a bit.

Do as cny-bikeman suggested and push the tire to the middle of the rim opposite the valve and massage it around towards the valve to create a bit of slack. Then use a metal tire lever with a wide, thin spoon end which you should be able to slide under the tire to get started, on either side of the valve. Work the tire off.

Before re-mounting these tires see if there's anything you can do to reduce the diameter at the center of the rim. Start with replacing the spoke hole tape at the bottom something thinner. I use filament tape which is dirt cheap, thin and works as well as anything else.

Long term, consider the inside profile when buying rims, looking for a deeper well in the center to ease tire mounting, and/or don't buy tires known to be tight mounting. In any case don't mix tight tires and shallow well rims.

BCRider

For me the MAJOR element in working a tight tire is the importance of centering the bead of the portion still in the rim into the deep spot in the middle of the rim's tire channel. Cny-bikeman and FBinNY noted this above but I'd like to emphasise it as being the key element in making your job easier.

Another key part is to take small bites with the levers. Don't try to space them too far apart. Unseating or seating just a 1/2 inch at a time is better than trying to go with a full 1 inch and not be able to make headway. But this part is secondary to the SUPREME IMPORTANCE of keeping the rest of the bead centered in the rim channel by sweeping your fingers around repeatedly as you work the tire's bead at the lever location.

There's another possible situation as well. WIth a lot of pressure it IS possible to snap a 700c tire onto a 27 inch rim. Check your rim and tire to make sure this didn't happen. If by some odd chance this is the case then the only thing to do is cut the tire off, wedge the wire bead down into the center and then using some side cutters worry your way through the bead wire until it is cut through. Watch it as the wire WILL snap out with a snake like jump at your hands and face.

cny-bikeman

One trick I left out - if there's a thick rim strip mounted cut it and remove it before attempting to unmount the tirre.

BCRider

If it's one of the snap in Michelin style plastic ones then definetly. Also that style reduces the depth of the channel by quite a bit. If it's a stretchy rubber strip then you should be able to pull it out without needing to cut it.

Sixty Fiver

https://www.parktool.com/products/det...t=17&item=TL-5

Sixty Fiver

Besides what has been said, I always dust my tyres with talc before installing and can usually get away with not using a tool on anything but the toughest rim / tyre combinations.

Continental and Schwalbe tyres (esp Marathons) consistently cause the most issues if you try to install them dry but with a little talc and the right technique can be installed without tools.

Technique is everything here...

adamrice 

Turns out that cutting out the (factory stock) rubber rim tape did the trick—the tire was tight but not un-unmountable that way. Thanks for the advice. You'd think after all this time, I'd know how to fix a freaking tire.

I've tried using filament tape as a base tape in the past and had trouble with it; I'm going to get some kind of flat base tape (Schwalbe makes one) and hope for the best.

FBinNY 

I don't know why anyone would make a thick rim liner, making tire mounting such an ordeal. If you've had bad luck with filament tape, be aware that there are two kings, linear and multidirectional. I've had the best luck with the linear, but it has to be applied with some tension. Also old fashioned cloth surgical tape works very well too. Both are thinner than any of the bike specific products.

conspiratemus1

Congratulations on your success. I was going to add, that if you do need to resort to a screwdriver to get the bead to lift, choose a spoke hole as the spot to stick the blade under the bead. Yes it'll be covered by the rim strip but you will have just a little more clearance to sink the blade than at a spot between two holes. If the screwdriver blade peforates the rim strip you will of course have to replace it.