I took my CL find, a Schwinn Peloton, to my overhaul class last night and couldn't get the tire off of it. The instructor said it was the worst tire/rim combo I could have. I'll have to go look, but I think it was some kind of early 90's Mavic (700c) and the instructor said that they made them slightly oversized to help keep the tire on the rim.

There is no way I could have taken the tire off on the side of the road. In fact, it took 2 of us students to get it off, using 3 tire tools.

My question: does anyone know if there's a better 700c tire I could get for this rim? I'm female and don't have a lot of hand strength, so it's important to me. I recycled the tire, so I don't remember what brand it was.

Barring a new tire, how do I assess rims for their ease of changing them? There's a big swap meet here in the Twin Cities next weekend, but I don't really know what I'm looking for.

I have noticed that old tires than have been on a rim for a long while can be very hard to remove requiring three levers and a lot of patience. But then the new tires were no problem at all, going on with just thumb pressure. Now, I am not saying that this is the case with your wheels, but I would just try mounting a new tire and see what happens.

BTW, I have kevlar belted tires on my commuter and have never had a flat with them. YMMV

What model rim is it? I have a clincher wheelset with Mavic MA-40s, with no significant removal issues. I usually use three tire irons.

I would buy the MA-40s if they showed up, but the more modern Open Pro is really good, too. Or the Velocity Aerohead like you have on your Mondonico.

Road Fan

I've yet to come across an older 700c rim that can accept any tire on/off easily new or old, its just an old rim "thing", I guess clinchers were bad in those days so they had to make the rims a mm or two bigger in diameter so the bead would stay seated, I dont know. I use beast steel tire levers from the 70s.

Aren't 27" tires just a tad bigger? Would those fit on the 700c oversized rims?

(road fan, the bike is out in the car and I'm in my jammies sick today, so I'll post the wheel brand when I get a chance.)

I have found it can also be partly the tires fault. Continental ultra sports are know to be very hard to mount/remove. I had a very tough time mounting a set to some Mavic G40 rims. But, all the other rims with Conti Gatorskins or GP 4000 are easy to mount.

I swapped a pair of tight fitting fortes for vittoria zaffiros and those went on very easy and are much better tires. This was for a 27 wheel however.

I thought the Peloton tires were glue on tubulars/not clinchers.

Thank god these aren't the original wheels. I'm in no way prepared for tubulars.

I put a pair of those on another bike and they popped off. What psi do you use?

I think they might fit a bit loose, since they're 8mm larger in diameter.

I've had the easiest time mounting Panaracer Paselas. They're more of a touring/all-around tire though, so I don't know if that's what you're looking for or not.

27" tires and 700c wheels are not compatable.

Find a tire with a Kevlar bead, That will help a little. Spit on your finger and wipe the part of the rim that the tire is climbing over with saliva, lubrication helps everything. It works even better when putting them on. A little drop on you finger and then spread dish soap on the outside wall helps a tough tire go on, just be sure to leave no residue so the brakes will still work. You can put a little on the inside of the tire that is climbing over the wall too. Just a little. Windex works too and evaporates cleanly.

There really is no good way to know before buying how they fit, wheels and tires all vary a little.

If you want to avoid a tight fit, do not try the combination I have on my Bianchi -- Campagnolo Omega rims with Continental tires.

Aside: When buying mountain bike tires, you will need three tire levers to install or remove "tubeless ready" tires. In the past, I have not even bothered to carry tire levers with my mountain bike, but this has now changed.

I had a off brand clincher tire on one of the PH-10 wheels that was so dry and so tight it took me an hour to remove it. It was still holding air too, pretty incredible.

I keep a couple of painter's moist grease wipe towelette thingies in a ziplock bag in my saddlebag tire repair kit. You can use them to wipe the inside of the tire to check for the offending thorn, wet down the tire bead when mounting, and then clean the crud off your hands when finished.

Solveg, I just noiced you listed Conway Springs in you locations. I am from Wichita. Horray for KS. If you are ever in Wichita over the summer stop by the Bicycle Pedaler on Rock. I will probably be there.

Are you only there in the summer? Bummer! Kansas is way too hot for me in the summer.... but if for some reason I am there, I'll drop by for sure!

Well I will be there this summer and then in Lawrence from then on. I am transferring schools after this semester

OMG, the worst possible combo EVER. My newly acquired Tesch, has Wolber TX Profil rims. I have folding Continental Ultra Sports on it. IMPOSSIBLE to get the tire on, and I pinch flattened the tube several times just getting it mounted. I thought I had it done, and it was still flat the next morning. On my first test ride I made it almost all the way back home. In the last 75 feet before my driveway I heard a recurring rub noise, followed by loud POPfisssssssshhhhh. I thought the bead came loose, but was still mounted when I came to a stop. I guess it's back to the LBS tomorrow night for another tube and a new rim strip.,,,,BD

Wow. So this is a really common problem with vintage bikes using 700c wheels, then. I'm amazed I had never read about it before.

I took the forte tires off the PX 10 and installed some rustwall Kenda pros on them. Matrix 700 rims with Record hubs. They mounted easily enough, but the bead just would NOT seat properly. I inflated/deflated them probably 6-7 times per wheel, and the bead finally popped into place with lots of prying/cursing along the way.

Funny, Panaracer Pasela folding tourguards on Sun CR-18's is the most difficult to mount that I've ever encountered. They're even worse than any of the Continentals I have.

A liberal application of talcum powder when installing makes them easier to get on this time, and off the next time. Doesn't dry out like soapy water does.

Two of my friends, on different occasions, have told me that Sun CR-18's are difficult to mount any tire on, and they wouldn't use them again for that reason.