FlamsteadHill

BTW, per my OP I didn't use tire levers; I used a Bead Jack. Which works really well, I've just never needed one before. Plus, even though it did enable me to get the tire on, the tube was still in the way.

FlamsteadHill

Hey no problem. I didn't list any "qualifications" and on the internet, you never know who knows what, and whether what they "know" is right or wrong..

ThermionicScott 

Piggybacking on @canklecat's reply, what rim tape are you using?

friday1970

I always put a little bit of air in my tubes when seating my tire. It helps to keep the tube from getting stuck between tire and rim

canklecat

To reiterate that bit about the rim tape...

Try a test run of seating the tire without the tube, and removing the existing rim tape/strip. If the tire seats on the bare rim, sans tube, then you know the tire fits. That's what I did with my first set of folding tires after encountering difficulty. Both tires went on fairly easily.

If there's any problem after that when doing the full install, it's probably the rim tape/strip.

On my used road bike there were two different types of rim strips pre-installed. One was a thin soft rubber tape that I knew wouldn't support the tubes. Eventually the tubes will dimple and then split as the tube extrudes through the inadequate rim tape into the deep spoke nipple holes on double wall rims. One tube had already begun to dimple after only a couple of weeks.

Removing the old rim strip left one rim clean, but the other rim was encrusted with a bit of old rim tape residue. Just enough to hinder seating the second tire after applying fresh rim tape. I scraped off as much as I could where the bead would set in the hooks. Didn't seem like it would matter, but the tiniest bit of interference made the difference between seating the first folder relatively easily on the clean rim, and knuckle-busting cussing to get the second tire seated on the rim that still had a tiny bit of old tape residue.

FlamsteadHill

I agree thickness of rim tape is a likely culprit. I just left what was on it (the bike is new - less than 200 miles). Will consider replacing tape with next tire change.

Thanks all!

FlamsteadHill

I should add...

It was well worth the pain of installation. Took the bike for the first real ride yesterday and, Wow! Running them at 80/100, there is a bigger difference from the stock (Bontrager R1s) at the same pressure, than there was going from 120/120 to 80/100 on the stock. Reminds me of a 60s Cadillac. And while I don't have any real data to prove otherwise, they feel faster as well.

Iride01 

I had the same experience with the Rubino Pro's I bought. I feel that it's the new tread compounds they are using now. It is so supple that I think it's going to cause some rethinking of lower pressures = less rolling resistance and better ride. At least its going to add more considerations to the argument.

My previous Continental Super Sports were before the advent of Conti's black chili tread compound which seems to be their version of Vittoria's G+ tech. I played around with psi on the Conti's (23mm and 25mm widths) and generally would run them 70-80 psi on the front and 90-100 back on the back. With the Vittoria's (25mm width), I experimented at the lower psi's, but now find I'm running 100 to 110 psi in the front and 125 to 130 psi in the back.

At those pressures they still ride much more comfortably than my old Conti's or any previous tire. When I don't take time to check the pressure and they are low by 10psi or more I feel like I had to work more to do the same ride. They are still very comfortable though. To me it seems the suppleness of the tread compound now does what the lower psi touted as doing-- absorbing the power robbing forces from the uneven road surface.

The other thing that impresses me about the new tread compound is despite how supple if feels, it is strong. I seldom check my tread for shards any more. I don't think I've pulled out any. But with the old Conti's with hard tread, I had to check every ride to remove sharp shards of rock that I felt might eventually puncture the tube. I still ride the same routes and they are not any cleaner.

Ghazmh

Lots of suggestions, they all sound good to me, some I already use when battling a tire onto a rim. Spraying the rim and tire with water lubes it up just enough to get that sticky rubber over the lip of the rim. I also agree that swearing helps too. One thing I also do is take the new folding tire and inflate a tube inside of it for a few days to get it to stay round instead of flopping all half flat and refolding back along the creases.

Garfield Cat

The Kool Stop Bead Jack works but at the most difficult sections, its better to inch your way to close it up rather than to attempt a one-time final 4 inch close-up.

The other thing about that Bead Jack is that it slips when too much leverage pressure is applied. This happens at those last few inches. Sometimes, I would use one hand on the lever and the other palm of the hand to prevent it from slipping off.