goose70

Maybe I have a defective set of RS81s. Maybe I'm defective. But I cannot come close to getting tires on these wheels. I've never had a problem with any other clincher wheel. My LBS has also had trouble when I bring the wheels in to get the tires mounted after a flat, etc. The only thing saving me from total humiliation is that most of the guys in the shop can't do it either. Only one guy -- probably their most skilled wheel guy -- can manage it and even he struggles.

I thought maybe is was the Vittoria Open Corsas I use, so I just switched to GP4000II tires -- same issue. So, anyone else here have this issue with these wheels? If so, any suggestions other than take steroids or use different wheels? It has resulted a loss of self-esteem, trouble with my marriage and has caused my investments to lose money two of four days this week.

Secret Squirrel

Do you have the Tubeless or clincher versions of the RS81? TL or CL version.

goose70

Tubeless (but I use clincher tires...don't trust road tubeless). I suspect that's the problem.

Mr IGH

I've mounted Maxxis Padrone 25mm with and without tubes on my tubeless ready RS81 wheels without too much difficulty. No tools used to mount, just hand strength.

Jean_TX

I'd bet that you are right - the difficulty is the result of trying to mount clinchers on a "tubeless ready" rim. I have the Shimano RS81 C24 clincher rims and I had no problem mounting Conti GP4000II 23mm clinchers.

Doctor Morbius

Try some soapy water and see if that helps the bead go over the rim.

goose70

The problem with soapy water and other tricks is that I'm mostly concerned about changing flats on the roadside. For the past month I've been riding my carbon Reynolds with tubulars....my race day wheels that I don't really want to ride in the winter, but at least those rarely flat (have Stans in them) and if they do, I have a bottle of puncture filling spray with me. The RS81s, by contrast, will leave me stranded if I can't get the tire back on.

Googling round, I did find many accounts of people having the same issue I'm experiencing with various tubeless-ready wheels. Here's a helpful reply from 2012 concerning WH-6700 tubless wheels:
_____________________

Problem changing tires on WH-6700 Tubeless Wheelset

After wrestling with the 6700 / tricomp's I called my LBS for tips and they told me to come on down.
After hearing my complaint I watched the bike mechanic literally install the tube / tire on the 6700, without levers, in less than 60 seconds!
He told me two very important things;
1) put 15 pounds or so in the tube and make sure that the tube is placed in the grove of the rim and NOT in the tire. Otherwise given the tighter tolerances of the tubeless wheel you end up trying to roll the tire over the tube and rim instead of just the rim.
2) as always start installing the tire from the valve but when it starts to get difficult at the other end go back to the valve area and make sure the tire is still in the middle grove of the rim by working your way back to the problem area. it will probably take 3-5 times to make sure there's enough slack to slip the remaining part of the tire but it will happen.
After watching the mechanic and practicing for 10-15 minutes I was able to finally roll the tire over without levers. I then did it again at home just for fun as was able to change the tire in less than 10 minutes. I'm never going to be as quick as the pros but it's nice not living in fear of getting a flat on the road!

burnthesheep

I agree with the having same issue on road vs at home. As that's when you need it, in ref to the soap. You could always keep one of those tiny vaseline pouches in the saddle bag. You know, the 25 cent quarter sized ones you buy at auto parts stores to prevent corrosion on your battery caps on a car?

My carbon fairing set of Giant aero wheels are tough as nails to mount a tire. The original alloy Giant PA2 wheels, I can do with only hands if I have to. But, I think the PA2's are tubeless ready. The PSLR set is older, and don't thing is tubless ready.

Go figure.

fietsbob

ETRTO numbers are often treated as a suggestion, but actual production varies.

indyfabz

Maybe, you know, try tubeless tires and carry a tube if you don't trust road tubeless, which is the smart thing to do anyway since not all punctures will seal properly. In such an event, you can simply install a tube in the tubeless tire.

Elvo

goose70

I went back to my LBS and got a tutorial from one of the guys who has dealt with the problem of putting clinchers on a tubeless-ready wheel. After getting as much of the tire on the rim as you ca, go back to where the valve is and pinch the tire towards the middle of the channel. Continue this all around the tire in either direction; the center of the channel is deeper than the edges, giving you more circumference to work with. Once it was all pinched in the middle, I was able to get the whole thing on -- it still wasn't easy, but doable on a roadside sans soapy water.

goose70

I thought about that and love the concept, but then I read this and similar articles: https://janheine.wordpress.com/2017/...road-tubeless/.

Mavic thinks road tubeless are so dangerous that it's created its own wheel-tire system to improve safety. Maybe it's just a marketing ploy. Of the friends who run road tubeless, one says he's never had an issue, several others have had at least one tire-off-the-rim blowout, including one at a very bad point in a race. So, I'm a little shy about trying this.