EDP

I just finished putting 4 new tires on 2 bikes for the 2024 season.

I mounted a 2.4 inch Maxxis Race Rekon and 2.4 inch Maxxis Forekaster onto a Trek Roscoe 8 that had OEM Trek XR4 Team Issue 2.6 inch tires. Those tires were fine but I'm making the Roscoe more of a X-Country bike. Both were surprisingly easy with just a smidge of tire lever at the end. I didn't even have a charge pump or air compressor- I just used a Joe Blow floor pump and both tubeless tires seated with a normal tire pumping pace.

Next I put 2 Schwalbe G One Overland 700x45 tires on a Flatbike Gravel bike with Shimano WH-RX010 rims. This bike is a tube set up and despite the inner rim being 17mm and Shimano suggesting a maximum of 38mm tires, I googled and the consensus was I was ok putting up to 51mm tires on a 17mm inner rim.

I would post pictures but I don't want to ruin anyone's lunch. Needless to say my fingers are torn up trying to get the tires to seat evenly on the manufacturers line with the rim. It was at least a half hour of pulling in various spots and tearing up the inner pads on my fingers in two places. I should have used soap but just used brute force.

I've come to the conclusion every tire and rim situation is so unique you can never count a review saying "Easy to mount" or "Hard to mount".

delbiker1 

Quite frustrating at times. I gave up on the brute force, significant arthritis in my hands. I now gladly use tires levers and a bead jack. There are tires I can still mount and remove with just my hands, but more often than not, I go right to the tools. Some rim/tire matches are still somewhat difficult, most are easier after being mounted on the rims for a bit of time.

Rick

I just put a Schwalbe 26" X 2.125 tire on my Velocity Psycho rim. I used the Crank Brothers Speedier Tire lever to remove the old tire and install the new one. The fun part was using my new mini pump. It took 160 stomps to inflate the tire to 35 psi. My Taticco took more than 300 strokes to fill a 26" X 2" tire last year. I am getting older and my Road Morph aggravated my sciatic nerve a couple of years ago. The Taticco was better but it was still not very pleasant. The new mini foot pump didn't aggravate any thing so it's a keeper.

soyabean

Funny, I get it right on the first or second shot. Real easy.

LarrySellerz

When I get one side seated and am struggling to finish seating the other side, I put the unseated part at 6 o clock and then grab the tire at 12 o clock and pull at it, working my way down to 12 o clock on either side trying to get any slack down there. I repeat this 3 or so times, it makes the final step much easier.

CrimsonEclipse

Some rims are easier, some tires are easier.
Then there are some rim/tire combos that make you wonder if you should ever change a tire again.
20" Marathon Plus were monsters to mount years ago (newer ones are easier and I don't know why)

Technique improves over time, and good tools like steel core tire levers also helps.

Me personal record is mounting and inflating 65 tires in a day.
(walked around like a T-Rex for hours afterward)

Lamont Cobb

Not only does tire mounting differ each time, I find that squeezing a bike into a car, it goes in differently each time, and also pulling the bike out is different too. And unlike tires, there are no special tools (like the Crank Bros tool aforementioned) for squeezing a bike into a car.

Iride01 

Was the first side of the tire easy to get on? The second side should be almost as easy to put on. You just have to get the bead of the first side and inner tube out of the spoke channel. That's the part that isn't always so easy and is what usually makes putting on the second side difficult. If you have already put a little air in the inner tube, then this is the time you need to let it all out.

slow rollin

I visibly remember chunking some rubber off the bead of tubeless DH tires on my mountain bikes. Now I have lube for the beads when I do motorcycle tires and i needed I don't mind using it on a stubborn bike tire.

smd4

Never had a tire/rim combo that I ever needed anything but my hands to install. They say some tires are more difficult today, but that’s nothing I’ve come across.

2old

As above, some combos don't mix well. The real problem is if one discovers it on the trail far from home. I've encountered this while in the wild,

NVFlinch 

[QUOTE=Me personal record is mounting and inflating 65 tires in a day.
(walked around like a T-Rex for hours afterward)[/QUOTE]

Help - I just blew coffee out my nose!

WaveyGravey

I once purchased Continental 5000's that I could not get mounted. Took it to a bike shop and let them handle it.

Also, per the advice from this forum, I purchased a bead jack but have yet to use it.

zymphad

I can't figure out why Continental GP5000 were made to be so damn difficult to put on. Kenda tires are easy. I regret buying GP5000, should have bought Kenda again.

Yan 

It's difficult because hookless came onto the scene, and as a result everybody had to make their tires tighter than a baby's ass, to avoid being sued into bankruptcy from tires coming off.

Iride01 

Where you able to get the first side on easy enough? I've been able to both remove and install GP5000's with just my fingers on at least three different brand/models of rim. Sorry to say, but you are just doing it wrong.

I highly doubt that. People have been complaining about hard to mount tire before smooth bead rims started making a comeback. Smooth bead rims have actually been around since vintage days. But they disappeared or became obscure for 20 maybe 30 years.

Yan 

People have been complaining about all kinds of things since the dawn of history. You could make a tire looser than a grandma and some weakling with baby fingers will still complain it's too hard to mount.

Past complaints don't mean jack sh*t.

Iride01 

And your present hypothesizing about the reasons tires seem tight do?

alcjphil

Sorry to interject. but complaining is something that humans do. We all have an agenda. Whether or not the complaint was justified, the aggrieved person has an axe to grind

Eyes Roll

No tire is hard to mount, if you know the technique. You will know if a tire is easy to mount or hard to mount, when you are replacing a worn-out tire with a new tire. When you meet with a hard to mount tire, practice it 2 or 3 times (i.e., remove the tire and mount it again 2 or 3 times) before you go on your first bike ride with the new tire, and familiarize yourself with the technique.

Get yourself a Kool-Stop tire bead jack, and save yourself some headache. This tool is worth its price and will not only help you to save your fingers but also to avoid pinching the tube between the tire and the rim and to avoid pinch flats.

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...ire-bead-jack/

I use the technique in this video 👇. Instead of the wall, I also use a tree or a pole, when I am on the road and face with a flat, and don't find a wall.