Foldable tires don't hold their shape, especially when new, so you can't put the tube in the tire before mounting.

Right, but Fiery is saying he doesn't put the tube in first even on wire bead tires. Same here.

I find it faster and I know the tube is nice & even with no kinks.

I go one bead, then tube all the way in, then other bead with folding. Wire beads I out the tube in the tyre and then the whole thing on.

Really? I've had varying difficulties of tire/rim combos in both wire and aramid beaded tires.

Didn't think of that, it does make sense. Thanks for the clarification.

I know any pronouncement is subject to argument here, but here is the situation as I know it: the whole notion of tires being difficult to wrestle on and off a rim has its genesis with the introduction of FOLDING tires. When the folding tires were first introduced, that is when people started complaining about the lack of hand strength to do the job. That is when jacking type tools such as the Var Tyre Tool (see below) were invented to help out. Before then, fingers and/or standard tire levers were sufficient for both on and off. New folding tires are much more difficult to get both on and off the rim than wire beaded tires.

Here is what Sheldon Brown says about it:

"Kevlar beads are used on some high performance tires. Replacing the normal wire bead with Kevlar saves about 50 grams per tire. Kevlar-bead tires have the additional advantage of being foldable, making them popular as emergency spare tires with touring cyclists. Kevlar-bead tires are somewhat harder to mount on a rim, and are more likely to blow off than wire-bead tires. They work best on "hook edge" rims."

The "more likely to blow off" part is why the tires start off so tight and so hard to mount; an attempt to prevent that problem.



Does anyone still think foldable tires are easier to mount?

This may have nothing to do with ease of mounting and removal, but rather the desirable thermal properties of Kevlar. The heat capacity (amount of heat need to increase the temperature of a material a unit amount) of Kevlar is about 3 times that of carbon steel. It is not just about the heat that is generated in braking with carbon clinchers, it is about the rise in temperature. If the steel bead would become 3 times as hot as a Kevlar bead for the same amount of heat generation from braking, then wire bead tires could pose a significant hazard in close proximity to the clincher wall. Second, the temperature coefficient of linear expansion is nearly twice as high for steel as for Kevlar. So when the steel temperature increases 3 times as much the Kevlar temperature would, it also stretches nearly 6 times (3 X 2) as much as Kevlar would. Blow off of the tire could be aided by the larger bead diameter and the softer clincher wall. Good reasons to use fairly new (unstretched) Kevlar beaded tires on carbon clinchers.

Robert

and easier to mount.

This opinion keeps popping up, but is contrary to every article about folding tires I have ever seen as well as my own experience. Is it what you have observed?