[Closed] Tight fitting tyres - how do you get them on? Help!

Use the well in the middle of the rim.

Technique. Always technique.

Geex will be along in a minute to tell you you are weak.

Technique. Always technique

I’d have agreed with you as I haven’t needed more than fingers for years. Then I got some absolute bastard tyres that broke my plastic tyre levers

Geex will be along in a minute

Yeah, Geax, that was the brand. Cheap but not cheerful

Kool tool always works.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/x-tools-tyre-seating-tool/rp-prod122324?gs=1&sku=sku439101&pgrid=60711843058&ptaid=pla-425901859640&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA+All+Products&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|s53uDmlHe_dm|pcrid|309840114632|pkw||pmt||prd|439101UK&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_r3nBRDxARIsAJljleGOXyRtC1tYBdUiIRpRC7eZvSXUSmCCcDANtktU8gcbO6teh9e1FioaAm4SEALw_wcB

Need the right sort of levers - I've found those blue Schwalbe ones help a great deal - the have a clip that holds one side of the bead in place so you can get the other side (of the gap) on. Excellent design. Apart from that ... gotta SWEAT.

Technique. Watch some you tube videos.

I used to think that some tyres were impossible without tools. One day I challenged a pal who stated that tools were never needed. He popped these difficult tyres straight on. So I am going with technique. Yes some tyres are harder than others but the key thing was not only to get the tyre right into the well but also to force the slack all round to the final bit.

Technique++

Start on the opposite side of the rim to the valve hole, get the bead right down into the well of the rim (i.e. the part of the rim with the smallest diameter) and make sure you keep it there as you chase it right round the rim.

Rarely need to resort to levers (on folding beads at least).. but tubeless set-ups can be harder as the tape can fill up the rim 'well'.

I fitted some tyres with just finger pushing before these tight things came along!

sarawak I love your thinking! I have a pair somewhere!

Weak? I dragged my old man in a tug of war with these tyres and that didn’t work either! And Dad on the floor nearly.

Will research some videos too!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Goes back to basics and well worth a watch https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=-XUFVrl0UT4

Can't remember needing levers to fit a tyre.

If you're breaking levers, you're also probably damaging the tyre bead.

Two people here have provided the solution, the rest is blah, blah. Did you get it? Chase the tyre into the well in the middle of the rim. All the way around.

Some people on here talk out their backsides and have obviously never had properly tight tyres.
IMO, of course 😛

I suspect some folk have never tried to fit tubed covers onto tubeless rims.

I find talc a better lube than fairy liquid myself.

Worked in and around the bike trade for 30yrs,
Lesgrand and trailrider, use the well in the middle of the rim.
It’s technique, rather than tools.
If i had a quid for every time I’ve pulled an ‘impossible’ tyre onto a rim using only my hands, I could probably afford to buy a cheap tyre 😂😂😂
Edited, to say, i mean lesgrand and trailrider are correct.

In case I wasn’t clear, it’s technique that matters.

Agree technique for most tyres, maybe to odd DH tyre needs tools but pretty much everything else can usually be done with fingers.. But as said above, tyres on to tubeless rims with foam inserts. That’s a whole new level and needed two of us and park tool steel levers. Not even sure if worth it?

My comments relate entirely to normal tyres btw.
Solid tyres are a different matter, as I imagine inserts would be.

My comments relate entirely to normal tyres btw.

Obviously - because tubeless tyres haven't been around for 30 years.

I've been using tubeless since about 2006 and can safely say that there are some wheel/tyre combinations that are harder than others. Particularly when it comes to road tubeless.
Just cos I can type Oh, it's easy. I can fit any tyre to any rim including 26" tyres to 29" tubeless rims using my toes, doesn't make it fact.

Tubeless are still normal tyres, I’ve done plenty of those too.
I don’t have arms like a gorilla either, so i stand by my opinion, it’s technique that matters most.

I’m pretty sure I have one of those Geax tyres that had me heading to Halfords for metal levers and the Stans Crest rim in the shed somewhere if anyone who thinks all rim/tyre combos are finger fitable fancy the challenge.  I’ve fitted plenty of tyres including more recently tyres and inserts but I’m happy to video you proving me wrong if you are up for the challenge

Getting tight tyres on even using a Kool Tyre jack is ok in itself.

Try getting them off.

eg. Tubed on tubeless rims!!!

For all the people on here that are saying technique, in most cases that's probably what needs to improve.

I fit tyres a lot and think my technique is generally pretty much spot on.

However on occasion I've had some absolute bastard road tyre / rim combos, whereby they just don't go on by hand. The xtools thing linked above is absolutely invaluable in those scenarios, and I wouldn't be without it nowadays. My 2c.

Taking them off is a different kettle of fish, I haven’t seen many combos where I could manage it, so tend to use levers as a matter of course.

Tubed on tubeless rims!!!

You've jogged my memory ... pretty sure one of the problematic combos I've seen was a tubed road tyre on a tubeless rim. It was so tight that when fitting it moved all the rim tape exposing the spoke holes (due to depth of well). But when I went nuclear with more tape there then wasn't enough well to get the tyre on. I eventually got it on but no way I would have been able to fix that on the side of the road.

Most of the time it's a doddle though.

For taking them off I've sometime found you need to blow up the inner tube (if not tubeless of course) enough to get it out of the 'well' and then it's just as the others are saying. If you deflate the tube completely then it can get in the way. Actually, the same applies to getting them on sometime as well, you need to pump up the tube enough to get it out of the well

Are you running tubless ? If so to much tape can make a tight tyre almost impossible to fit. If so take a layer of and try again. If your using tubes perhaps your rim tape is on the thick side. Try one layer of stans tape or similar and try that. If you try this and still fail send Geex a message he'll come round and fit it one handed standing in a hammock 😎😎

Technique, start opposite the valve and work so the bit at the valve is last. Use the well as everyone has said.

Failing that in ascending order, tyre levers, metal DH levers, hammers, LBS

Warming them up on a radiator helps as well

I find the difficult ones are ones with stiff carcasses (like some DH tyres) where the beads spring away from each other naturally, making it difficult to keep the second one in the well. G-cramping the tyre sidewalls together can help.

Something to try...

Find a workbench/table/fence or whatever.

Fit one bead into rim on the non-disk side (never normally a problem).

Hold the wheel flat, out ahead of you, disk side up, valve furthest away.

Put the axle/cassette/end cap against the end of your workbench and press against the wheel with your stomach. You should now have both hands free.

Starting at the six o'clock position (where your stomach is) press the upper bead right into the well of the rim, and hold it there with the pressure of your stomach pushing forward.

Work your hands round the rim, left hand goes to 7 o'clock, 8 o'clock and so on while right hand does 5 o'clock, 4 o'clock etc.

Don't just push the bead in, stretch it as much towards 12 o'clock as you can.

With a loose-ish tyre, it'll pop on by the time your hands are at 11 and 1. A tight tyre might take a wee bit more thumb pressure to pop it over that last bit.

Thinner rim tape works best, as does glossy. I use Stans/WTB/Tesa whether or not I'm using tubes.

Update:

Hi, I managed to get the tyre on!

I used some lube (fairy liquid) and used a new pulling lever that was mentioned above.

Then I mounted the same tyre on my Dad’s bike using my fingers.

I tried some Conti’s and ran into the same issue.

So it turned out my new rims are a basket to fit some tyres.

Thanks for tips, although I’ve already been using them and was a good reminder.

Oh and cheers sarawak, without that tool I’d be crying.

Oh and cheers sarawak, without that tool I’d be crying.

No worries. Glad to be of help. I carry my tool with me at all times on my "Winter" bike. It has Hunt wheels and they are tubeless design so PIA for tubes and covers. I found that the tool would just fit inside a large SIS drinks bottle so it sits in my spare bottle cage. Permanently!!!

Almost these theories about how to put covers on are fine in the garage. But on a wet afternoon in January when the light is fading and I am tired and cold, the last thing I want is to be pfaffing about trying to sort out a puncture. I just want to get it on and get home.

You're not swearing enough

You’re not swearing enough

That's not what SWMBO says.....

I swore at my Dad when he caught the inner tube with brute force.

I could have done that but I’m being careful not to catch the tube...

His face as I pumped air into the tube lol

Pump hiss pump hiss...

Showed him how it’s done and he got the wheel spot on. Not bad for a 70 year old!