so my crusty old tyres finally gave me the flat i deserved, so i bought a new tyre and tube. The old one was super hard to get off, and the new one almost impossable to get on, it continually pinched the tube so as expected as soon as i pumped it up i got a pinch flat. Almost couldnt even get the flat tube out.
so besides the obvious that I’m a spaz, is this common with any sort of rims?
I have campag Omega hardox clinchers.
Some combinations of rim and tyre are tight together and can be absolute pigs to deal with, so it might not be you. Depending on manufacturing tolerances some rims are just a little bit bigger than others and some tyres just a litte smaller. I have a maxxis/mavic combo on one of my bikes that I can only get off with my SOMA steel-core tyre levers and a lot of grunting and very bad language. If I wasn’t such a tightarse I’d just bin the tyres. I have others that roll on and off so easy and tool-free they make me suspicious of riding them.
Sometimes a tyre can be a biatch to fit the first time or two, then the bead gives a bit and they become easier.
My old grandad used to deal with tight tyres by running a smear of palmolive dishwashing liquid on the tyre bead and inside the hook on the rim. I’ve not done this because I’m not usually anywhere near my kitchen when I puncture.
Campag Omegas were always a little oversized. Try a looser fitting tyre, probably not a Japanese tyre.
I guess you’ve tried pumping up the tube a bit inside the tyre and then putting them both on at once? When trying to push the last part of the bead in, I’ve found that lightly bouncing the wheel on the ground while rotating it can push the bead further into the rim, freeing it up enough to snap the last bit in. ( I hope that made sense).
The kevlar bead specialized tyres are nice and loose… tool free.
first rule is to take it slow…
i find that for really tight tyre/rim combos (mavic/conti springs to mind) i dont use a tyre lever and instead roll the tyre over the rim using my palms/thumbs. its hard the first couple of times but you learn the technique pretty quick and you dont end up pinching the tube with the lever on tight fits.
the approach is (as taught by this rad old time commuter who had a million simple bike maintenance tricks):
starting at the valve and moving equally around the rim you work until it gets hard to progress.
stop and go back to the valve and ‘pinch’ the tyre away from the rim sides and shift it around the rim slightly. the theory is that the closer the two edges of the tyre are to the centre of the rim the more play you have at the other side of the rim as you are making the tyres circumference smaller at that point and shifting the extra perimeter to where you need it. this is also good for another reason mentioned below.
when you get to the last 5-10cm it will just slip over the rim.
putting some talcum powder on both the tube and the rim helps a lot. both in terms of having the tube not get pinched and rolling the tyre on in its last stages.
having less air in the tube than you might normally have can help, but too little makes it problematic later.
important if you use a lever or not: add a little air if havent installed it with some (or much), go around the seated tyre and pinch the sides of the tyre in from the rim. look to see if you can see any tube, if you can, lift the edge of the tyre over the tube to get it seated properly. this can take a little work. work your way around the tyre slowly. this should mean you have pretty much reduced your chance of a pinch flat to zero. even on the worst tyre/rim combo.
pump the tyre up slowly so that both the tube has a chance to fill out and the tyre to seat properly.
i can give a demo in person as it makes more sense if you see it.
not rushing tube/tyre changes is some of the best advice anyone has given me.
Spot on.
i love changing tyres, next to removing cranks it my favourite thing to do when it comes to bike maintenence
I had similar problems with Campy rims and Vredestein tyres years ago and I remember a bike shop dude telling me that Campy rims were often oversized.
I always feared getting a flat on the road because I was sure I wouldn’t be able to get the tyre back on. Luckily it never happened and the rims were eventually replaced.
So…it’s possible the only real solution may be to swap rims or tyres for another brand.
God, what do you pump into your tyres snowflake? Let me know!
Huh? You lost me Horatio.
haha you know, that anti-puncture liquid or whatever magical thing you do to prevent punctures! :lol:
First rule of punctures, don’t talk about punctures.
and use tyre liners
Thanks peeps…
Just to frustrate me even more, as i gave up on the job as it was getting late and i wrecked the tube, i walked out to discover my other bike i had just ridden home had a flat too! I was sick of damn bikes today.
So to save on wrecking more tubes i popped into abbotsford cycles to by a couple more and asked them to try the tight rimmed wheel for me. Boss’ thumbs of steel had no problem using his hands to put on what my jelly arms with tyre leavers couldn’t. Shame on me, i still don’t think i could do it though but the tips are a good help.
P.s i love bikes again, i just rode clip in shoes for the first time they feel so good!!!