That bastarden back tire...won't come off

[JWestland]

So, snow now rain. My long commute tomorrow will be Ice Rink ++ so studded tires back on. (They are great btw, but on roads the studs of course blunt...I guess they are made for Real Winter not the NI mostly road with some really hairy patches that require them)

Broke a tire lever on the back Continental Sportcontact. Got it off with a spoon.

Can't - get - the - bastarden - thing - off!
And it came off last Monday!

I am going to recruit The Manfriend, but if this happens to me when I am out and about I am banjaxed. Are there any magic roadside tricks for Tight Tires for people with small hands?

[jags]

if there is i never found it 
best think i reckon is really good strong tire leavers and an inch at a time.
snoe is all but gone down my end

[JWestland]

To clarify, one half is off using tire levers and can get inner tire out but I can't get it pulled from the rim it's very tight

[jags]

obviously you have the inner tube out, did you try a bit of washing up liquid,
as the man said if it went on it can come off not being funny.
try the hair dryer on full blast soften the  rubber.

btw remember the guy selling the 26 in wheels they now up for 50 euro if your still interisted.
http://www.adverts.ie/bikes/xc-mtb-wheelset-26/2094453?notification=ba1985e2a66ef81546287784b86e3030-1360071477?utm_source=email&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=AdWatchCommented

[JimK]

The main trick, I think, is to make sure that a good bit of the bead is down in the deepest part of the rim. This should create enough slack to get the opposite part of the tire up and over the rim edge.

I broke a couple of tire levers last year. That tire was sticky and I hadn't taken care to unstick enough of it to get it down into the well of the rim.

I hope you find the proper key without mashing any body parts!

[JWestland]

Tx

The manfriend broke a park tool one on the Winters, that's pretty impressive. There are cheapy halfords ones...

When I start pulling one end, I see it loosening at another end too...so the ideal situation of one end tight, one end slack doesn't happen :S

Any tricks for that? It's a very tight tire, always been a bit of a ****. I put them near heating for tonight see if that helps a bit...

Heh Jags that's a 1997 hub on them wheels...lovely but guy won't post/paypal, bank order costs me £25 and I can't find any weights so not sure they're lighter than XTC ones I got...and they're deffo more vintage

[jags]

no worries just thought i'de let you know.

[JWestland]

So, a long metal tire lever got it off in the end.

May be worth packing that if you're like me and have tires that are "tight as tiger" #Austin powers, goldmember

[jags]

i do already workshop tire leavers from chainreaction heavy beasts but worth it.

[Danneaux]

So, a long metal tire lever got it off in the end.

Yay! Good on you; it surely took the effort!

Some tire and rim/tape combos just fit extra-tight...an aggregation of tolerances, methinks.

I usually have good luck by pushing the bead into the rim well, but when the last bead is stuck fast, well, that's a tough one 'cos it is so hard to get a tire lever beneath it and you're effectively working from the "wrong" side. I've had remarkable luck with mounting and removing difficult tires using my ancient VAR tire lever/tire jack combo. It is a wide, cream-colored nylon affair. I got it back in the day to help mount the newly introduced narrow, high-pressure Michelin Elan clincher tires (for which it was partly developed -- "Rides like a tubular" was the advertising tagline. May have ridden sorta like a heavy sewup, but boy, did it de/mount differently). Man! Those things clung like grim death and put up a battle going on and coming off. The VAR did the trick each way, though. Why it never folded or snapped is beyond me. Good nylon, I guess. If you can still find one, a real aid for those who use skinny tires.

Glad the long metal lever worked for you. Might be worth tucking it in the underseat tool bag?

Best,

Dan.

[peter jenkins]

I know this is of little help, but I have had the devil of a time (Euphemism) with Continental Sport Contacts on my Moulton. (406 X 28, so you'd think it easier to wrestle than a 700C)

I could fit them with considerable effort and (in)appropriate language while working in the relative comfort of my garage and with the added luxury of time, but I suffered two punctures both of which took more than half an hour in the baking sun to sort out and involved a broken tyre lever and, I am embarrassed to admit, a broken spoke. (Desparate times call for desparate measures!) I shudder to think what it would have been like in freezing rain.

I ended up replacing the half worn Sport Contacts with Schwalbe Duranos. Sometimes it's worth the expense.

There are definitely some combinations of tyre and rim that are harder than others. My Campag Scirroccos are always a pain, but I've learned not to fit Conti's to them.

Cheers,

pj

[Danneaux]

Looking through the detritus of my garage today, I found a short section of tire sidewall and wire bead I had to cut out of a tire with a high-speed die grinder to remove after trying every possible alternative several decades ago. I'd saved the piece as a trophy. Given the brutal employment of the tool, it was a delicate operation fraught with hazard; the wire bead proved to be the equivalent of piano wire. The rim came though unscathed, but it could have gone bad any number of ways.

Desparate times call for desparate measures!

Absolutely!

I shudder to think what it would have been like in freezing rain.

<nods> I hear ya! I would have needed a *really* long extension cord for the die grinder!  

All the best,

Dan.

[JimK]

At the other extreme... I had kevlar-bead Duremes on for the warmer weather. My first folding tires! When I went to put on the studs for the frozen weather, I found I could just pull the Duremes off with my hands: no tools needed. That was a whole new experience!

[JWestland]

Here's another thing I noticed:

Shallow tyre levers with a flatter "hook" like the Halford's ones offer less brute grip but are easier to get under the Tyre bead.
The park tool ones offer much more leverage but are harder to initially hook under.

This is going to go against every bike mechanic everywhere but I ATM prefer the Halford's ones. You need to put them a little closer and be less brutal when pulling but at least I can get them under the bead.

Yes. I know...I got small hands though and dislike brute forcing things, so your mileage may vary