Easy Fitting Tyres

kula

Retrobike Rider
Kona Fan
Well I've got some Mavic MA40 MTB rims, which are about 20 years old and still a class pair of wheels. Major trouble is, that fitting a tyre on them is damn hard. Got a new conti tyre today and can't fit it :cry: as it's way too tight. Got and older Conti that fits a little easier and have had some panaracer folding tyres that fit okay after are bit of a fight.
I dread puncturing coz changing the tube is such an effort.
Now why is that I can remove road tyres from Mavic Open 4CDs in seconds but these MTB mavics are such a chore.
Anyone know of a 'slack' fitting tyre that would make life easier?
 
You could always try one of these. I have Fibromyalgia which means my hands are painful and stiff - fitting tyres is very hard for me as I cannot use enough pressure with my thumbs. These are great for the workshop but not much help on the trails.


http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=42811

42811.jpg
 
Nifty bit of kit,i think ill get one of those while its reduced :? i spend that much on general crap anyway :LOL:
 
REKIBorter":19uftel6 said:
You could always try one of these. I have Fibromyalgia which means my hands are painful and stiff - fitting tyres is very hard for me as I cannot use enough pressure with my thumbs. These are great for the workshop but not much help on the trails.


http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=42811

42811.jpg

They look great... although for a tyre where you can only get a 3/4's on by hand and normal tyre lever this might be out of it's depths?
In saying that I'm buying one on my next order :D
 
Now that is pretty neat! I had issues with conti tyres on most rims, they are simply a pain to get on, and the sport model I had for commuting got punctures weekly and eventually the side wall blew out while it was locked/stationary :?:
 
best thing to do when tyres are tight is to let the beads drop into the trough of the rim all the way around. this usually gives plenty of slack
 
Cheers that tool looks like a great way to spend a tenner.
BTW, i had got all the rest of the tyre bedded into the well of the rim and a couple of toe staps to hold the tyre in place and still no good. The rim is narrow which is where the problem is I guess as it's hard to get the bead bedded down.
 
Like you mentioned, it's the rims as much as the tyre.
I had some MA40MB rims years ago and had to grapple with them whenever I wanted to change tyres. They are a nice rim though.
I often use the same tyres on two sets of rims. The D521's are nice and wide and I only need to use my hands to change the tyres; the 217's are narrower and I need 2 levers to get them started.
Wire bead tyres I find more troublesome than their Kevlar/folding cousins too.

That gadget posted above looks pretty nifty though!


Ps: what's the maximum size tyre you can fit on the MA40? I seem to remember they wouldn't take much more than a 2.0 ?
 
You should not need a tyre lever to put a tyre on. I never use tyre lever to get a tyre on. I do use them to help ease a tyre of as like my fingers they way they are.

To help get a tyre on first seat the tyre around the valve hole as that can the most difficult area to seat if left to the end. Then seat as much of the tyre as you can by hand. Then pick the wheel up and place the unseated portinion between your feet nd chase the tyre around the rim. That is with both hands and your palms facing outwards towards the rims grip both side of the tyre and pinch it firmly and push with both hand sat the same time away from each other. This way you chase the slack around the rim until you reach the bit you have not seated yet. As you get closer to the unseated portion you will want to hold the valve area against your belly and continue chasing. You should have more tyre to work with.

Conti's do have stiff beads but they do make some good tyre on the plus side. Sometimes some rims and some tyres just do not mix.
 
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