Another moan - This time its Vittoria Rubino tyres

I don't mean to become the grumpy old man of cycling, 'but' these tyres should come with a warning that you'll need the Bionic Man to fit and remove them!

I've swapped tyres, fixed numerous punctures and never encountered anything remotely as difficult as these.

Monday morning I discovered a flat back tyre, the first puncture I've had since I fitted the tyres. Straight away I knew this was going to be a right game because I nearly broke both thumbs putting them on.
I ended up in a 30 minute fight, although, I was relieved to be doing this at home and not by the side of the road. After snapping off a plastic tyre lever, I decided it was time for the 'vintage' steel levers and probably sacrificing the inner tube. Finally, after some soap and water enough of the tyre rim was popped off.

Now its back on with a new inner tube. This is a standard 700c rim about 10mm deep. Surely this isn't how they are meant to be? The only thing I can think of is that I was sold some factory seconds.

Has anyone else had problems with them?

Not them but I have a similar issue with some Continentals I've bought.

Getting them off isn't the problem but blimey getting the back on is something akin to the trials of Hercules.

This is a knack to my Conti 'swhich makes life a bit easier with them but it's still a ball ache.

PS nowt wrong in being a miserable fecker it's served me well all through my life

yep, Ive had the same problem with the same tyres.
Some rims are better than others, guess 700c isnt always 700C.
if its any consolation, as you use the tyres, they become looser and easy to take off & fit.

pigman":1s70imuk said:

yep, Ive had the same problem with the same tyres.
Some rims are better than others, guess 700c isnt always 700C.
if its any consolation, as you use the tyres, they become looser and easy to take off & fit.

Click to expand...

The joints of my thumbs feel like they've had 6" nails banged through them this morning.....so, its no consolation at all

I've just had another thought, I was sweating buckets getting this dam tyre off last night when in theory its warm and there should be a little more flex in the rubber. So what happens in the bleak mid winter :cry:

Signal11th":32rojwt8 said:

Not them but I have a similar issue with some Continentals I've bought.

Getting them off isn't the problem but blimey getting the back on is something akin to the trials of Hercules.

This is a knack to my Conti 'swhich makes life a bit easier with them but it's still a ball ache.

PS nowt wrong in being a miserable fecker it's served me well all through my life

Click to expand...

Next time I'm in my LBS I'll ask what is the slackest tyre they sell

careful fella. The last time I went for slack tyres (cant remember which brand, but it wasnt a cheapy) it blew off the rim when i was descending a tricky pass with lots of braking. Guess the heat expanded it and boom. Still dont know how I didnt manage to come off.

Robbied196":1b51up2q said:

So what happens in the bleak mid winter :cry:

Click to expand...

Well, both tyre and rim should shrink so the problem might be the same.

Your life saver might be the VAR tool which makes both getting off and getting on easier.

Allegedly.

Doesn't help your aching thumbs much...but, this tight fitting thing is down to the manufacturer's tolerances on the rims and tyres.

Schwalbe's technical manual says:

"Fitting difficulties often arise when the diameters of the rim and the tire do not match perfectly.
Rims can have a diameter tolerance of ± 0.5 mm. In addition, each rim flange height can also have a tolerance of
± 0.5 mm. These figures add up to a total diameter tolerance of ± 1.5 mm, or 4.7 mm over the circumference. This corresponds to a maximum possible circumferential difference of 9.4 mm between the largest and the smallest rim.
A tire has to fit on both extremes, so because a safe fit has to be ensured even on the smallest permissible rim diameter, the proper fitting of the tire on the largest permissible rim can prove quite difficult.
The circumferential tolerance of SCHWALBE tires is ± 1 mm."

Rest those thumbs!,
All the best,

danson67":3ajlndnj said:

Doesn't help your aching thumbs much...but, this tight fitting thing is down to the manufacturer's tolerances on the rims and tyres.

Schwalbe's technical manual says:

"Fitting difficulties often arise when the diameters of the rim and the tire do not match perfectly.
Rims can have a diameter tolerance of ± 0.5 mm. In addition, each rim flange height can also have a tolerance of
± 0.5 mm. These figures add up to a total diameter tolerance of ± 1.5 mm, or 4.7 mm over the circumference. This corresponds to a maximum possible circumferential difference of 9.4 mm between the largest and the smallest rim.
A tire has to fit on both extremes, so because a safe fit has to be ensured even on the smallest permissible rim diameter, the proper fitting of the tire on the largest permissible rim can prove quite difficult.
The circumferential tolerance of SCHWALBE tires is ± 1 mm."

Rest those thumbs!,
All the best,

Click to expand...

Ahhh some very useful information! I guess its quite possible to have a + tolerance on the rim and a - on the tyre, although I'm convinced my tyres are -5mm I'm starting to think tyres should be like jeans, and you get to try them on before you buy

Old Ned":q49vyskh said:

Robbied196":q49vyskh said:

So what happens in the bleak mid winter :cry:

Click to expand...

Well, both tyre and rim should shrink so the problem might be the same.

Click to expand...

Very good point Old Ned, cold shrinkage! My wife is often commenting how small things look in the cold