Wanted: a tyre with a loose bead

Simonb said:

I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and very
nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting my
Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any suggestions
for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s? I'm afraid I won't be able to
get the Contis off now without destroying them -- or myself for that matter.
Also, any recommendations for a hefty pair of tyre levers?

What you want is one of these, the var tyre lever:

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/chrisg/20041004#product_of_the_day

Which is thankfully still available at:

http://www.bikeplus.co.uk/

with whom my only connection is as a happy customer.

Makes fitting tight tyres easy.

--chris

Simonb said:

I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and
very nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting
my Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any
suggestions for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s?

Vittoria Open Corsa 23 (though I've not tried the latest versions), or
Schwalbe Blizzard Kevlar 25 for a tougher winter tyre.

~PB

Simonb said:

I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and very
nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting my
Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any suggestions
for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s? I'm afraid I won't be able to
get the Contis off now without destroying them -- or myself for that matter.
Also, any recommendations for a hefty pair of tyre levers?

Thanks.

soapy water?
--
---
Marten

Chris Gerhard said:

Simonb said:

I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and
very
nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting my
Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any
suggestions
for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s? I'm afraid I won't be
able to
get the Contis off now without destroying them -- or myself for that
matter.
Also, any recommendations for a hefty pair of tyre levers?

What you want is one of these, the var tyre lever:

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/chrisg/20041004#product_of_the_day

Which is thankfully still available at:

http://www.bikeplus.co.uk/

with whom my only connection is as a happy customer.

Makes fitting tight tyres easy.

--chris

I'll second that, I was introduced to the VAR525 by a helpful soul who
stopped to help me a few years ago. He used his tool to help me repair
my puncture. I now have such a tool myself but one of the hooks has
snapped off.

MSeries said:

I'll second that, I was introduced to the VAR525 by a helpful
soul who stopped to help me a few years ago. He used his tool
to help me repair my puncture. I now have such a tool myself but
one of the hooks has snapped off.

The Crank Brothers tyre lever, which you can buy in Halfords, can be
quite useful with tight tyres. It's a neat gadget but not perfect. You
can skin your knuckles with it if you're not careful as it tends to
move quite suddenly. It also tends to lose a hook when it wears out or
if you're too brutal with it.

--
Dave...

m-gineering said:

soapy water?

It helps, but they are incredibly tight. and soapy water is hard to come by
on the road!

Thanks all for your responses: very helpful as always. I've invested in the
tyre levers recommended by Chris and will go for the Vittorias when the
Contis wear out.

Simonb said:

I've invested in the
tyre levers recommended by Chris and will go for the Vittorias when the
Contis wear out.

......or get a puncture ;-)

Tony

Tony Raven said:

Simonb said:

I've invested in the
tyre levers recommended by Chris and will go for the Vittorias when
the Contis wear out.

.....or get a puncture ;-)

With the VAR levers, I hope the task will not be as demanding even with the
Contis.

Simonb said:

I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and very
nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting my
Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any suggestions
for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s? I'm afraid I won't be able to
get the Contis off now without destroying them -- or myself for that matter.
Also, any recommendations for a hefty pair of tyre levers?

Panaracer Stradius are a looser fit than most. But first try fitting
them with lots of talc on the inner tube. It does help.

Halfords sell metal tyre levers. They will mark black rims, but that
serves you right for being a fashion victim ;-)

Zog The Undeniable said:

Halfords sell metal tyre levers. They will mark black rims

Ohhh. No! Can't have that!

"Simonb" <[email hidden]> wrote:

| I took delivery of a brand spanking new pir of Protons last night and very
| nice they are too. Only thing is I spent about an _hour_ fitting my
| Continental GP 3000s on them!! Damn, they are a tight fit! Any suggestions
| for tyres with a 'looser' bead than GP 3000s? I'm afraid I won't be able to
| get the Contis off now without destroying them -- or myself for that matter.

I know this is a bit of a duh yeah but did you make sure the bead
that's already the right side of the rim wall gets into the well in
the middle, assuming there is a well in the middle? I've wrestled with
kevlar beads before now, spotted the possibility of reducing the
diameter a few mm and it made all the difference. I didn't need any
lever after that, for getting the tyre on anyway.

--
Patrick Herring, http://www.anweald.co.uk/ph.html