continental tyres

[twain]

having a mare of a time with my race kings/X kings - folding tyres.
basically they are a bitch to put on.
a bitch to get off.
they pinch flat my innertubes when mounting.
its getting tedious.

are wire beads better?
do i need to go with a different brand?
seems a shame as i like them once theyre mounted.

:|

 

[gattonero]

It's not only the tyres, but also the rim: yours may have a very shallow inner, which leaves little room for the tyre to wiggle when fitting it.
Using thick rim-tape (like the Velox) doesn't help either.

What rims and what rim tape are you using? I fit X-Kings and Race Kings fairly easy on Mavic's and DT rims, I always use the very thin Schwalbe rim-tape

 

[gattonero]

Have a look at this.

Stan's rims.
Very good for tubeless, but not easy to fit the tyres on, look how shallow is the central section

Now look at this Mavic rim, how different is the central part where the rim tape goes

 

[twain]

i'm on some alexrims (cant remember the specific type). when i got the tyre off last night i did notice it had rim tape + an extra rubber strip for some reason (like the rubber strips you get on cheap wheelsets) this was over some ritchey rim tape (the snap on kind).
will remove this tonight and see if it makes a difference. need to fix whatever flat i have anyways...

 

[Reluctant]

It's got to be a rim tape issue. I've used folding Race Kings a lot and find they almost fall onto the rims.....loose n baggy if anything. Mainly fitting on Mavics, but I've got some Alex rims too and they aren't exactly tight either. Let us know how you get on!

 

[mattr]

The rubber strip is possibly a tubeless conversion strip.
If you aren't going tubeless, get rid.

 

[twain]

will get rid tonight and see how my levers/fingers end up im used to tyres being fitted with my bare hands, so anything easier (evel slightly) than it is now, will be a massive relief.
its putting me off getting a matching Conti X king at the mo, so hopefully i can sort it out before Big Dog on saturday....:/

 

[greencat]

Re:

Wire beads are usually worse in my experience

I have Mavic Crossland tubeless rims and fit wire beaded Mountain Kings. Both these and the previous Geax TNT tyres were an absolute git to get on/off until I watched this video:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4[/youtube]

The crucial bit is to make sure the bead is in the well of the rim all of the way around (about 3 mins 20s in). I've still broken a couple of tyre levers in the past getting them off, but I can pretty much put them on by hand now.

 

[keny]

A thing I do different from the vid is that I leave the valve part as last, becores there the tire can´t go to the bottom of the rim drop. Hardest rim I ever mounted a tire on is a Mavic X517 and whit a Specialized Renegarde 2 bliss tubeless ready tire. Did it whit thumbs however.

 

[twain]

right, so rear tyre, i managed to prise off and remove the rubber rim belt to leave just the Ritchey rim tape behind.
and managed to remove the tyre with bare hands, fix puncture and put tyre and tube back in with bare hands - so thats solved it for that wheel!

HOWEVER...

tried doing the same to the front (with my Conti X King tyre) and couldnt even get the tyre off.
it doesnt even have te extra rubber rim belt that the rear did. i remember pinching an inner tube getting that tyre on in the first place so just left it as it is and hope that i dont get a flat in the front on saturday.....
not sure how to tackle that one...