For DH tires with cushcore: unfold the tire and put it into a hot car along with the cushcore for an hour or so, install right after you take it out of the car and it’s a lot more maluable.
I come from the motorcycle side of things. In that world, when changing tires you must put the tire out in the sunlight for 1.3 hours, polish your tire spoons and 12mm wrench, use lots of lube, preferably have a cheerleader and a wellness coach keeping you calm, build a small fire, and sacrifice a live chicken at the altar of the tire gods.
For bicycles, I break the bead and rip the tire off with my bare hands and often do the same to put a new one on. (I have some plastic Bell levers that came in a patch kit that I'll use if I need a little bit of leverage.) I always use the block-style tubeless valves, not the cone-shaped ones. My rims came pre-taped, but one ones I've had to do myself, I used Gorilla tape.
If you hate loud air compressors: California air tools make super quiet ones. I can leave mine plugged in and turned on in the garage and it doesn’t bother anyone. Makes a difference not having to mess with it every time. Being always ready, you can then use it for daily inflation and not just seating tires. So the value proposition is better. Problem is, because they are cheap, they are kind of shitty, had to spend quite a bit of time resolving small leaks in the compressors manifold.
I don’t use a floor pump anymore. It’s kind of nice. When my neighbor needed help with her bike tires she was very impressed 🤣
Put a tube in at high pressure for 15 min right after taping a new rim. It pushes the tape flush into the bed, seals the edges, and squeezes out air bubbles.
An old car tire works great as a soft, grippy floor platform so you don't scratch up your rims or rotors while working on them.
Using a Makita DMP181 or similar cordless pump isn't cheating if you already have the batteries lying around anyway.
My setup in the photo: Cut-down car tire, a sealant syringe with some PU tubing from the farm section of a local hardware store (3,00 euros), Pedro's tire levers, and a couple of Schwalbe Clik Valve / Lezyne chuck adapters.
I don't usually mess up tape when I install tires using tire levers... but when I do, it's almost always a dh casing tire with an insert and I don't realize it until there is already 6oz of sealant in the tire.
Lots of good advice here and I don't have much to add. It's all about being hyper focused on the bead being in the rim channel. Most tires are easy peasy for me... except for conti's. First mount on conti-dh tires sucks pretty bad.
What I've learned: Lug a 55 gallon trash can around to all races in your car/truck/mega-van Suck sealant into a hose & squeeze it out into a tiny little de-cored valve stem Live someplace sunny & warm at all times of day, week, month Have some form of fast DC charging air appliance nearby Purchase the perfect rim & tire combo at all times. Cost be damned
Or.....: Make a Pepsi bottle air cannon Dump sealant in the side Use Gorilla Tape but don't tell your judgy friend. Buy any and everything on sale Keep frothy beverages on hand to draw helpers in like moths to the beer flame
Man, I didn't realize that this was still an issue until I saw this thread. Pretty quickly after I started mountain biking, I invested in a...
Man, I didn't realize that this was still an issue until I saw this thread. Pretty quickly after I started mountain biking, I invested in a small air compressor - that makes setting beads of even stiff tires easy. I've always used good quality tape (prefer Reserve or DT), which while expensive, it bonds better and lasts longer between retaping (and doesn't require trimming to width). Prior to Filmore valves, I learned to remove valve cores when seating beads (or adding sealant). I've been running durable carbon rims for years (WAO and Reserve), and am able to mount Maxxis DH casings on them by hand without a lever. Brand new Conti DH I can do without a lever but if my hands are tired or I'm in a hurry a Pedro's lever works nicely. After they've been mounted once they go on easily without a lever subsequently. The latest Schwalbe Gravity casings are tricky because they don't want to stay in the rim channel until you get about 80% of the bead in, so a rubber OneUp/Voile strap helps act as a third hand. When trying to get a stubborn bead to pop with tighter tires, I do a little spritz of isopropyl alcohol between the tire bead and rim lip to lubricate the tape surface. (I use iso because it will evaporate quickly afterwards for no mess.) I guess since I change tires often I learned pretty quickly through trial and error what works and doesn't to do it quickly and efficiently.
Mounting tires is not an issue if you use reserve rims and maxxis tires. Pretty quick to get the tire on and no need for an air compressor to inflate.
Anyone using continental, schwalbe, enve, bontrager likely has had a rage inducing experience at one point before they learned a few tricks.
Man, I didn't realize that this was still an issue until I saw this thread. Pretty quickly after I started mountain biking, I invested in a...
Man, I didn't realize that this was still an issue until I saw this thread. Pretty quickly after I started mountain biking, I invested in a small air compressor - that makes setting beads of even stiff tires easy. I've always used good quality tape (prefer Reserve or DT), which while expensive, it bonds better and lasts longer between retaping (and doesn't require trimming to width). Prior to Filmore valves, I learned to remove valve cores when seating beads (or adding sealant). I've been running durable carbon rims for years (WAO and Reserve), and am able to mount Maxxis DH casings on them by hand without a lever. Brand new Conti DH I can do without a lever but if my hands are tired or I'm in a hurry a Pedro's lever works nicely. After they've been mounted once they go on easily without a lever subsequently. The latest Schwalbe Gravity casings are tricky because they don't want to stay in the rim channel until you get about 80% of the bead in, so a rubber OneUp/Voile strap helps act as a third hand. When trying to get a stubborn bead to pop with tighter tires, I do a little spritz of isopropyl alcohol between the tire bead and rim lip to lubricate the tape surface. (I use iso because it will evaporate quickly afterwards for no mess.) I guess since I change tires often I learned pretty quickly through trial and error what works and doesn't to do it quickly and efficiently.
You younger guys without a history of hand injuries probably won't need this. But for us old guys who think they're still young and crash and burn. Then while healing up deciding to work on bike and change tires. Try the above before asking the local shop kid to do it for you. :D
I don't usually mess up tape when I install tires using tire levers... but when I do, it's almost always a dh casing tire with an...
I don't usually mess up tape when I install tires using tire levers... but when I do, it's almost always a dh casing tire with an insert and I don't realize it until there is already 6oz of sealant in the tire.
Lots of good advice here and I don't have much to add. It's all about being hyper focused on the bead being in the rim channel. Most tires are easy peasy for me... except for conti's. First mount on conti-dh tires sucks pretty bad.
My personal bike has multiple layers of 15mm kapton tape on the hoops. It’s just wide enough to cover the spoke holes and leaves the rim beds wide open. Even with a bunch of layers it’s so thin that you would have a hard time catching your bead on it. I can’t recommend it enough
Besides Prestaflator, what other inflators do you guys like? Seems like every shop has their own self made inflator they cobbled together from various parts.
I've used a Giant Control Tower HP/HV for close to a decade and never had a problem setting a tubeless bead. Ditched my charger/inflator because of it. Not all High-Volume pumps are created equal. Prepare your jokes... The Control Tower's handle shaft is the maximum allowable diameter to fit into the main shaft, so you get nearly double the volume. Any HV pump that has a narrow handle shaft, like most pumps, isn't really an HV. I know Feedback Sports makes a HV pump with a wide diameter handle shaft. I'm sure there are others. You just need to... check the shaft diameter. I'll show myself the door in a minute.
My Bead Bro and Rotary Tool don't get used often, but when they do, man are they worth every penny. My Rotary Tool pretty much only comes out for installing a Cushcore or dealing with a real punk-ass bead that won't drop like a Conti Dh+insert. You could probably make your money back by charging people $10-20 to install a Cushcore and tire 😁
I don't have space in my bike room or car for a 55-gallon trash can, so I picked up a 김장 다라이/kimchi-making basin. It has all the strength, shape, and durability of the magic grey trash can, but maybe 1/4 the height. Easy to use on the floor or counter/table top. I plan to also use it as a drip pan and parts-washing basin in the future. Plus, I can easily take it to races/events.
For DH tires with cushcore: unfold the tire and put it into a hot car along with the cushcore for an hour or so, install right after you take it out of the car and it’s a lot more maluable.
I come from the motorcycle side of things. In that world, when changing tires you must put the tire out in the sunlight for 1.3 hours, polish your tire spoons and 12mm wrench, use lots of lube, preferably have a cheerleader and a wellness coach keeping you calm, build a small fire, and sacrifice a live chicken at the altar of the tire gods.
For bicycles, I break the bead and rip the tire off with my bare hands and often do the same to put a new one on. (I have some plastic Bell levers that came in a patch kit that I'll use if I need a little bit of leverage.) I always use the block-style tubeless valves, not the cone-shaped ones. My rims came pre-taped, but one ones I've had to do myself, I used Gorilla tape.
If you hate loud air compressors: California air tools make super quiet ones. I can leave mine plugged in and turned on in the garage and it doesn’t bother anyone. Makes a difference not having to mess with it every time. Being always ready, you can then use it for daily inflation and not just seating tires. So the value proposition is better. Problem is, because they are cheap, they are kind of shitty, had to spend quite a bit of time resolving small leaks in the compressors manifold.
I don’t use a floor pump anymore. It’s kind of nice. When my neighbor needed help with her bike tires she was very impressed 🤣
My setup in the photo: Cut-down car tire, a sealant syringe with some PU tubing from the farm section of a local hardware store (3,00 euros), Pedro's tire levers, and a couple of Schwalbe Clik Valve / Lezyne chuck adapters.
I don't usually mess up tape when I install tires using tire levers... but when I do, it's almost always a dh casing tire with an insert and I don't realize it until there is already 6oz of sealant in the tire.
Lots of good advice here and I don't have much to add. It's all about being hyper focused on the bead being in the rim channel. Most tires are easy peasy for me... except for conti's. First mount on conti-dh tires sucks pretty bad.
I dont think anyone mentioned pulling the valve core. Simple but sometimes that extra air flow is needed.
99% of the time it goes smoothly but that 1% is usually memorable.
Buddy of mine installing a new Maxxis DH casing tire with a Cush Core on a rim in under 3 minutes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY-kj3AygFd/?hl=en
What I've learned:
Lug a 55 gallon trash can around to all races in your car/truck/mega-van
Suck sealant into a hose & squeeze it out into a tiny little de-cored valve stem
Live someplace sunny & warm at all times of day, week, month
Have some form of fast DC charging air appliance nearby
Purchase the perfect rim & tire combo at all times. Cost be damned
Or.....:
Make a Pepsi bottle air cannon
Dump sealant in the side
Use Gorilla Tape but don't tell your judgy friend.
Buy any and everything on sale
Keep frothy beverages on hand to draw helpers in like moths to the beer flame
Mounting tires is not an issue if you use reserve rims and maxxis tires. Pretty quick to get the tire on and no need for an air compressor to inflate.
Anyone using continental, schwalbe, enve, bontrager likely has had a rage inducing experience at one point before they learned a few tricks.
Reserve and Maxxis might be the easiest combo I have ever found
https://koolstop.com/products/kool-stop-tire-bead-jack-ks-tj
Give it a shot.
You younger guys without a history of hand injuries probably won't need this. But for us old guys who think they're still young and crash and burn. Then while healing up deciding to work on bike and change tires. Try the above before asking the local shop kid to do it for you. :D
My personal bike has multiple layers of 15mm kapton tape on the hoops. It’s just wide enough to cover the spoke holes and leaves the rim beds wide open. Even with a bunch of layers it’s so thin that you would have a hard time catching your bead on it. I can’t recommend it enough
Besides Prestaflator, what other inflators do you guys like? Seems like every shop has their own self made inflator they cobbled together from various parts.
Normally Cush Core's marketing is cringe at best, but the Bead Bro really is like having 3 hands. Best $20 I've spent in my toolbox.
I've used a Giant Control Tower HP/HV for close to a decade and never had a problem setting a tubeless bead. Ditched my charger/inflator because of it. Not all High-Volume pumps are created equal. Prepare your jokes... The Control Tower's handle shaft is the maximum allowable diameter to fit into the main shaft, so you get nearly double the volume. Any HV pump that has a narrow handle shaft, like most pumps, isn't really an HV. I know Feedback Sports makes a HV pump with a wide diameter handle shaft. I'm sure there are others. You just need to... check the shaft diameter. I'll show myself the door in a minute.
My Bead Bro and Rotary Tool don't get used often, but when they do, man are they worth every penny. My Rotary Tool pretty much only comes out for installing a Cushcore or dealing with a real punk-ass bead that won't drop like a Conti Dh+insert. You could probably make your money back by charging people $10-20 to install a Cushcore and tire 😁
I don't have space in my bike room or car for a 55-gallon trash can, so I picked up a 김장 다라이/kimchi-making basin. It has all the strength, shape, and durability of the magic grey trash can, but maybe 1/4 the height. Easy to use on the floor or counter/table top. I plan to also use it as a drip pan and parts-washing basin in the future. Plus, I can easily take it to races/events.
https://ironmind.com/product-info/ironmind-grippers/captains-of-crush-grippers/
I recommend a 2.5
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