Can't get my tyres off!?

Hello
Am I being a total noob or am I doing something wrong here?
I recently got myself a Charge Cooker with some WTB Trailblazers on it.
I was looking to change the tyres. I have tried to remove the tyre but it seems to be glued to the rim on one side? Is there something I should be doing to get ’em off?
Thank for your help!

Tubeless rims? Bead fit may be a lot tighter than you’ve previously experienced so just needs a bit more force to remove – worst case, put wheel on floor, sticky bead upwards and press-down firmly e.g. heel of shoe

If your thumbs aren’t on fire you’re not doing it right.

Sometimes with wide flat rims it’s very hard to get the tyre fully off but you can make a wee bit of space- enough to get a tyre lever between rim and tyre. Then just sliding that round the bead pushes the whole thing over.

Stand on the tyre. Seriously, I’ve had the same issue with B+ tyres on WTB Scraper rims and the only way I could get the bead off was to put a towel under the rim then apply bodyweight via the heel of my shoe onto the tyre.

This can be the case with some carbon rims and certain tyres. I’ve stopped using those particular tyres with my carbon rims as it was such a ball ache getting tyre off.
In the end, I used hair dryer to heat tyre up and 2 people to push/pull. Previously tried 1 person and vice with no joy!

BTW, it wasnt actually the bead sticking to the outside wall. My carbon rims have a channel on the sides for the bead to sit in. It was trying to get the bead back over this channel into the centre of rim.

Scrapers? Stand on the tyre and lever it off. It helps to use both feet (sets of toes) and apply pressure over a wider area.

Been there!
In the end, had to cut one of the bastards off.

WTB Velocoraptors on tubeless rims. Utter, utter nightmare.

Ended up pushing 3 miles home and tore the tire getting it off the rim. Even the LBS with their impressive array of strong thumbs couldn’t shift the other one.

I cut them off and replaced them with some Vittoria Barzos which are much easier to handle.

Lay the wheel flat preferably with part of the rim supported by a block of wood.
Take another block and place it as close to the rim edge as possible directly on the side of the tyre.
Give that block a stout blow with a hammer. That will de-bead the tyre.
After that work the tyre into the centre deep section of the rim.
You may need to flip the wheel over and repeat the de-beading process. Once done the tyre should come off ok.
Its how I do it on the notoriously tight WTB tyre carbon rim combination!
FWIW older tyres seem to strtech a little and are a little easier, and when fitting new tyres I tend to leave them hanging on a warm radiator for a while and then rub a bit of washing up liquid on the bead prior to fitting.

This is progress!

Some tyre, rim combinations nowadays are extremely difficult in the workshop. Out on the fellside you are truly screwed.

Well done the bike industry!

I’ve invested in some Park Tools TL6.2 levers. They seem to stand up while I’ve broken most other makes.

There will be a solution soon enough.

Had to resort to this plus 3 normal tyre levers on my Cooker rims

Had similar issues with superstar carbon rims and Hans dampf tyres. On one tyre the standing on it trick worked, on the other I ended up cutting the tyre off with a stanley knife.

Havent a clue what I’d do if I got a puncture when out on a ride.

This doesn’t bode well, considering the amount swearing involved in getting Bontrager TLR R2 tyres onto Bontrager Affinity Comp wheels.

Gulp!

I can vouch for Pedro tyres levers for tight combos. Two sets of carbon wheels in this house and both were a nightmare at tyre change until we discovered those levers and the following tip:
– when fittting new tyres, aim to have the bead in the centre channel of the wheel until all the bead is flipped over the rim edge, it’s a smaller diameter and takes reduces the stretch.

People talking about 2 different things now, no lever helps if you can’t get the tyre off the bead.

(though on that subject; lezyne powerlevers have the best hook I’ve used, way better than Pedros- it’s the perfect shape and quite thin so works well with a tight tyre. Not that strong but they don’t need to be as strong. And yes, get it right into the well of the rim- that’s not so much a trick, as just how it’s done, but it didn’t used to be essential with older rims. Newer, shallower ones with wider bead shelves make it seesential)

MTFU?? 😆

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I got ’em off..
Now to get the tyres back on, which is much harder than taking them off..!

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I got ’em off..
Now to get the tyres back on, which is much harder than taking them off..!

I had this on Vision 30 wheels from Planetx. I’m glad I never used those wheels again. Free if anyone wants them

Im with Northwind on this………..
you could use a tyre lever from the local garage it isnt whats needed.
The “progress” we have is that we all wanted to go tubeless so we now have a tyre wheel design more like a car tyre.
It has to have the bead broken away from rim before you use a lever to flick it over the rim and remove the tyre.

billyboy – Member
This is progress!

yep puzzles the crap out if me had horrible experiences in recent years with both tubeless and non tubeless combo’s

– doing a first mount (ie with tubes) of some Mavic Yksion elite allroad’s this week(!) rear took me a couple of hours(+) over 3 days with much pain sweating and swearing plus washing up liquid, lots of stretching and eventually standing on the tyre – did the front tonight in 1 minute!no lube, no excess force – same rims, same tubes, similar temperatures – both unpacked a week or so before – no idea

Another one with the Superstar carbon rim and Hans Dampf combo here. I completely failed when I last tried to get the tyres off, had to admit defeat and resort to the LBS who took 45 mins and said it was the tightest rim/tyre combo he’d come across in 16 years.

I’m switching to a DHF/DHR2 combo next week and think I’m just going to end up cutting the HDs off with a Stanley knife, sod putting my thumbs through that torture again.

Go to the opposite end of the wheel and pinch the beads into the valley in the rim. This is usually where the grip/pressure occurs that makes removal/fitting so difficult. Very rarely need to use levers.

Go to the opposite end of the wheel and pinch the beads into the valley in the rim. This is usually where the grip/pressure occurs that makes removal/fitting so difficult. Very rarely need to use levers.

The problem is that the beads fit so tightly on the rims that it’s very difficult to unseat them in the first place. The rest is straightforward as you say with half-decent technique, but if you can’t break the bond between the bead of the tyre and the outside edge of the rim, it doesn’t really matter.

Yup. So, right back to my first post- generally even if you can’t get the tyre all the way off hte bead in one go, you can move it a little- enough to get a skinny lever between tyre and bead (again, I’m using my lezynes, they have a narrow enough tip. One time with a really tight tyre I use a gasket scraper which worked well too). Once you’ve got that sorted, you can just rotate the lever round the rim and it’ll come off without much fuss.

Or you can just stand on the tyre – brutal but works 🙂

True that.

i just lack subtlety – and patience…

BadlyWiredDog – Member
Or you can just stand on the tyre – brutal but works

Yep. As above, use the toes of both feet, around 10-15cm apart.

I recently invested in a Perdo’s DH Tyre Lever

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/pedros-downhill-tyre-lever/rp-prod10021?gs=1&gclid=CNKi8Ybip9ACFRMUGwodJDkISQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sorry for being slow, but I’m struggling to understand these techniques??
I have just punctured my WTB trail boss, that came on my new Ragley. Was looking forward to going tubeless, but couldn’t resist a ride first.
How on earth would you change a tube on the trailside with these tyres? I am at home now thankfully and evein with the benefit of the internet and all my tools, I can’t even get close to making an impression on these. Could some kind soul, please spell it out in a simple step by step again? Thanks so much.

Deflate the tyre.
Lay the wheel flat on the ground.
Rotate the wheel so that the valve is furthest away from you.
Bend over and lift the far side of the wheel up so the axle/rotor/cassette isn’t on the ground.
Step forward slightly so that your toes are on the tyre – about 1cm apart.
Press down firmly.
Once that part of the tyre is off the bead, rotate the wheel a little and press down again.

It takes longer to write it down than to do it.

Thanks for your patience Scotroutes. Now done! Tubeless heaven awaits.

Ah, good to know it worked for you.

You’ll feel less concerned about trailside repairs now?