After wrestling for ages fitting the HR2 and Ardent to my wheels last year, Just changed to Bontrager XR4s and they went on in minutes easy as you like.

What tyres have you had nightmare fitting problems with?

Fixing a puncture on my boys 20″ wheels using Kenda 2.125 wire bead tyres can take up to half a day and I pretty much lose the use of my thumbs that evening.

Nothing, all my new maxxis fit well and inflate tubeless with the track pump. After seeing what else is out there Maxxis have to go badly wrong or somebody needs to do something exceptional to get me away from the Big Orange 🙂

Hmm, I’ve not struggled with tyres for a while. There’s a big dig/flat spot in my Flow Mk3’s that make putting any tyre on there a pain, but I really should replace that rim.

What tyres have you had nightmare fitting problems with?

Ummm…XR4s and XR3s? Tight as a gnat’s chuff on Arch Ex. Set of Ardents went on OK though. 🙂

Bontager onto bontrager rims with their proprietary tubeless rim tape are a ball ache to seat. Maxxis are great though

Opposite for me.
Maxxis HRII and DHFII onto Hope Enduro wheels- Popped on with my hands and went up tubeless straight away, no faf. Took about 10 minutes to do both wheels!

The Bontrager XR1s on Hope XC rims was a right pain to setup tubeless. Took me a good hour+. Sidewalls are also too thin so running more pressure than I’d like to.

None. It’s generally a technique issue.

Having said that, I’m also a big fan of XR4s.

WTB Vigilante. I apologise to all at the ‘Ard Moors who witnessed my swearing and tantrums whilst trying to seat my rear tyre on Saturday afternoon (the front one had gone up fine to be fair). After two hours, a split thumb nail and bruised hands, I managed to get it to seat…only for it to blow off the rim. Those who heard the ‘gunshot’ in the car park around 4 pm, yeah, that was me. The explosion actually pringled my rim…I went home.

I thought this was going to be a calendar rant…. 😀

More often than not it seems a fitting technique issue….

Anyone used SE4’s? I’m about to go full XR4 on mine and mrs_oab’s bikes, but wondered if a front SE4 would work well on mine, being teh gnarcorelite rider I am…

I have the opposite, bonty tyres normally leave me with skinned knuckles, broken tyre levers and everything in sight covered in Stans goo.

Maxxis on the other hand seem to go on with ease and inflate with a track pump.

Is the problem that nobody can agree on exact dimensions? Some tyre/rim combinations seem overly tight, or too loose, or just right.

Another here who found XR4s a sod to get on. Nearly gave up on the rear. The rear has a bit of a tyre buckle and think my straining to fit it may of been the cause but I can’t be arsed with the fight again to remove it.
Never had the same issue with maxxis or schwalbe.

Maxxis usually the easiest to get on in my experience. Just had a battle with a Continental though…..

My Bounty tyres (SE5 / XR3) are the easiest I’ve tried so far.

I usually find if they are tight going on, they are easy to inflate but these are good for both.

Maxxis HR 2 and Minion here on both bikes, one with Roval 29er rims, the other with Stan’s Arch 27.5 rims.

Two thumbs, two large dessert spoons and some washing up liquid.

Job’s a good ‘un.

I’m a huge fan of SE5’s. The casing is properly tough (inbetween an exo and supergravity) and tyre rolls fairly fast for what it is (faster than a HR2 for sure).

I used it on the front all summer with a semi slick on the front and it was great. Only really braking on steep greasy stuff really unnerved it, and that’s where a mary/shorty comes in. Now planning on using it all winter on the back with a mary up front.

It does need a wide rim though, it was far too rounded on 23mm rims but great on 30mm rims.

Never struggled to get Maxxis tyres mounted. Actually getting hold of them though, stock control by Maxxis UK is terrible!

enigmas: Interesting comments ref rounding. I love mine on 22.5mm rims, it sits much squarer than my other tyres.
Agree it is a great tyre though. Ran mine on the front all year but am gonna switch to the back this winter and try something moreud happy on the front.

Think the SE5 will stay on the rear all year unless we get a really dry spell. Can just change the front then but not sure whether to go for a Shorty this winter then a Vig/MM/Baron in spring or stick with the latter year round.

Too many choices not helped by the mix of mud, loam, roots, rocks and trail centre riding that we get here.

WTB Trailblazer and Trailboss on WTB rims.
Its also getting them off not sure which is hardest.

The old Intense DH tyres from 10 odd years back were a struggle, the sidewalls were hard as rock.