Trying to get my Conti cross kings onto my Crests.
No amount of careful working away at the tyre will get it on. I have to use two ‘workshop’ Park tyre irons to get the thing on. Not much good if i flat while out riding.

Any suggestions for 32c/38c gravel tyres which will go onto this rim?

I can sympathise! Am unable to get two types of Conti’s on Stan’s Grails, namely Gatorskins and Cross Checks.

Ralph’s and land cruisers on mine no bother.

It’s all about technique.

schwable sammyslicks on archs……………..dear lord……….washing up liquid helped on one, the other no use, nightmare

I’ve had Clements on Flow ex if that helps. (They were huge and heavy)

Yup easy peasy

@scotroutes + firestarter…
video’s please. Story is nothing without image.

So, does this mean there’s no good tyre to go on my new wheels. That would suck.

I just presumed i would get ‘normal’ 700c tyres on these rims. Most of the miles this bike does are road commuter miles, with gravel tracks for the boggy months for training.

Are you using inner tubes? I found I had to inflate mine slightly to get them out of the channel on my iron cross rims to get tyres on easily. Maybe the same trick would work here

I’ve had no problems with schwalbes, maxxis and a planet x one on crests- could jt be a conti thing?

Vittoria XG Pro TNT on Crests here. Were tight to get on first time but not impossible. Good technique helps loads!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/s1rU99]Refreshed with Shimano hydraulic disc brakes & 11spd :-)[/url] by Simon Barnes, on Flickr

It’s a tubed set-up, and ive tried to inflate them just a little to avoid pinching the tubes with tyre levers.

I’ve pinched and pulled the tyre from the bottom of the rim up to the top, i’ve settled the bead into the centre channel of the rim, to get a little more free-play. I’ve pinched two tubes with the tyre levers just trying to get them on.

All of this of course makes it completely pointless for any road side puncture repair.

I might just have to try something non-Conti to see. Expensive test however if more tyres wont fit. Which is why i was looking for someones experience of a workable solution.

are those tubeless SDBarnes?

@swanny853

Which Schwalbe and Maxxis……?
I’m looking for small block gravel type tyre not a full off-road.

i could tubeless them, as this might deal with issues of pinching tubes/flats etc:

Lardman – yes (although I put a tube in first to seat them)

I have had a rocket ron, racing Ralph, mud wrestler (2 in fact) and a raze. I liked the raze but have only just got round tk fitting a new one after shredding the first one on a razor flint after 6 miles. The ron is quite a toothy tyre but drags and wears a bit as a result, I’d take the mud wrestler in winter.

The planet x uncle John seems to be going quite well as a small block substitute on the rear.

All of these have been run tubeless btw

I’ve just had a thought- what rim strips are you running? If it’s a thicker fabric type it means the rim well isn’t deep enough and the seat too high. One wrap of stans yellow tape does for me

Different rims, but I found getting road tyres onto my cross bike almost impossible with a thick yellow rimstrip in place, but relatively easy (no levers) with a layer of duct tape instead.

Small block 8s are pretty easy to fit in my experience.

I put Schwalbe CX Pros on ZTR Iron Cross no problem not running tubeless though

Lardman fitted here with tubes too its all in the technique and easy when you do it right

Ritchey WCS Shield 35’s on Grails with two layers of Stan’s tape, no problems whatsoever.

Currently running Specialised Triggers on Stans Alpha 400s tubeless. Had cheap Schwalbe Smart Sams on before, better off road, but a lot slower on.

@swanny853
Yes, in the end last night i took out the rim tape to gain the extra 0.5mm or so and replaced it with electrical tape. It made a small difference and i could JUST squeeze the tyre over the rim.

@firestarter
although my technique might not be the best, i’m far from a novice at fitting tyres. If they are this tight, they cant really be used more than a walk away from home. Not sure better technique could solve this tolerance problem. What size are those Schwalbes you have in that pic?

In the end i tried an old 700c tyre from the shed, as a test to find an alternative. I managed (just) to get a Vittoria Cross XM Pro onto the rim with slightly less effort.

I had Maxxis Raze on Iron Cross tubeless – they were a good fit but not supertight so they might well go onto crests OK, as I think crests will be a tighter fit.

I’m surprised it’s that tight- pretty sure I’ve been able to get all of the above on without levers most of the time, if with a bit of effort. I think a conti mtb tyre may have been a bit tighter though.

Iardman they are 35mm iirc i got one side on and made sure it sat in the center of the rim and when putting other side on again pushed it to centre of rim as you’ve a bit more space to play with like that. Then pumped it up to pop it into the bead. I did have to use a tyre lever tho when normally i dont. Also make sure you push tyre away from you as you mount it on the rim that makes it easier too

bontrager CX0 went on by hand i think. not the nightmare i was expecting!

by chance, i bumped into someone on the trail last night, who was running crests with some Specialized Triggers. Said they go on just fine, so i might try a couple of those instead.

Thanks for all the replies tho’ everyone.