Fitted a cheapo vittoria rubino tyre on the back of my XLS for turbo duties and what I thought would be a 5 minute job turned into 30 minutes of swearing and tyre levers pinging all over the garage.

I was going to fit another to the front to see what it would be like on the road but the thought of getting a puncture with this setup has put me right off the idea.

Is it easier with narrower tubes as a lot of time was spent trying to stuff the tube into the tyre or is it purely down to the fact it’s a cheaper tyre /and/or a wider rim?

Got a set of 28mm Rubinos for road duty.Fit onto my Ritchey OCR rims and also my Superstar 29er rims no problem,in fact just swapped them over this morning and only used a lever to get one off and both went on without levers.28-35mm tubes too.Are yours narrower?

Thanks, but nobody likes a show off!

Just checked and they are 23mm, didn’t realise they came in different widths tbh. Couldn’t say which tubes they are, original tyres are 35mm so would imagine 28/35mm. Must admit it’s the first road tyre I’ve ever fitted, more used to minions and the like and the vittoria looks like a rubber band in comparison.

Does the extra 5mm tyre width really make that much difference?

Buy the correct sized tubes for your tires. It’ll make life a lot easier.
Also put talc inside the tire before mounting.

I don’t want to make love to it, I just want it on the rim.

Will invest in some proper tubes though, thanks.

How wide is the rim? Off the top of my head I think 23mm tyres go on 17mm (internal) rims (max rim width).

If you are going to put many road miles in maybe think about some 25 or 28mm tyres

Rubinos go on easily. Your tubes could be up to 42.

Cheers.

According to the bike specification the wheels are peasant spec Shimano WH-RX05 which reading around are 24mm width.

As suggested, it might be worth swapping both for something a little wider. Are the rubinos ok for road work?

Tbh I just picked the cheapest, roundest blackest tyre I could find for the turbo.

yep, train, race, tours and audax. Over pave, across Pyrenees. Summer and winter no problems.