Have got an old front wheel I want to use. Has had a tyre on for over a year that’s not been used, but it leaks so I need to stick a tube on. I just can’t get the tyre off to do so! Any tips on how to?
On really stubborn ones, i've resorted to clamping the sidewalls in a vice as close to the rim as possible, and twisting the rim to release it.
You want these really thin roadie tyre levers. I swear by them after spending days trying to get a tyre off a m60 rim these did it in seconds. Available in lots of places but here's a link
You could try putting the wheel on the floor (put cardboard down first so you don’t scratch it) and standing all your weight on the bead if you’ve been unable to break it. Sometimes that can work.
As above, standing on the bead
I’ve got a small hand held gripper made out of plastic, with rubber padded grips, the ones you pump to tighten. Pop it on, lift up and down and even the most stubborn tyre pops off. Then just work around the tyre. I only figured this out after spending hours trying to get a tyre off then my eyes saw it sitting on my shelf 🙂 I got the gripper from B and Q.
Mate uses a spade! I know it sounds brutal but a blunt ended spade is perfect for imparting pressure on a good part of the bead. He's removed quite a few tough tyre/rim insert/grippy rim combos with that approach.
First step is trying to ‘roll’ the tyre over the far bead (ie not the one you’re trying to dislodge). Using a towel means you can grip the tyre easily and if you do this standing up you can put all (well, a lot of) your weight to bear.
Ime this works better than standing on it because it’s more controlled and lifts the tyre away from the bead a bit.
Edit- doesn’t work with foams! For this I’ve resorted to using a blunt edge motorbike tyre lever and physically pushing the bead into the rim well at one point.
Once you get a bit of the bead moving the rest is easy