Just at the end of a two day battle fitting WTB Riddler 45c to a set of old Crest 29ers. The rear was a battle, but it’s on, tubeless and inflated. THe front – well, I think I’m done. WHen I eventualy got the bloody thing on the rim, I tried to inflate it, the tyre held air, but it stayed in the cnetre channel, never popped out to the edge, and I was losing air from spoke holes, so must have nicked the tape. Ordered Stan’s tape from CRC, wrong size (they actually do a 12mm tape, which is barely wider than a spoke hole when stretched), figured I might as well remove the tyre anyhow – another battle, had to employ metal to get it off, not at all pleasant.

I’m thinking I just remove the rear now also, they might loosen up a little, but chances of ever fixing a puncture in the wild with this combo are nil.

Anyone else find these tyres especually tight to fit? (I suspect the rims are the bigger culprit, so possible just a really bad combination)

WTB tyres are all very tight ime

Yep, I had a similar battle getting them onto some Hope XC rims, it was an absolute nightmare. Once I’d finally got them onto the rims the next issue was getting them seated, I simply couldn’t.

In despair I got the wheels along to the LBS where the mechanic doused the beads with GT85 and then had to pump them up to 80 & 100 psi to get them to pop into place.

To be fair they do loosen up a bit and ran well tubeless but I replaced them with some wider Kenda tyres which turned out to be as slack as anything.

Had similar getting them onto some dt swiss rims. But no issue getting tubeless, straight up with a track pump. I do carry a spare tube, but I really wouldn’t want to put it on ‘in the wild’.

Hmm. Not sure what to do now. Had half an eye on a set of Hunt wheels as an upgrade at some point, wondering if those would be a bit looser than the Crests which can go back on my older frame (yay, N+1)

I’d be looking at the rim…

Gravel/road tyres on proper 29er rims can often be very tight but Stans rims are particularly bad in my experience. I once tried to fit a 28mm GP4Season on a Crest. Never again.

Get a proper 29er tyre?

45c is as big as the frame will take (it’s a gravel frame, just using old wheels)

I suspect the rims are the bigger culprit

Stans have a shallower rim base than most, yes. And WTBs are a good verging on bloody tight fit on WTB and other rims, so it sounds like a bad combo. FWIW I stopped using Stans rims as they were so tight with too many tyres.

I’m running 45mm Riddlers for over a year – fitted on some Kinlin rims without levers no problem – suspect problem is the rims, not tyres.

dovebiker

suspect problem is the rims, not tyres.

That’s what I’m hoping, really.

My 40c nanos on wtb i25s refuse to come off. I gave up so dont bother to carry a tube, just bacon strips and a prodder.

I know from experience that WTBs are tighter than average and have heard that Stans rim are also tight. Not a good combination.

I ran Stans Crest (mk3) rims with 45c Riddlers, once on they were great and go me through Torino_nice without so much as losing 10psi of air. But when new they can be a git to fit. Quality Pedros tyre lever, compressor, and plenty of soapy water worked for me, then inflate about 10 psi over recommended with plenty of suds and they popped straight onto rim with a few quite scary pops!

Once they have been on wheels a while, they must stretch a little as found them easier to take them on and off after a while.

I’ve got 42mm WTB Resolutes on Open Pro tubeless. They went on fine, so probably just a tyre/rim unfortunate combo.

WTB TCS tyres are a true tubeless UST tyre and so are tight fit anyway but compatibility with some Stans rims is an issue. A wtb CX tyre on a crest is a real hassle esp. as it’s an mtb width rim not a cx/gravel rim.

Likewise narrow WTB tyres like a Cross Wolf 700×33 won’t easily fit on a wide WTB KOM i25 rim without a lot of thumb pain, but when they do go on, they’re on.

I run WTB tyres on Niner gravel rims which are re-badged Stans road rims and they are totally fine.

Tape running over the rim bead only makes things worse, you can try to stretch and seat it with a tube first.

Tried fitting some Resolutes on my Bontrager rims, getting them on was fine, getting them seated (with a tube) was a bit of a nightmare, required leaving them sat at 100psi for a while and even then they’re not quite so. It looks like there’s an extra ‘rough’ layer of carcass just above the bead which is rubbing against the rim and increasing friction.

Glad it’s not just me, I don’t even run tubeless but because I use latex tubes I need a decent build up of electrical tape just to stop the tube sneaking under a looser rim tape and blowing at a spoke hole.

My gf has riddler 45 on the 29er rims that come as standard on a Specialized Chisel. She is pretty inexperienced and sorted them tubeless without any drama. i suspect its the rims that dont play nicely with the chosen tyre.
Ian

Seems to be a concensus thatthe rims are to blame, so Hunt just got themselves an order. I just needed an excuse, really, didn’t I?

Can’t go wrong with Hunt for the money and they were super helpful with a little niggle/query I had on the last set I bought. Good wheels and great support.

WTB tyres on their own rims work really well, but some soapy water on the bead helps it pop on, proper bar of soap not washing up liquid.

WTB tyres on their own rims work really well

I beg to differ…

i35 and Ranger… Probably never in my life used so much swearing… And soapy water… And steel, extra long levers…

I had a though that maybe, maybe as a twisted “Industry Joke” rim designers are making them 650b but tyre producers decide, just for fun, to skip to 648b.

Just out of Pure Evil…

Cheers!
I.

Have had to use a Stanley knife to literally chop a Vigilante and Trail Boss in half to get the bead off Stans and Hope Enduro rims In the past. The beads are really tough. Decided that was enough of WTB tyres as would have been completely stuffed with a puncture which didn’t seal or couldn’t be plugged and required a tube to get back on the trail and been unable to get the bleeding tyre off.

Tend to use a the tube first method to get a very tight tyre on, get the tyre seated both sides then take off one side only and carefully leave the other seated,  remove tube and then at least I’m only struggling to to get one side seated.

WTB Nanos here. As much as I love them they are a bit of a PITA to fit & seat – with both Stans Crest and Iron Cross (which are admittedly more designed for ghetto tubeless I believe) and DT Swiss rims in my case. In general I’ve found my Crests to be fine with Maxxis and Schwalbes for example.

I had Riddlers on my Arkose 3. They were great to ride, but they punctured a lot, like more than once a week (there’s a thread somewhere about it) and I struggled to get them on or off. I swapped them for Vittoria Revolutions which went on easily and I’ve since had no punctures.

For what it’s worth I got fed up trying to put the Riddlers on outside in the cold so I brought them inside. Once they’d warmed up they seemed to go on a bit easier.

Defo the rims. Like Jameso I’m done with Stans tight rims now. Resolutes on Primes and Hunts go up a bloomin treat, also Rangers on Asym 35s.

WTB Nano TCS on my Vagabond. Put them tubeless on stock rims last week and actually forgot the soapy water. They went straight up with no fuss whatsoever.

I’ve got some wtb rims with trail boss and riddler tyres on, easy enough to fit and set up with fairy liquid to pop them on. Went up easily with the dry tubeless method.

Actually like the tyres so much I sold the HR2s I was going to use.

Had stans rims with spesh tyres, took two of us to get them on and buckled the wheels in the process. Never again.

Had a massive battle with WTB tyres on Stans rims a while back too, very sweary making but maxxis ones went on okay so a combination of I guess slightly oversize rim and tight tyre. Got WTB Riddler tyres on Alex rims no problem, they are great tyres by the way on my gravel bike by the way so do stick with them.

First long day out on the new Arkrose today and returned home with a slow puncture in the 45mm Riddlers.

Thanks for the heads up!

I think it’s a WTB/Stans thing. I’m normally okay at getting tyres on and off but I’ve had huge battles with a Horizon/Crest combo and recently a Ranger/Flow. Took an hour to get the Ranger’s off the Flows! It’s put me off them as I’d be knackered if I ever had to put a tube in.
On the plus side they both went up tubeless incredibly easily, the Horizon’s with just a hand pump!

I could not get my nanos off at all using hands / levers. Tried this technique and bead came off no problems- wheel on side on floor, weighted foot on tyre as close to bead as possible, put other foot on rim opposite and add foot pressure to rim, pops tyre straight off.

@MoreCashThanDash
If my experience is anything to go by that won’t be your last. I hsad dozens of punctures in my first couple of months with the Arkose, went through more tubes than I had in years.
I swapped the Riddlers for Victoria Revolutions and have not had a puncture since. The Riddlers were great to ride, but very thin.

@easily

Gravel Kings on order!

Glad I saw this thread. Needed a screwdriver to get between the bead and the rim, on both sides. Once the seal had popped it came off ok. Dreading a puncture on Tuesdays commute!

So my Hunt wheels arrived and I fitted the Riddler to the front with just my hands, went up tubeless with zero fuss.

So its “Crest rims – Evil, hateful things”. Got to get the rear riddler off the crest wheel next.