Cyclists - how to get a *really* tight tyre off?

[BTB 500]

BTB Junior was recently given his grandfather's electric mountain bike. Within 2 days he managed to puncture both the tyres, and I cannot for the life of me get them off to repair the inner tubes (which they do have - it's not tubeless).

These are big fat/soft tyres, and the beads are an incredibly tight fit in the channels on the rims ... I can't shift them into the well in the centre of the rim to get levers under the tyres. There is no gap whatsoever between the bead and the rim to insert anything sensible to try and lever them across, and the soft side walls simply fold back flat over the bead if you try and 'squeeze' the tyre by hand or with a bench vice:



I've watched countless videos where they have been able to (a) squeeze the tyre inwards to get the bead out of the channel or (b) insert a tyre lever between the rim and the edge of the tyre ... neither of those appear to be possible here. I also tried the technique of using a block of wood cut into a wedge shape and a hammer to try and shift the bead inwards ... again no luck. I'm no expert on bikes but I'm a reasonably handy / practical person and can't see a way to do this that wouldn't risk tearing the tyre or bending the rim. Granddad (my father in law) is a lifelong cycling enthusiast and former competitive rider (he's in his 70s now), and couldn't shift them either. He was pretty horrified by this as he has a holiday home 65km from his house and had been using this bike to go there & back, with just a standard set of tyre levers in his bag! Does anyone have a cunning plan, other than getting a bike shop to try?

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

Mole grips?

 

[st13phil]

You can try breaking the bead with the blade of a spade and the rim supported on a piece of wood. Once that's done, you should be able to get the tube out for repair.

Looks like you're going to need some tyre soap to get it back on too. Most tyre shops will let you blag a little if you take a container (like an empty spread tub) with you.

 

[BTB 500]

Mole grips?

Not big enough to go round the tyre - they are really fat.

 

[190]

Motorcycle tyres are very much harder to dismount and there are simple rules to follow otherwise you are just fighting the thing. The bead must be broken all the way around even if that means using tyre lube and however much force it takes. Then 180 deg around from where you are using the tyre lever the bead must be got into the centre well somehow, otherwise you are trying to stretch the steel bead wire and they don't really stretch.

Here's what I had to resort to once on a very stiff old tyre. I used the weight of the car and lowered it carefully on to the bead. Worked a treat. Don't fight it - out think it.

 

[BTB 500]

You can try breaking the bead with the blade of a spade and the rim supported on a piece of wood. Once that's done, you should be able to get the tube out for repair.

Looks like you're going to need some tyre soap to get it back on too. Most tyre shops will let you blag a little if you take a container (like an empty spread tub) with you.

I couldn't get the bead to shift using the wooden wedge & hammer (underside of the rim on a block of wood). I've got some fairly thin metal tyre levers but can't get those between the rim & tyre ... as per the picture there's nothing to push against from the side as the wire of the bead is pretty much level with the rim, so the tyre just folds flat.

I've got some mounting lube and one of these to help get the tyres back on, if I ever get them off!

 

[ChipChop]

One way to break the tyre bead is to lay the wheel flat on the ground and put both feet on the tyre sidewall. Use your full body weight and this should break the bead and move the tyre into the centre of the rim. If you think you may damage the wheel doing this take it to a friendly local bike shop who will do it for you for a few quid. Once you have the inner tube out it is a good opportunity to convert to tubeless to save future flat tyre hassle.

 

[BTB 500]

Motorcycle tyres are very much harder to dismount and there are simple rules to follow otherwise you are just fighting the thing. The bead must be broken all the way around even if that means using tyre lube and however much force it takes. Then 180 deg around from where you are using the tyre lever the bead must be got into the centre well somehow, otherwise you are trying to stretch the steel bead wire and they don't really stretch.

Here's what I had to resort to once on a very stiff old tyre. I used the weight of the car and lowered it carefully on to the bead. Worked a treat.

That looks good if you have sidewalls that aren't soft & floppy! That's the problem here ... they just fold back level with the rim if you apply any side load (I tried a bench vice with soft jaws to start with, then without the soft jaws!).

 

[BTB 500]

One way to break the tyre bead is to lay the wheel flat on the ground and put both feet on the tyre sidewall. Use your full body weight and this should break the bead and move the tyre into the centre of the rim. If you think you may damage the wheel doing this take it to a friendly local bike shop who will do it for you for a few quid. Once you have the inner tube out it is a good opportunity to convert to tubeless to save future flat tyre hassle.

I'll give that a try!

 

[Darrell]

One way to break the tyre bead is to lay the wheel flat on the ground and put both feet on the tyre sidewall. Use your full body weight and this should break the bead and move the tyre into the centre of the rim. If you think you may damage the wheel doing this take it to a friendly local bike shop who will do it for you for a few quid. Once you have the inner tube out it is a good opportunity to convert to tubeless to save future flat tyre hassle.

Plus 1 for tubeless.

 

[BTB 500]

No joy getting the tyres off this afternoon - will see if we can get a bike shop to do it.

Silly question ... but how do tubeless tyres prevent punctures? Are they solid foam, like the 'puncture proof' tyres you can get on wheelbarrows / sack trolleys / etc. now?

 

[neilrr]

Take it to a bike shop & watch how they fix it?

 

[CoopsSA]

No joy getting the tyres off this afternoon - will see if we can get a bike shop to do it.

Silly question ... but how do tubeless tyres prevent punctures? Are they solid foam, like the 'puncture proof' tyres you can get on wheelbarrows / sack trolleys / etc. now?

Exact same way that car tyres work. Tyre seals to the rim, beads seat into the rim and form the airtight seal.

 

[BTB 500]

Exact same way that car tyres work. Tyre seals to the rim, beads seat into the rim and form the airtight seal.

Sure, but how does that save future flat tyre hassle? A thorn (say) that punctures an inner tube now obviously puts a hole in the 'outer' tyre first ... which would be a puncture if it was tubeless??

 

[190]

Well you can argue about the definition of puncture but if we accept it as a foreign body breaching the tyre then tubeless tyres don't prevent punctures but the probability of very rapid deflation if they are punctured is much less than it is for tubed tyres.

 

[BTB 500]

Well you can argue about the definition of puncture but if we accept it as a foreign body breaching the tyre then tubeless tyres don't prevent punctures but the probability of very rapid deflation if they are punctured is much less than it is for tubed tyres.

Ah OK, so you'd more likely end up with a slow puncture (as often happens with car tyres) rather than a flat.

Have to say I was shocked how thin and flexible these big tyres (Schwalbe Smart Sam 27.5x2.60) are. Tubeless ones must surely be thicker.

 

[ChipChop]

Sure, but how does that save future flat tyre hassle? A thorn (say) that punctures an inner tube now obviously puts a hole in the 'outer' tyre first ... which would be a puncture if it was tubeless??

You use a liquid sealant such as the ones in the link below. The sealant automatically seals the hole when you get a puncture in the tyre. If you get a really bad hole/ rip in the tyre you can use a tubeless plug to seal it.

The performance advantage with a tubeless set up on a mountain bike is you can run lower tyre pressures without puncturing. Lower tyre pressures allow much higher grip levels off road. It is not uncommon to see good mtb riders corner so hard that they 'burp' sealant out of a tubeless tyre due to the high grip levels low tubeless pressures allow.

Tubeless Bike Tyre Conversion & Accessories | Merlin Cycles

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www.merlincycles.com

 

[ChrisEdu]

I run tubeless on both my eMTB and my analogue MTB. It's been a godsend, especially when I took the tire off going over a tree. The tyre resealed and I kept going!

 

[Darrell]

I run tubeless on both my eMTB and my analogue MTB. It's been a godsend, especially when I took the tire off going over a tree. The tyre resealed and I kept going!

I use tubeless on my good road bike. Never had a problem yet.

 

[ss201]

As the bike was a freebie, take the wheels to a decent bike store. Ask the mechanic to fit two new quality tyres and tubes that they know will fit the rim properly. Some rim & tyre combinations are a royal pain - been there! Throw the old tyres away. There's no point in re-using them - you will simply have the same problem next time the tyres have a punture, only next time BTB junior might have a very long walk home. Make sure junior takes a spare tube with him (and tyre levers and a pump ) when he rides the bike - so many don't. Or do what has been suggested and fit tubeless - talk to the bike mechanic.