Continental gatorskins are a great tyre with well over 1000 miles before I succumbed to their first puncture. No problem, or so I thought. New tube in but completely failed to get tyre back on rim at the roadside. Have any of you guys experienced this or is it just me being a numpty. Phoning the Mrs to pick me up wasn't cool.
Continental Gatorskins, great tyres but...
- Thread starter Osprey
- Start date
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400bhp
Guru
Buy a VAR tyre lever.
Thanks Screenman. I'm pretty sure I worked from the valve first. I think I need some guidance from You Tube and another practise session. Cheers M8
+1 for Var
Rohloff_Brompton_Rider
Formerly just_fixed
+1 always works for me too.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Is this the folder or the wire bead version? I always find folders much more difficult to get on.
U
User482
Guest
No failure, but getting them on Campag vento rims took a lot of time and swearing. They go on fine on my Open Pros.
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
I use folding Gatorskins on Shimano R501s on the winter bike, and can remove and refit without tyre levers. Just make sure the beads are pushed well down into the centre of the rim-well. Guess it depends on the make of rim though.
Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Those var levers look amazing! Although I was warned never to force tyres onto a rim because the steel bead is stronger than the rim and might damage it.
Learning this method has saved me a lot of heartache
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4
Although I don't bother with the straps, I just put the tyre on my shoes then use my thumbs to push the steel beading into the tyre well with one thumb running down either side of the tyre. I've used this method on buggy tyres, wheelbarrow tyres, all sorts.
I know you don't have Marathon Plus but if you can fit Marathon Plus you can fit anything!
Learning this method has saved me a lot of heartache
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4
Although I don't bother with the straps, I just put the tyre on my shoes then use my thumbs to push the steel beading into the tyre well with one thumb running down either side of the tyre. I've used this method on buggy tyres, wheelbarrow tyres, all sorts.
I know you don't have Marathon Plus but if you can fit Marathon Plus you can fit anything!
beanzontoast
Guru
- Location
- South of The Peaks
Just to add - I do have Marathon+ and when I first tried to follow that video to fit a new tyre, I was mistakenly pushing the far side beading too far towards the rim and hence still found it really hard - ended up spending 10 minutes using levers and straps. However, the last time I put on a brand new M+, I must have got the 'in the well' thing right for the first time ever because the tyre really did go on without levers (still using straps though) and took only a couple of minutes. So from my experience, the video did help me once I understood correctly about the well.
Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
The first time I tried fitting Marathon Plus I nearly lost my mind. I was MOST relieved to eventually discover I was trying to fit 700c tyres to 27" wheels. Oops.
Peter Armstrong
Über Member
Are michelin Pro4 Service Course good? and at £18 each from wiggle, bargin?
