I'm curious about the answer to this as well. I have a pair of Contis on HED Jet 6s that I can't get off...... They have been on there for about three years and have never flatted (low mileage/races only). If they ever did flat I would just have to turn in my chip.

On most rims I can change a tire in just a couple minutes. Not with these.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

I have a new jet plus disk and it was impossible.. I did finally get a Michelin 4 tire on but had to use hed rim tape. I had to pull the tire up as I inflated and make sure it snapped in place. I have never has any trouble before with any other rim but this was the worst. I am hoping I NEVER flat at a race.

I'm not familiar with the HEDs, but have had some tough Zipp aluminum/carbon rimmed wheels before. Going as thin as possible with rim tape can help. Stan's yellow rim tape may be the thinnest option. For getting tires on the Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack is the answer! It is small enough to ride with if you have a saddle bag. I've seen people cut the handle down to make it even more compact. With two sets of the composite Zipps I got pretty good at mounting tight tires without tools before discovering the Bead Jack, but I sometimes ended up with nasty thumb blisters. That doesn't happen with this tool.

I also use the Bead Jack. It works really well.

why do wheel manufacturers make wheels where simple tyre replacement is a monumental challenge. Lets make 25 mm wide rims and market this as being faster and then go oh, you mean people might want to change the tyre

I use veloplugs (with a square of Super 33 electrical tape over each) instead of rim strips on my Jets. Makes getting my 4000s tires on fairly easy (std. tire levers).

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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Pacenti SL23s with Challenge Stradas. Managed to get them on new with just my thumbs, but blistered both thumbs during the effort…

If it's any consolation, they may be easier to work with once you've had them inflated and ridden with them a bit… Good luck!

Wow you guys werent joking. I hadnt used a lever to install a tire in years, until tonight. Just got a paid of Jet plus....that was touch. Schwalbe ZX 23.
Does it ever get easier??

Mine have gotten easier- think my tire has stretched a little more to fir the wheel. I have removed the tires a few times now but still need levers but not as much force. I'm running GP4000's on them with Stans yellow rim tape

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Andy Mullen
Team Zoot

I just picked up a set of Jet 6 Blacks today and didn't have any problems mounting a set GP 4000s II's but they were 25mm.

25mm sounds like a dream to mount. You guys ready for my SOP for mounting the 22mm Attack? Ok, here it goes: if it's a new tire I first mount them on my Flo 30s (which isn't a cake walk either btw) and I ride them on my rollers for a week (three sessions), then I take them off and toss them in the dryer for 10mins, then I try to mount them and still usually use a lever. I don't know why I just used the plural "them" when I only run the Attack on the front... but there you go. The 23mm GP4000s mounts relatively easily after a few mins in the dryer.

Make the wheel a wee bit big and the tire has less chance of coming off and killing somebody.

Make the tire a wee bit small, same thing.

Do both, hard to install.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

are these the tubeless ready HED's? If so, I had a set and had the same issue, insanely tough to mount tires, especially after using Zipp 202 and 404 clinchers where I had not used a tire iron in over a year. I found that the bead of tires sits super deep and, pushing one wall all the way to the edge of the rim (snug against the side versus sitting in the middle) made mounting tires marginally easier...ymmv

(I got rid of mine :)

So it does get easier after the tires are on the wheels for a while?

WOWWWWWW!!! I found that out the hard way, 2 seasons ago 90-degrees, humid morning, i sweated for over 20-minutes and cut my 75-mile ride to a 10-mile round trip! I had Michelin's; Sold the HED's and use Zipps ONLY, now. No more tire levers, cursing, dirty or pinched fingers. Sell the HED's on Ebay or CL.

yes.
usually, a tire that was impossibiru to install fresh, is not so bad when out on a ride to fix a flat one it has some miles on it.

no guarantee though!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Maybe I have been lucky but even when I installed new GP4000s last year on mine I didn't think they were any tougher to get on than other rims. Now I have been able to get my vittoria tires on with just my thumb. Let me knock on wood before I put my race tires back on before my first race and blow out my latex tube or something!

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you had hed jet plus rims last year?
the non plus rims don't seem to be especially hard.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Yeah I have the jet plus. Maybe my idea of easy is just me being used to putting tires on rims that suck so I am used to it. I had a hell of a time a few years ago getting any tire on my Sram S80. But if I had to do it quickly my mind might change!

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some people just don't know the technique maybe

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

The Jet Plus rim extrusion on them has the same shape (inside the tire well) as the Ardennes Plus, which are tubeless-compatible. They have a similar design to other tubeless compatible wheels (sold by various brands for road, CX, and mountain bikes) - there is a deep center channel, and then a flat "shelf" on either side. The "shelf" has a larger diameter so the tire bead has a tight fit when it pops up into place - aiding in making the fit air tight for tubeless use. The only catch is that when changing tires, you need to push the beads to the center of the rim, down into the center channel. If you don't do this, it will be *very* difficult to remove or install the tire. I removed and installed two tires from Ardennes Plus rims yesterday without using any tire levers (just my hands) using the method I mentioned. Give it a try - should help.

The same goes for installation. Keep the tire bead down in the dropped center of the rim. You may have to actually push it off the bead shelf and into the center. When you inflate the tire, the bead will go where it belongs.
AND - use the included rim tape. Two layers.

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Andy Tetmeyer (I work at HED)

Tire mounting difficulty can vary widely, depending on what tire / rim combo you are working with. The tips about pushing the bead shelf into the center of the rim are good. Here's a video that demonstrates it; the guy in the video is mounting a Marathon Plus tire (sidewall is super thick Kevlar, tough as a car tire) with his bare hands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

Using these tips (sans the bungee strap), I recently mounted tires on 4 HED C2-plus rims and 2 HED C2 (non-plus) rims with no issues. Tires were Compass Bicycles' 700x38 (for the C2-plus) and 700x28 (C2 non-plus).

However, I tried the same techniques using the same tires on my Dura Ace C50 wheels and they absolutely would not mount at all. I probably spent an hour wrestling with it. So I resorted to using the Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack. The C50s are my race wheels and if I ever have to change a flat in a race I am totally screwed, so I sawed off 2 inches from the end of a Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack so that I can store it in my saddle bag.

Maybe! Ok thread hijack since you're responding. I have GP4000s with about 400ish miles with no scrapes, nicks, or anything. Still good aero wise and cry wise for another season? At least in back, might pick up another for front just because. I know you are a proponent of fresher tires but figured 400 is still pretty fresh. Again, sorry for the hijack!

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