My soft ride came with Shimano 504’s and serfas clinchers. These thing are hard for this greenhorn to fix flats on. I need all three wrenches, and wish I had 3 or four hands as well. Is it the wheels, the tires or me? I read somewhere that some wheel manufacturers don’t recommend some tires ( I think it was Vredesteins) because they can pop off their rims. Would these or some other racing (or racing/training) tires work better on these wheels, until I decide on an upgrade?
What width are the tires? 23s should go on pretty easy. 20s are a bitch. If you’ve got 20s, switch to 23s and you won’t have a problem (it will soften up the ride some too, not that that’s probably an issue on a softride). If they’re 23s and you’re having problems, I don’t know what to tell you.
they’re 23’s. anyone have any experience with the serfas? Are they harder to change than others? Are any of the other tires easier?
I don’t know anything about your combo specificaly, but certain tyres tend to be “looser” than others, and some rims tougher than others. Vreddy tyres are a snap to install on just about any rim I’ve ever tried. With very few exceptions I’ve found that the cheaper the tyre, the more of a bitch to install/remove. Given that your wheels are likely pretty new and so changing them is not an option, I’d try a different tyre. You might want to give Vredestein a shot. I like the tyres a lot, and not just for ease of changing. 
Oh, baby! It’s the Shimano rims. I’ve tried several brands of tires, and every one of them is a BITCH to get on or off. I flat out do NOT race on those wheels for that very reason; they’re now my emergency-only spare wheels hanging on the garage wall.
There’s not really much you can do about it, other than sell them on ebay for whatever you can get and buy some new wheels. I highly recommend Velomax. Even their cheapest wheel is far better than just about anything else made.
This seems like an ideal situation for some of the previously mentioned “looser” fitting tires. Try some kenda’s, or teh other ones mentioned as fitting loose on this forum, i forget which ones they were
thanks!
I might do both new wheels and some looser tires (tyres) for the 504s. anyone else have any thoughts.
The other tyre to try is the Vittoria EVO Open CX / KX / KS series. Great tires, especially as a race tire.