My new vittoria corsa cx 700X23C clinchers are very tight. So tight that I can’t install them on the rim with the tube and I’m a former wrench. I’m stretching them out on the rim with a tire iron jammed through. Any other techniques people use to stretch tires that are slightly too small? Thanks
Tighten all of the spokes on the wheel to make it smaller 
Seriously, maybe try a thinner rim tape.
jaretj
Get her pregnant?
Use a quick stick or something and get it on there - there is a reason it is so tight, that is part of why clinchers are riding better than ever - you can run higher pressure due to the tighter stronger bead.
don’t know - but this sounds oddly sexy!
friday afternoons at work suck
This won’t help you out on the road, but use a little soapy water to help slide the tire over the rim. Works like a charm. Just make sure you don’t leave any soap on the braking surface!
Some good ideas but those don’t help fix the problem. If I flat during a race, it would be nice to be able to remove the tire so I can change the tube. I’ve already installed the thinnest and skinniest rim tape I could find.
Graham, keep in mind that once you get the tire on the rim (using any or all of the suggested methods above) that it should be easier to take it off/put it on if you have a flat because the tire will have had that much more time to stretch out, having been mounted for quite awhile.
another thought for initially mounting it - would warming it up help? put it over a hot air vent, or maybe in the drier for a few minutes(?)
hey graham… sometimes clincher rims have a shallow centre where the spoke head is inserted… if you start at the opposite side, where the tire is seeded, and pinch the beading to the centre of the rim away from the walls, that should give you some extra room to get that last section on bead over the lip…
good luck…
Ha!!!
“Rims, head, inserted, seeded, pinch, beading, extra room, over the lip.”
It DOES sound like porn, doesn’t it???
All it’s missing is “Money Shot”
a little too much time to think about it “RANDY”!!! LOL
I’ve had the same problem with Ritchey Race Slick Open’s. So tight that I can’t get the tube in. I used brute strength to get the tire on the rim (with an enormous blister on each thumb to show for my efforts), and then left the tire on with no tube over night. The next day the tube slid in perfectly and the tires have been trouble free ever since.
-Colin
The other day I got a flat on the road. I’ve never had a flat with this bike. It came with Vittoria tires when I bought it new. Had the hardest time getting that tire off the rim. Put new tube in and well, there you go. Sitting on the side off the road, unfortunately with only one tire lever and I couldn’t put the tire back on there. Believe me, I had to change many tires and never have trouble. Those Vittorias are too tight for my taste.
What kind of rim tape did you switch to, and what kind of rims are you trying to mount those Open Corsas on? The Open Corsa tires are actually one of the looser fitting tires. I found the same problem on Shimano wheels, but found that the Rim Rox tape that can be purchased from Performance Bicycle (web & some stores) solved the problem. That tape is so thin, that it is almost translucent. I had really narrow Velox cloth tape before, but that just didn’t help. The difference is night and day improvement. I can pretty much do a flat change without tools.
If you get this tape, I strongly recommend that you check for and remove any sharp edges (burrs) around the spoke holes inside the rim. The tape is so thin that I’d be concerned about a sharp edge possibly causing a flat. Also, you’ll want to stretch that tape pretty tight as you apply it so it doesn’t sink into the spoke holes under pressure.
For many years now I have used Scotch 1/2" strapping tape for rim tape. It is cheap, can be bought at any store and is convenient to use since it is on a dispenser. It has never let me down (literally :)).
Aloha,
Larry
You haven’t experienced tightness until you’ve experience a veloflex pave. I wept as I failed time after time to get just the 1ST bead on my 90’s vintage campy ventos.
You haven’t experienced tightness until you’ve experience a veloflex pave. I wept as I failed time after time to get just the 1ST bead on my 90’s vintage campy ventos.
I could probably get it on for you, but you’d be SOL if you ever flatted. Stick with the looser tyres. I like Vreddy’s, myself.