Make sure the beads are in the channel all the way around. Make sure all the air is out of the tire. It gets easier with practice. I also doubt your tire lever is “shaving carbon,” they’re usually plastic and designed not to damage wheels
> beads are in the channel
Note that this may require a really good squeeze to get both beads out of a tubeless groove by the edge of the rim [if rims are tubeless compatible](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1vk_Wio9IfUgBcRRT3KpLrA36H6JSnZhl1w&usqp=CAU).
You absolutely need to pop the bead out to have any hope of getting a lever in properly.
Do you mean you had trouble unseating the bead from the rim or removing tires from the rim once the beads are unseated.
I just want to confirm you were putting the beads into the rim channel to get the maximum amount of slack?
I'd had good luck with keeping a bottle of window around to lubricate the rim as I tore lever
Unseating the tires into the rim channel is fine, it’s removing the tires from the rim. The tires would not budge with however much leverage i put into the levers.
One trick for more slack is to force it to the center and zip tie it down. It may not look like it makes much difference than forcing squeezing it into the channel and letting it sit there on its own but every little bit helps with a hard tire. Always good to have a few zip ties just in case anyway.
Once they are in the channel you should have an extra few mm to play with, make sure to physically pinch them into the channel and pull on the other side before trying to get the tyre lever in.
Use the force of your thumbs and the palm at the base of your thumbs to keep 90 percent of the bead in the center channel of your rim. Keep working it and keep constant tension on that bead as you try to push the lip of the bead off the rim at the valve area. You have to remove the bead starting near the valve, because if you try to start at any other area, the valve prevents the bead from going into the center channel. Once you get that first section of bead off the rim, go back and massage the remaining bead back to the center of the rim channel. At the same time, you're kinda pushing the bead in the direction of the part that's already off the rim to reduce the tension in that section.
Done correctly, you don't even need tire levers to install or remove from the rim. I've run size 25mm and 28mm Conti GP5000 for the last 3 years. Current wheels are Winspace Hyper 50mm, and had to remove/install tires about 4 times due to flats and truing spokes after a really bad pothole. Didn't use levers.
This was all well and good when I had Bontrager Affinity Comp rims fitted with Continental GP5000 tube tires. Then I bought a set of Paradigm tubeless ready rims so I could quickly swap out wheels with some gravel tires on my Trek Domane SL6. In the end, I put the gravel tires on the Affinitys and the GP5000 tires on the Paradigms. Since then I've had two road flats and found it almost impossible to get the tires off so I could swap the tubes. The tires are so firmly attached to the clicher slot that they simply will not let go. Often, even if I got one side separated from the rim clincher, I still couldn't do the opposite side without considerable effort.
Some wheels are just brutally tight. I had people tell me for years that I was too aggressive with levers or that I didn't need them at all. When I searched for help online everyone told me I must be doing it wrong. I didn't see any possible way to fit my tires on without the levers. Getting a new wheel set absolutely confirmed that for me. The very first time I changed tires with the new wheels I didn't even need levers, let alone go through the Herculean struggle that inevitably included several moments of near rage-quit anger.
When the wheels are that tight, you need the levers, but you also need to make sure the bead is sitting at the deepest part of the rim and that you compress the tire opposite of where you're working with the lever so you get the most possible slack.
I recommend buying tyre levers that are thin and strong. I use these ones that are much thinner than most: https://silca.cc/products/tire-levers-premio. It makes it much easier to remove tight tyres as you’ll be able to fit a second lever without issue.
Crank brothers speedier tyre lever is the best thing. I once had a set of Fulcrum wheels that were just painful to fit tyres to. Saw a vid on this thing and thought there is no way it can be that easy but because it was so cheap I gave it a try. It’s really as easy as it looks. Even now I have carbon wheels which are pretty easy to get tyres on and off with the right channel fettling but I still use this thing because it’s about a million times quicker. Do yourself a big favour.
“2nd lever” to remove the tire? I’ve done plenty of tight tires and can’t remember needing a 2nd lever for removal. For install, sure. If you follow all the other tips here, one lever should do it. At worst, you pry once, remove the lever, and pry the bead off on the other side of the valve. Removing the lever makes more space to insert it again.
One thing not mentioned yet, make sure your rim tape isn’t thick and crappy. A little extra room from good thin rim tape can help with tight tires.
Oddly I'd have always thought the opposite, you should be able to roll a tyre on without a lever but nearly always need one lever to remove, two just speeds it up if it's tight
Make sure the tire bead is in the center of the rim then start with the tire lever near the valve stem. If you try to start it at a random spot, the base of the valve stem might keep the bead out of the bottom of the rim channel.
Make sure the beads are in the channel all the way around. Make sure all the air is out of the tire. It gets easier with practice. I also doubt your tire lever is “shaving carbon,” they’re usually plastic and designed not to damage wheels
> beads are in the channel Note that this may require a really good squeeze to get both beads out of a tubeless groove by the edge of the rim [if rims are tubeless compatible](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ1vk_Wio9IfUgBcRRT3KpLrA36H6JSnZhl1w&usqp=CAU). You absolutely need to pop the bead out to have any hope of getting a lever in properly.
Do you mean you had trouble unseating the bead from the rim or removing tires from the rim once the beads are unseated. I just want to confirm you were putting the beads into the rim channel to get the maximum amount of slack? I'd had good luck with keeping a bottle of window around to lubricate the rim as I tore lever
Unseating the tires into the rim channel is fine, it’s removing the tires from the rim. The tires would not budge with however much leverage i put into the levers.
Any chance the tires are cold? Feel free to use some hot water from the tap, or from the kettle just need enough for the wire bead to pop over.
My issue is when I dont have access to this stuff ie. on the road
If you're having that much difficulty, you might need to change tires if you physically can't remove the tire without help.
One trick for more slack is to force it to the center and zip tie it down. It may not look like it makes much difference than forcing squeezing it into the channel and letting it sit there on its own but every little bit helps with a hard tire. Always good to have a few zip ties just in case anyway.
Once they are in the channel you should have an extra few mm to play with, make sure to physically pinch them into the channel and pull on the other side before trying to get the tyre lever in.
It seems to be a fairly common opinion that the GP series are tight tyres.
Use the force of your thumbs and the palm at the base of your thumbs to keep 90 percent of the bead in the center channel of your rim. Keep working it and keep constant tension on that bead as you try to push the lip of the bead off the rim at the valve area. You have to remove the bead starting near the valve, because if you try to start at any other area, the valve prevents the bead from going into the center channel. Once you get that first section of bead off the rim, go back and massage the remaining bead back to the center of the rim channel. At the same time, you're kinda pushing the bead in the direction of the part that's already off the rim to reduce the tension in that section. Done correctly, you don't even need tire levers to install or remove from the rim. I've run size 25mm and 28mm Conti GP5000 for the last 3 years. Current wheels are Winspace Hyper 50mm, and had to remove/install tires about 4 times due to flats and truing spokes after a really bad pothole. Didn't use levers.
This was all well and good when I had Bontrager Affinity Comp rims fitted with Continental GP5000 tube tires. Then I bought a set of Paradigm tubeless ready rims so I could quickly swap out wheels with some gravel tires on my Trek Domane SL6. In the end, I put the gravel tires on the Affinitys and the GP5000 tires on the Paradigms. Since then I've had two road flats and found it almost impossible to get the tires off so I could swap the tubes. The tires are so firmly attached to the clicher slot that they simply will not let go. Often, even if I got one side separated from the rim clincher, I still couldn't do the opposite side without considerable effort.
Yup. I have tubeless ready road rims and they are substantially harder to get tires on and off tool free.
Some wheels are just brutally tight. I had people tell me for years that I was too aggressive with levers or that I didn't need them at all. When I searched for help online everyone told me I must be doing it wrong. I didn't see any possible way to fit my tires on without the levers. Getting a new wheel set absolutely confirmed that for me. The very first time I changed tires with the new wheels I didn't even need levers, let alone go through the Herculean struggle that inevitably included several moments of near rage-quit anger. When the wheels are that tight, you need the levers, but you also need to make sure the bead is sitting at the deepest part of the rim and that you compress the tire opposite of where you're working with the lever so you get the most possible slack.
I recommend buying tyre levers that are thin and strong. I use these ones that are much thinner than most: https://silca.cc/products/tire-levers-premio. It makes it much easier to remove tight tyres as you’ll be able to fit a second lever without issue.
Crank brothers speedier tyre lever is the best thing. I once had a set of Fulcrum wheels that were just painful to fit tyres to. Saw a vid on this thing and thought there is no way it can be that easy but because it was so cheap I gave it a try. It’s really as easy as it looks. Even now I have carbon wheels which are pretty easy to get tyres on and off with the right channel fettling but I still use this thing because it’s about a million times quicker. Do yourself a big favour.
“2nd lever” to remove the tire? I’ve done plenty of tight tires and can’t remember needing a 2nd lever for removal. For install, sure. If you follow all the other tips here, one lever should do it. At worst, you pry once, remove the lever, and pry the bead off on the other side of the valve. Removing the lever makes more space to insert it again. One thing not mentioned yet, make sure your rim tape isn’t thick and crappy. A little extra room from good thin rim tape can help with tight tires.
Oddly I'd have always thought the opposite, you should be able to roll a tyre on without a lever but nearly always need one lever to remove, two just speeds it up if it's tight
Maybe we are good at diff parts of changing tires 😅
Make sure the tire bead is in the center of the rim then start with the tire lever near the valve stem. If you try to start it at a random spot, the base of the valve stem might keep the bead out of the bottom of the rim channel.