Took an old 28" front rim from a friend who would otherwise throw it in the garbage. THe rim came with 700 Hutchinson tire and I had to change its inner tube, before putting it on my old road bike. Then came the evening nightmare .. tire was SUPER tight and did not want to come off. I have changed many tubes, but this was so far the toughest tube swap mission. Fingertips hurt and Hutchinson did not give up. Took me lots of patience and six tire levers. The current set of three levers was not enough and I went to look for more.
Can it be that the tire changed its characteristics over time and lost its flexibility? Do you have any tricks (or video) for such tire challenge as this one?
(03-13-2020, 02:10 PM)SomeOrdinaryGuy Wrote: Took an old 28" front rim from a friend who would otherwise throw it in the garbage. THe rim came with 700 Hutchinson tire and I had to change its inner tube, before putting it on my old road bike. Then came the evening nightmare .. tire was SUPER tight and did not want to come off. I have changed many tubes, but this was so far the toughest tube swap mission. Fingertips hurt and Hutchinson did not give up. Took me lots of patience and six tire levers. The current set of three levers was not enough and I went to look for more.
Can it be that the tire changed its characteristics over time and lost its flexibility? Do you have any tricks (or video) for such tire challenge as this one?
A tire may get hard but it's noticeable if the sidewalls are cracked from dry rot. Still, the steel wire in the beads shouldn't have changed.
I don't know of any tricks for tires like that, but I do know that some tires are a beast even from new. I bought a set of whitewalls for a previous bike and I had a devil of a job mounting them; I even used soapy water to lubricate them. One of the tires kept going down in minutes. Evidently I had pinched the tube. It took three levers, two strong men and a boy to get that tire off the rim, again. Fixed the hole and put it back on the rim. Went down, again. After the third time I put my regular tires back on and gave the whitewalls away. I'm guessing that some tire makers don't quite get things right.
If I knew how to ride a bike properly, I'd do it every time.
(03-15-2020, 12:31 PM)SomeOrdinaryGuy Wrote: I did not see any signs of cracking or wear; must be the tire itself, at least now I'll know that some tires are tough nuts to crack 
Pinching a new tube while mounting .. I feel your pain, man. It has happened to me too, once I had to use a butter knife (sounds dumb yes) as an alternative to levers, with nothing else around. Lost focus for a split second and slightly sliced into the fresh tube, 95% mounted.
Yes, it sounds like you just got a difficult tire. I usually only use one tire lever to start the tire coming off the rim, but even with three it was incredibly difficult. I can't remember the last time I pinched a tube but after three pinches, it was more than I could take. Those steel wires in the beads don't give even a fraction, so it has to be a manufacturer's fault when they're much too tight.
If I knew how to ride a bike properly, I'd do it every time.
Some tires are just &(%*%$
Autobahn
700x Hutchinson tire too old? [Solved]
At first, I didn't know what to do with my Maxxis. First time changing MTBs and they were huge compared to slicks or touring tires, the ones I've had encountered prior. 
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