Brucey wrote:Vetus Ossa wrote:Yes, I do take the point that no tyre is completely puncture proof, and sooner or later it will happen.
So do I fit (probably) the most puncture proof tyre out there, the marathon plus which is difficult to fit, especially on the trail, or a less puncture proof tyre that is easier to fit, and if so, which one?
Part of your choice is determined by your abilities to get tyres on and off (not everyone has strong hands) and partly by the rims you have, i.e. how tight tyres are on those rims.
Some rims make getting tyres on and off ridiculously easy; for example mavic open pro (now open pro C) are usually a very easy fit and some older rims with deep centre well (such as Super Champion mod 58 etc) are also pretty easy to get tyres on and off. Plenty of tyre fitments on these rims can be removed without using tyre levers. The downside of this kind of fit is that the tyre may come off the rim (before you bring the bike to a halt) in the event of a blowout and this may cause an accident.
By contrast some rims are made oversize and some have intentionally shallow rim wells. Most tubeless compatible rims make getting tyres on and off unnecessarily difficult IME but problems are not confined to those alone.
FWIW the combination of M+ tyres and many modern rims makes fitting/removing the tyres especially difficult for one simple reason; the rim well is usually curved (rather than square sided) and the tyre is springy, so the bead pushes itself out of the rim well unless it is (literally) strapped down. You can instead keep the bead in the rim well simply by applying constant tension to the bead, but this is difficult and a moment's inattention will see the bead pop out of the rim well again.
cheers
For several years I like to use Veloflex Pave tyres and they were extremely difficult to fit on my open pro rims. The first time I fitted one I honestly thought it was the wrong size and would never go on but after much thumb torture it did. After that I used to warm them up, either by leaving in the sun for several hours before attempting to fit or on a radiator in winter. They were always troublesome to fit but after being on the rim for a while subsequent on and offs were easier.
Anyway back on topic, I eventually decided to fit a marathon MTB tyre to the rear. It went on easier than the marathon it replaced but was still not exactly easy to fit, though I didn’t have to use any straps , and only had to use a tyre lever to pop the last little bit on.
I think that’s as good as its going to get for me and am reasonably happy that I will be able to take the tyre off in the event of the unmentionable, though I will probably try the pit stop I also now carry first.
As you mentioned my rims are tubeless ready so mounting a tyre is always going to be difficult.
BTW I am very happy with the way the marathon mtb tyre rides, being its on an ebike, in all honestly it rolls as well as any other tyre I have tried on it.
Beauty will save the world.