Extreme difficulty fitting tyres on Ambrosio P20 rims

[Squibnocket]

I've recently had a new pair of Ambrosio P20 rims built up. I was looking forward to getting them on one of my bikes but, believe it or not two weeks later I'm still struggling to get a pair of tyres on them. I Know the rims were sold as tubeless compatible but I wanted to use them with tyres and tubes so I purchased a pair of Schwalbe Durano/ Ones 700 x 25c.
Well I have huffed and I've puffed to coin a phrase and I cannot get the tyres over the rim without nipping the tube, (8 times now) or blistering my thumbs in the process. I did manage to get them on another pair of rims and put 130 psi in them in the vain hope it would stretch the tyres a little but to no avail. Tonight I thought I'd put the Schwalbes on a pair of Ultegra rims I have on another bike and they went straight on, the tyres that were on the Ultegra rims have had some use this summer so I thought they'd be easier to fit, alas it wasn't to be. I got the tyres and tubes on put 100 psi in but they didn't seat correctly so I deflated them made sure they were seated correctly on the rim, re-inflated them, still didn't pop out/ seat in the rim put just over 110 psi in then heard the all to familiar sound of a punctured tube. I don't know if I was more deflated or the tube!!

Finally just to point out I have never had any trouble fitting tyres or tubes to new or old rims before.

Any advice please?

[Jdsk]

Have you found the tricks and videos for:

1 Dropping them in the well?

2 Strapping them on as you work your way around?

Jonathan

[Brucey]

Q. is the rim tape you are using appreciably thick? If so perhaps a thinner one would work more easily for you?

cheers

[Eyebrox]

You need another pair of hands. Or... a light rub of washing up liquid on the one tyre rim and either a strong zip tie or pedal strap to hold the tyre on as you work round. Worn tyre levers with rough edges are more prone to nick tubes in tight-fitting situations.

[Redvee]

Try it with a tyre that is known to be an easy fot such as a Marathon

[Geoffroid]

I have had this problem with several pairs of tyres recently, on different rims. I bought a lifeline tyre seating tool and that worked great: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-tyre-seating-tool . After riding around for a while I took the tyres off in the garage at home and found they went back on quite easily by hand (I was concerned I needed to carry the tyre seating tool around with me).

[rogerzilla]

In order of expense:

- good fitting technique (getting the bead into the well)

- talc on the tube, helps it slide from between the tyre and rim

- thinner rim tape

- VAR tyre levers that are designed not to pinch the tube.

Don't use ordinary tyre levers to fit a tyre!

[tim-b]

Hi
Are the tyres Schwalbe Durano or Ones?
If Ones:
Are the tyres marked "TLE" (tubeless easy)? If so then you've got tubeless tyres and they will be harder to fit
If they're marked "Tube Only" try a bit of washing up liquid with water as a lubricant
Regards
tim-b

[Squibnocket]

Many thanks for all the replies. The rim tape is quite thin, I didn't use tyre levers on the last attempt, I'll certainly look into the tyre fitting tool from wiggle, the rims are tubeless compatible but I didn't particularly want to go down this route so I bought these tyres:
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m14b0s121p3 ... 2A-Folding
I'll have another go when the blister on my thumb has disappeared!!

[pjclinch]

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/koolstop-tyre-mate/, other suppliers are available, of course, but this is the thing for when Thumbs Of Steel™ are not enough. I really wish I'd had one a long time before I did.

[flat tyre]

If you have another wheel with a rim that the tyres fit more easily, you could fit the tyres on this, pump up hard and leave them for a couple of days then try fitting them to the Ambrosio rims.

[rogerzilla]

If you have another wheel with a rim that the tyres fit more easily, you could fit the tyres on this, pump up hard and leave them for a couple of days then try fitting them to the Ambrosio rims.

This is a good suggestion, especially if the tyre has kevlar beads. Two weeks at 100psi+ makes them much slacker compared to new. I suspect they are made a little undersized and they creep to the bead seat diameter when fitted.

[richardfm]

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/koolstop-tyre-mate/, other suppliers are available, of course, but this is the thing for when Thumbs Of Steel™ are not enough. I really wish I'd had one a long time before I did.

I have one of these, it's a very useful tool.