Removing Trials Tires

[Jerrick]

Ok, I did it =p

I know that a lot of people have some troubles getting trials tires off the rim, specially with the Alex 32 Rim, so i made a short little guide, ill add drawn diagrams too, would use pictures but my webcam only takes somewhat good pic during a bright sunny day, and its night right now lol

Steps For Removing A Trials Tire.

1: With 3 Tire Removal tool thingys, set them under the tire with about an inch - inch in a half between each other.
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2: Keep slight pressure on all three of the tools, i used one palm on two of them and one hand on the other, then pull the tire close to the rim with all three.

3: Once the tire is close to the rim and all tools are in place, use one tool to bring the tire up over the rim, while keep the other two in place with slight pressure.
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4: Once the first section of the tire is over, you should still have 2 tools left under the tire, now push one those to bring about a 4-inch section of the tire over the rim.

5: You should now be able to take out all 3 of the the removers and have the tire still hanging over the edge, but it will still be tight to the rim.

6: take one of the remover tools, and with the little hook, the part you use to hook onto the spokes to keep you hand free, stick that in the middle of the section that is over the rim, pull to one side and the tire will easily slip over the rim, continue around the rim and it you'll be done.

Using this method it took me about 2mins to get the tire off, and no damage to the tire, tube, or rim occurred.

Also, as your getting the tire back on, it can be pretty hard getting the last section on, so here is what you do.

1: Get a bowl of water, the temperature should be at room temp. and ad s enough soap into so when you put your fingers in it, you can feel that the water is soapy and lubricated.

2: take the water, and spread it across on the tire, inside and out, where it is stuck on the rim, and also add the water onto the rim.

3: Now try to put your tire on, the soapy water will make it so your tire will slip on gracefully, well, not too gracefully cause you will still need to add some force with your fingers, but it makes extremely easy.

Now with your new tire on, fill up and ride!

[trials_uni]

great tutorial but what i find works really well for getting the tire on and off. is usto use the method above but slide a bit of poly lube(you should be able to get some at the lbs) between the rim and the bead of the tire. the tire should slide on with ease now.

[mornish]

thanks, this helped me alot. I still managed to pop 3 tubes trying to get it back on succesfully though:o

[torkerdx]

i have broken a metal tire iron trying to get a tire off.
one of my friends had to use motorcycle tire irons to get his tire on. (motorcycle tire irons are about a foot long or so)

[Jerrick]

i have broken a metal tire iron trying to get a tire off.
one of my friends had to use motorcycle tire irons to get his tire on. (motorcycle tire irons are about a foot long or so)

Dang, I have always been fine using the tiny plastic ones.

[grawistkafn]

Cant you just deflate it and pull it off?
BTW Jerrick, what is that new thing in your sig that says "KH funds=$212....."?

[Jerrick]

Its a lot harder than that. Specially with the Alex rim, cause they are so wide and flat, it takes a lot of force to get a trials tire off of one.

The funds is how much money I have towards my 2007 Kh uni. I am about half way there. =p

[grawistkafn]

just money you care saving up?

[Jerrick]

just money you care saving up?

Pretty much. =p

[rabbithunter018]

I can almost take my tire off with my bare hands (deflated of course). But I don't have a trials tire, just a stock LX tire. If you want a challenge, try getting a motocross tire off.

[Jerrick]

I can almost take my tire off with my bare hands (deflated of course). But I don't have a trials tire, just a stock LX tire. If you want a challenge, try getting a motocross tire off.

Regular tires are easy to get off.

Trials tires are jsut like a motocross tire almsot. A lot of times, when I have gone to bikeshops, and they have to take the tire off, they always say its like getting a motocross tire off.

Motorcycles are harder though.

[unifreak7]

Things of that nature turn me into a little scared child of madness man boy.

[Jerrick]

Things of that nature turn me into a little scared child of madness man boy.

Its ok... shh shh, its gonna be ok...

[rabbithunter018]

Regular tires are easy to get off.

Trials tires are jsut like a motocross tire almsot. A lot of times, when I have gone to bikeshops, and they have to take the tire off, they always say its like getting a motocross tire off.

Motorcycles are harder though.
What is the difference from a regular tire? is it just stiffer sidewalls? thankfully with a uni, you only have to wrestle it on and off once!:D

[Jerrick]

What is the difference from a regular tire? is it just stiffer sidewalls? thankfully with a uni, you only have to wrestle it on and off once!:D


Regular bike rims, are pretty skinny, and are kinda curved, giving more leverage to get a tire off.

On trial rims, they are very wide, and flat, making it really hard to get the tire off, or on.

If you ahve a friend with a trials tire and rim setup, ask if you can try to take the tire off. =p

[rabbithunter018]

I don't have any freinds who uni.:( Anyone moving to Ohio soon?:D Please?

[brendan]

i always use a bike tyre thing... they are so much easier to remove tyres with.... :D However getting a motorbike tyre with them off, is well hard work... :D

[Eddbmxdude]

Why do you need a tutorial to take a tire off? Its the most basic bike/unicycle maintainance there is!

Rock on!
Edd

[brendan]

bah who cares who needs it, its there might help some people !

[Jerrick]

Why do you need a tutorial to take a tire off? Its the most basic bike/unicycle maintainance there is!

Rock on!
Edd



Umm, because there are a lot of people who think a trials tire, specially one on a DX32 rim, is just as simple as a regular bike tire that you can easily manage getting off with your hands.

Then they go and try to take off their trials tire and get very frustrated because its not coming off no matter how hard they try.

Ive even heard people who work at bike shops say that getting some trials tires off trials rims can almost be compared to getting a motocross tire off.

This guide is for those people.

[john_childs]

There is a secret to making it easier to remove a difficult tire from the rim. The secret is to move the bead of the tire into the valley of the rim to create slack on the opposite side of the tire (180 degrees away). The problem with many of the trials rims is that they are flat inside and don't have much of a valley. So there isn't as much room to make slack as on other rims.

Here's two descriptions of the technique. Pictures would help, but I don't have any drawn up. Hopefully the text is sufficient to explain the secret and the technique.

From G Sport BMX (http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/support/rideuktech/punctures.html):
There is a definite technique to getting tyres off. If you know it, then you can get most tyres off most rims, without tyre levers and the risk they add of extra punctures.
The key is to understand what you are aiming to do. And the aim is very very simple. All you want to do is get as much slack as possible into the tyre and to get all that slack over to the same side of the wheel.
The tyre bead is reinforced with steel wires that run all the way around the tyre so there is no way you can "stretch" this over the edge. The rim is a substantial aluminium extrusion so there is no way you can compress this to let the tyre off.
What you CAN do is push the bead into the centre of the rim where there is a little dip. At this point the rim has a smaller diameter so at the other side of the wheel we can pull the tyre out over the edge. We also have to contend with the fact that the rubber tyre is very grippy, so while we might have a fair bit of slack in the bead we cant easily get it all over to one place.
If you follow this system you should have a much easier time:-
1. Deflate the tyre COMPLETELY.
2. Pull the bead away from the rim as much as you can next to the valve.
3. Keep pulling the bead outwards and at the same time reach across the wheel to the opposite side. At the other side push the bead into the very very centre of the rim where the deepest point in the channel is. Push the bead down into the bottom of the dip and try to feed the slack round to the valve where you are still pulling outwards.
4. Keep doing this to feed all the slack round to the valve.
5. Eventually you should have enough slack at this point to easily pop the bead over the edge.

Because the dip in the middle is essential to creating this slack some rims work much better from this point of view. Deep Ukais and Alex Supra Es are the hardest to get tyres off and Sun Big Cities are the easiest.


From Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/flats.html):
Tire Removal

Before you remove the tire, take a quick look at it to see if the cause of the flat is obvious. There may be a nail sticking out, or a hole in the sidewall, or some other obvious problem. More often not, the cause will not be obvious from the outside, but a quick look can sometimes save time.

To remove the tire, you need to pull the bead off the rim, one side at a time. The diameter of the bead is smaller than the outer diameter of the rim. As long as the tire is centered on the rim, it cannot come off. To remove one side of the tire, you need to put the bead off-center. One part of the bead needs to go down into the valley at the bottom of the rim, so that the opposite side of the bead can be pried over the edge of the rim. This can often be done by hand, but usually is much easier if you use tire levers (tire levers used to be called "tire irons", but nowadays, most of them are made of fibreglas or other plastics.) Most tire levers have a rounded end and a hooked end.

Tire levers commonly come in sets of three, because three is the most you ever need. For a difficult tire, stick the rounded end of one tire lever under the bead (starting somewhere away from the valve--that only complicates matters.) Insert the lever right where one of the spokes lines up. Pry one side of the tire bead over the edge of the rim, then hook the end of the tire lever to the nearest spoke. Insert another tire lever two spokes away from the first, and repeat the process. The third lever goes two spokes away from either of the first two. When the third lever is in place, the middle one will fall out, and you can repeat the procedure. After some number of times, the tire will be loose enough that you can just run a tire lever around the rest of the rim to pull the whole side over.

This is the procedure for tight-fitting tires, particularly for narrow tires. Most tires will come off with less trouble.

It also depends on the particular tire. Some tires are tighter than others. I broke a standard plastic tire lever (the kind that come in packs of three with a hook on the end to hook on the spokes) trying to get a trials tire off a DX32 rim. It was a tight tire. Other trials tires aren't so tight. I usually use stronger tire levers, but don't always have those on hand. Don't be surprised if you run into a tire and rim combination that is especially difficult. They're out there.

[Jerrick]

I find the DX32 with a CC to be that hardest tire and rim combo to take apart. =p

[torkerdx]

I find the DX32 with a CC to be that hardest tire and rim combo to take apart. =p

with a luna it is way harder

i have done both and the cc needs metal tire irons, the luna needs motorcycle tire irons (probably possible with regular but...)

[timbob1907]

Not for me. Ive never taken my tire off but i got it on by hand with little or no help by others. and so im hoping that it comes off relatively easier.

[feel the light]

"There is a secret to making it easier to remove a difficult tire from the rim. The secret is to move the bead of the tire into the valley of the rim to create slack on the opposite side of the tire (180 degrees away). The problem with many of the trials rims is that they are flat inside and don't have much of a valley. So there isn't as much room to make slack as on other rims." -- J Childs
That is so correct. I have worked on dirt bikes for 30 years. Swapping tires on a 5.10 x 17 rear knobby is a pain no matter how it's done, and impossible if the "bead" which is a steel cable that runs around inner section of the tire, is not in the center of the rim opposite of side you are trying to pry off.
The other tip I haven't seen here is to put the tires in the sun. The hotter the tires the easier the job.

[brendan]

my tip just from today...

this was on a try-all rim and tyre 19" in order to put it back in, but its probably a good idea in order to take it off as well. All i did was get some vaseline and put it on the edge of the rim (just on the last part when it gets real hard.

Once theres a tiny bit of vaseline, just try push it all the way onto the rim. Damn its so easy !

[thejdw]

I need to get a metal remover tool lol, I've broken several nylon ones

[Jerrick]

my tip just from today...

this was on a try-all rim and tyre 19" in order to put it back in, but its probably a good idea in order to take it off as well. All i did was get some vaseline and put it on the edge of the rim (just on the last part when it gets real hard.

Once theres a tiny bit of vaseline, just try push it all the way onto the rim. Damn its so easy !


Did you even read through this thoroughly?

Obviously stated before, rims from Kh, Koxx, and others have a groove in them, making the tire easy come on and off with minimum effort. The bead can go deeper in this groove giving the extra distance to easily lift the tire over the rim.

Mainly the troubles people have are with the Alex DX32 rim, and all other rims where the rim structure is like a box.

Can be quite frustrating for a lot of riders out there thinking its like every bike tire they have ever had to change.

[Borgschulze]

You should make a video tutorial. :)

[Koxx_Devil_Rider]

yes well i found trials tires to be bear on impossible to get off, but thing i do now, and it works a charm every time is put a bit of lube/super lube/vasaline ne thing really on the lip/top of the rim and useing tire leevers it slides off with ease and the same when putting it back on ! Hope this helps "!":)

[Borgschulze]

yes well i found trials tires to be bear on impossible to get off, but thing i do now, and it works a charm every time is put a bit of lube/super lube/vasaline ne thing really on the lip/top of the rim and useing tire leevers it slides off with ease and the same when putting it back on ! Hope this helps "!":)
Doesn't that make your tire bead move when you do lots of drops and such... mine already squeaks when I gap too far.

[Michaelgoround]

Anyone reccomend a good pair of tire levers?