[fly4130]

Holy hell, getting these on the stock My Other Brother Darryl rims is ridiculously hard. Taking off my studded tires and putting them back on was 30 minutes of sweat and swearing. I just had to change a tube and had the same experience. The Dillinger 4s were not an issue. I will be tubeless eventually, and running either 27.5+ or 29+ for the summer season more eventualier, but until then the Nates are my fate.

Has anyone else had such struggles? It could be my technique or I could just be a wimp. I am dreading the eventual trail flat. I will take any and all advice, including "just get new tires and go tubeless NOW"

 

[Shark]

Is it just hard getting the bead over the edge of the rim?
Make sure the other side is in the deepest part of the rim sometimes they don't like to stay put.
Plastic tire levers helps, sometimes it takes two.

 

[fly4130]

Yeah, the bead over the edge. I have never seen a tire so tight. The last few inches would not even let me muscle my levers in there. I laid the wheel on the floor and f-bombed the last bit over the rim. With the rim strip and tape the interior of the rim is pretty uniform in depth, so advantage to be had there.

After watching all the videos expounding on how easy fat tires are to mount I can't help but think I am the problem. I have changed enough mountain and road tires to at least be a functional idiot.

 

[Harold]

After watching all the videos expounding on how easy fat tires are to mount I can't help but think I am the problem. I have changed enough mountain and road tires to at least be a functional idiot.

Lots of variables, but I've had notable challenges with fat tires that I've never had with anything else.

My rims (early Nexties) have deep center channels, so getting the tires on the rims is NBD. If I inflate with a tube, it's pretty simple after that. Tubeless is a whole other story, though. I've spent an hour or more on a single tire trying a bunch of the methods extolled in the various youtube videos. Great big stinker. Only thing that works for me reliably is to use a tube to set the bead on one side. Then I can use a compressor and get the other side. Out on the trails - as soon as I break the bead, a tube is going in.

I built a new bike recently and have WTB tires on DT Swiss rims. those were absolute monsters to get on (or off). The center channel on the rims isn't especially deep, and isn't comfortably wide enough for both beads on these tires to settle into (these tires have pretty burly sidewalls, so neither really settles in very well. I broke a few levers in the process the first time. After that, they stretched enough that it's tough, but manageable. But once they're on the rim, the bead seats no problem. Nothing like my fatbike tires.

 

[Rodney]

Holy hell, getting these on the stock My Other Brother Darryl rims is ridiculously hard...I will be tubeless eventually, I am dreading the eventual trail flat. I will take any and all advice, including "just get new tires and go tubeless NOW"

so, you are not tubeless now? hmm...

I had the same wheels and tires on my wednesday when it was new, and the steel bead on the 27tpi was a nightmare, especially on my MOBD rims with gorilla tape. like wtf holy hell i cant dismount the bead bad.

once i ditched the 27tpi nates and gorilla tape, everything has been mo betterer...

 

[fly4130]

Thanks all, yeah not tubeless as I didn't want to mess around with the Nates since they are not technically tubeless compatible. They are 33 tpi, not 27. I don't know why I thought they were 27 and why it matters to make that distinction now. I am about one more tire swap away from calling it a day with these things. At the shop Friday I did get to take a Beargrease for a spin that just had a B+ wheel set put on it with 3.0 Rangers. Holy hell was that a light bike (comparatively) and those tires rolled so well....

So I guess I just muscle up until I get so fed up that I rage order new wheels or just get some new tires and finally ditch the tubes. A little push on the back, I suppose, to get motivated.

 

[tim208]

buy multiple tire levers and break away.

 

[Rodney]

They are 33 tpi, not 27. I don't know why I thought they were 27 and why it matters to make that distinction now.

hmm... never seen a 33 tpi Nate. The only Nate flavors I have come across are the 27 (wire bead) 60 and 120 (kevlar/foldable bead). are the 33 wire or foldable?

buy multiple tire levers and break away.

for me, the problem was not actually removing or installing the 27 tpi Nate, it was breaking the bead off the rim shelf. that sucker was on there, like to the point of tweaking the rim and hurting my hands bad. and this is coming from a seasoned automotive tire installer, who's previous bead retention champion was the Hoosier A6...

 

[fly4130]

Well I feel a percentage less crazy knowing the 27 tpi variant was not a figment of my imagination. My Nates are the OEM on the current Wednesdays and they are definitely a wire bead and 33 tpi. So, improvement? Getting them off the bead is a small amount of work but doable. I straightened a few Park levers after the winter wheel swap. This time the levers were spared but my spirit was not. I may just take my tubeless chances and see how that goes.