[MikeD]

Hey, all, just got my X3.1 wheelset in (bike's still not back, but hopefully Monday...) Looks beautiful; I had it built by Speedgoat with Hope hubs. Didn't want to mess with building these myself, as they're a bit more complicated and I'm a hack anyhow. I will build wheels with DH rims and thick spokes, but these seemed to call for the touch of an expert (plus it ended up being cheaper just to order the built set, lol).

Managed to get the tires on and easily inflated (so unlike Stan's!!), but can't get them off by hand. I'm pushing the whole tire down into the center channel, but there's no resultant slack. I was expecting the whole thing to loosen up and enable me to get one side of the bead off by hand, but it's too tight to do anything.

Any tips for me??

MD

 

[JMAC]

Use soapy water i just use dish soap to lube the tire and i use tire levers i have the same rims as you and as long as you are carefull with the tire levers there's no problem.

 

[oldfart]

Never tried Conti's but I never need levers with Michelin, Hutchinson or Maxxis tubeless. Conti tubed tires go on and off by hand too. Push that bead in all the way around and pull it up AT THE VALVE. Just grab the side of the tire and pull it up with both hands and push off with the heels of you hand. It should come right off.

 

[Westy]

They say you are not supposed to use a tire lever with UST but I do. I have never been able to get them off by hand. I just gently use a plastic tire lever that has been soaped up a bit. I have never damage a tire doing so.

 

[Thylacine]

What you do is get a tube of KY and 3 soup spoons.....

 

[MikeD]

Originally posted by Thylacine
What you do is get a tube of KY and 3 soup spoons.....

Ah, how many times have I had that dream....

MD

 

[indieboy]

ok DO NOT do what jmac said. taking tire levers to any UST tires is bad news. the way to get UST tires off is after you deflate the tire, pop ONE side of the bead in towards the middle of the rim. once you have done that you create a large amount of slack b/c the other side of the bead is still popped against the rim like it normally would. you then proceed to the opposite end from the valve where the most slack comes out of the tire and roll the tire up and over the rim w/ your hand. once you have that side up, push the other side into the middle of the rim and up and over the opposite side. it's actually really easy and only takes a second to pop the tires off, putting them on can be a bitioch sometimes.

 

[MikeD]

Thanks...I'll give it a go!

Putting them ON was easy for me...I probably just need to practice the 'off' techniques a bit, now that I know them. Sounds reasonable...I'll see if I can get them to work in practice.

MD

Edit: works like a charm, thanks! When I need new Dh rims, I think I'm getting the D3.1s and will finally have to switch over to the Micchie DH UST tires (unless maxxis finally puts a UST out)!

 

[Ian F]

Originally posted by MikeD
When I need new Dh rims, I think I'm getting the D3.1s and will finally have to switch over to the Micchie DH UST tires (unless maxxis finally puts a UST out)!

I recently got a set of D3.1 wheels and I'm running Michie Comp 16 2.5's. The best tire/rim combo I've ever dealt with for DH. After years of fighting with DH tires and tubes, my first experience with UST was an epiphany... I'm sold!