northside dub shop to fit marathon plus 25s on 23c wheels?

joconnell

Heya Folks,

I was looking in to getting some better tyres for a puncture cursed carrera bike with 23c wheels so I went for schwalbe marathon pluses with board advice that 25c tyres will fit a 23c rim. As a newb and even with watching a nice old man's video showing toe clips being used to fit marathon pluses I'm having a horrid time of it and I'd rather just pay someone 30 quid or whatever it is to get them on. There's a good chance that they'll never fit with the wire ribbing but I'd rather get a professional to have a once over before exchanging them. Does anyone know any good bike shops around the whitehall / beaumount / northside dublin area that'd have handled nasty schwalbes before?

Much appreciated,

John

Inquitus

If you can't even get them on, how on earth do you expect to change a tube?

joconnell

Hedging my bets on them being the extreme end of awkward to get on, otherwise betting on someone with way more experience and a developed knack to be able to definitively tell me that they don't fit. From what I've heard from most people that use them, once they're on you won't need to change a tube. There's a good asian video of someone cycling over thumb tacks with the marathon pluses, then pushing thumb tacks into the tyres as far as they could manage and cycling around on them after - still no problems.

As I say I was going on advice of others here that 25's would go on the 23's but these might be exceptional cases.

Unregistered.

joconnell wrote: »

Hedging my bets on them being the extreme end of awkward to get on, otherwise betting on someone with way more experience and a developed knack to be able to definitively tell me that they don't fit. From what I've heard from most people that use them, once they're on you won't need to change a tube. There's a good asian video of someone cycling over thumb tacks with the marathon pluses, then pushing thumb tacks into the tyres as far as they could manage and cycling around on them after - still no problems.

As I say I was going on advice of others here that 25's would go on the 23's but these might be exceptional cases.

They'll fit They are a bithch to get on, you're just no trying hard enough.

joconnell

Piss - Have you tried them yourself?

I've got the usual approach of one side on with the tube pushed up into the ceiling of the tire but it's just an utter utter bitch to get the other side to snap in under the rim of the wheel - any thoughts'd be more than welcome!

Crow92

Where are you based? You using metal or plastic fibreglass ones? Heard people suggesting soap and water.
Oh and whats the rim size?

joconnell

The rim's a metal 23c on a cheapie carrera tdf from halfords. It kind of feels like when you're trying to shove the second side of the tire in that it's just turning in on itself to turn into a tube shape rather than one side staying in under the rim of the wheel and the second rim popping in to place. Maybe I'm just a wimp

Wishbone Ash

Get a few cable ties. Tie them all the way around as you fit the tyre and eventually the tyre will snap into place.

manwithaplan

Is it just the last bit that you can't get in or can you not get the second side to stay in place at all? How much air have you got in the tube? It should only be enough to give it a bit of shape.

joconnell

Yeah I'm having trouble getting any of it to stick on - the tire has too much force in it's spring back for toe clips put on loosely - I'll give it a go with no tube in there full stop just to make certain it'll go in at all. I'm rather glad I'll rarely have to take the feckin things off

Wishbone Ash

I'll agree that they are a b***ard to get on but the other half has never needed to get them off again even with thousands of km's done. Pull tight on the cable ties and work it around andf it should work out alright. Great product!

Tonyandthewhale

If by 23c you mean a standard size 700c wheel which originally had a 23mm tyre on it and you're not replacing it with a 700c 25mm tyre then there's no reason it shouldn't fit (although marathon pluses are always going to be tight and hard to fit).

If you absolutely can't get them on yourself then literally any bike shop should be able to fit them for you in a few seconds. Bike mechanics spend an absurd amount of time fitting tyres and the more you do the easier it gets.

Unregistered.

joconnell wrote: »

Piss - Have you tried them yourself?

Yes, only this weekend I removed a 25mm marthon plus and replaced it with a 25mm Gatorskin on a 16mm rim. Both tires are extremely difficult to fit the last 5% of the bead over the rim. It's like trying to bend steel.

rp

Inquitus wrote: »

If you can't even get them on, how on earth do you expect to change a tube?

Who has ever had to change a tube with Marathon Pluses on?

But I use some velcro ties instead of the cable ties mention (reusable), plus a bit of soapy water for that last annoying couple of cm's of rim.

Holyboy

OP you must have old stock tyres as Schwalbe have made the bead on marathon and marathon plus tyres much larger of late, this obviously doesnt help you with the tyres you have though! I say bite the bullet and take em to a shop.

Cyclepath

rp wrote: »

Who has ever had to change a tube with Marathon Pluses on?

But I use some velcro ties instead of the cable ties mention (reusable), plus a bit of soapy water for that last annoying couple of cm's of rim.

Yeah, that's the only way to get them on! The first three-quarters of the tyre is easy enough to slip under the rim, so when you get that far, secure the parts of the tyre under the rim with plastic cable ties or velcro straps, then put the wheel in your lap and use the heel of your palms to push the last bit forward over the rim. Also rub the rim with soap and then splash on a bit of water to make it slide a bit easier. In theory, any water based lubrication (cough...) is ok to use. I've even heard of lads using Butt'r chamois cream

Icyseanfitz

chinese burn that **** :pac: keep at it man, some tyres are just a pain in the arse to get on, and resist the urge to use a lever to snap it into place...generally doesnt end well haha

joconnell

Cyclepath wrote: »

Yeah, that's the only way to get them on! The first three-quarters of the tyre is easy enough to slip under the rim, so when you get that far, secure the parts of the tyre under the rim with plastic cable ties or velcro straps, then put the wheel in your lap and use the heel of your palms to push the last bit forward over the rim. Also rub the rim with soap and then splash on a bit of water to make it slide a bit easier. In theory, any water based lubrication (cough...) is ok to use. I've even heard of lads using Butt'r chamois cream

The first three quarters is easy ay?

Cheers for the votes of confidence folks - it'd be brilliant not to have to exchange them as they really seem ideal for me - I'm using it to commute mainly and I'm nowhere near the tires having an effect on speed etc - bullet proofing is far more useful to me.

holyboy - not sure when the tires were made, were bought about 4 days ago from amazon so maybe they're the bigger ones? In the youtube vid about them they do seem to snap on an awful lot easier than I'm experiencing but i'll give them another go!

Cheers folks!

Glencarraig

Ask your missus if she has any lube you can borrow !!

joconnell

ha ha ha - ended up chatting to a randomer in the smoking area of the no name bar a while back and it turned out she was involved in the irish bondage scene - gave me a small sachet of some lube called "Boy butter", might give that a go

Wishbone Ash

joconnell wrote: »

....might give that a go

You're going to give bondage a go? :eek::D

ednwireland

just found this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

joconnell

Cheers for that - gave it a look before attempting and was still no use - could get feck all of it on but they'd be my first time changing tyres so not the easiest to start with! Got a local shop to put them on for a fiver each and it worked out fine - much appreciated for the help folks, hopefully I won't be taking them off any time soon. Next time I must go into a shop and sit there when they put them on to see if it's a knack / experience thing or I'm just a pansy

Lumen

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

If by 23c you mean a standard size 700c wheel which originally had a 23mm tyre on it and you're not replacing it with a 700c 25mm tyre then there's no reason it shouldn't fit

^^ This.

There's no such thing as a 23c rim. Road rims are about 15mm on the inside from what I recall, and will take tyres up to 35mm no problem.

joconnell

Just as a follow up I've cycled the same route that punctured me every time, gone over some glass that was unavoidable with traffic coming up beside me and gone over plenty of really nasty edges of holes on the road - zero issues.