Best Wheels for ease of tyre fitting

windsock07
windsock07 Posts: 26
edited October 2008 in Workshop
After snapping tyre levers and checking numerous tubes, I am glad to see the back of my Campag wheels.

I am looking at Fulcrum 7s and Shimano RS20 as replacements. I'm a bit worried that since Fulcrums come from the Campag stable they will show the same resistance to tyre-fitting. Is this the case?

Also how are the Shimano wheels in this respect? Can anyone help?

Cheers Windsock

Comments

  • topdude
    topdude Posts: 1,557
    I have had RS20 and R500 Shimano wheels and had no trouble fitting tyres to either.
    I believe the Fulcrums can be a bit of a bitch with certain tyres.
    He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy !!
  • simmo3801
    simmo3801 Posts: 486
    I used to have teh same problem with constantly bursting tubes with my tyre levers, always at the last point of hooking the tyre over. I got a VAR tool and haven't pinched a tube since. They're superb!!
    They hook over the wheel and pull the tyre onto the rim without coming into contact with the tube at all :D

    www.cyclebasket.com/products.php?plid=m ... e_Levers_(£4.30)._Accessories_&_Tools._Tools_-_Tyre_Levers.

    Not sure why they're not more popular......
    Giant Anthem X3 2013
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    For what it's worth my Racing 7s are by far the most difficult rims I've got to fit tyres to and I've tried a decent range of tyres with them (Krylion Carbons, Rubino Pros, Fortezza Tricomps - even Mondo Pros were a struggle).
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Could be something to do with Fulcrums being made by Campagnolo, whose wheels are also difficult to shed with tyres.
  • simmo3801
    simmo3801 Posts: 486
    My Campag Eurus are a doddle to slip rubber on with the Var tool :)
    Giant Anthem X3 2013
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    my campag Eurus are also a doddle - with just "thumb-power"

    Work on your grip and strength a bit and stop being so soft and then you can pick wheels on more important criteria - like look's - and not tyre fitting capabilities.
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    gkerr4 wrote:
    my campag Eurus are also a doddle - with just "thumb-power"

    Work on your grip and strength a bit and stop being so soft and then you can pick wheels on more important criteria - like look's - and not tyre fitting capabilities.

    [edit - Ok if I am honest - the campag wheels are slightly tighter than the shimano wheels I have used in the past but the bontrager wheels I have - you can just throw tyres at and they seem to go on the rim]
  • windsock07
    windsock07 Posts: 26
    Thanks for info, chaps. Think I'll plump for something in the Shimano/Mavic line as these appear to be most tyre-friendly. For winter wheels this is quite important. I keep seeing myself on some exposed scottish moor frozen solid staring at half a tyre lever and gripping a campag rim into eternity. Not a pleasant prospect.

    Cheers Windsock
  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    gkerr4 wrote:
    my campag Eurus are also a doddle - with just "thumb-power"

    Work on your grip and strength a bit and stop being so soft and then you can pick wheels on more important criteria - like look's - and not tyre fitting capabilities.
    I've never had any problems fitting tyres on any wheels I've ever owned either (though I have never owned Campag wheels which are normally the most complained about). Pretty sure I don't even own any wheels I need tyre levers to fit or remove tyres from (can't remember using them for years, though still carry some just in case). IMO it's not so much about strength as technique though - that along with using rim tape which isn't too thick, so taking up the slack you need to remove a tyre - the often recommended Velox being the normal culprit here, being thicker than pretty much anything else.

    It's got to help a lot to use a thin rim tape, like Conti adhesive (like Velox, but a lot thinner), along with my recommended technique which is to push all of the bead into the well in the centre to give you slack, apart obviously from where you're trying to remove it. The non-obvious secret being to fit and remove the last section next to the valve, since the valve gets in the way of the bead dropping into the centre of the rim anyway, hence you get more slack this way.
  • wildmoustache
    wildmoustache Posts: 4,010
    Mavic Ksyrium rims are very easy to get tyres on.

    I actually like a bit more "tightness" as the chances of a blow-out are reduced.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    wildmoustache wrote:
    I actually like a bit more "tightness" as the chances of a blow-out are reduced.
    Though the tyre being tight when fitted is not mutually exclusive with it being easy to fit.
  • bill57
    bill57 Posts: 454
    gkerr4 wrote:
    Work on your grip and strength a bit and stop being so soft and then you can pick wheels on more important criteria - like look's - and not tyre fitting capabilities.

    Not weight, strength, reliability or aerodynamics then?
  • Bugly
    Bugly Posts: 520
    Personally I agree with bill57, weight, quality, aero, stiffness, ride and price are criteria I use to selct wheels - tightness of tyres doesnt rate, I dont get that many punctures for it to be an issue
  • gkerr4
    gkerr4 Posts: 3,408
    bill57 wrote:
    gkerr4 wrote:
    Work on your grip and strength a bit and stop being so soft and then you can pick wheels on more important criteria - like look's - and not tyre fitting capabilities.

    Not weight, strength, reliability or aerodynamics then?

    those are all very good criteria - but if the wheels still looked like crap (like handbuilts for example) then I still wouldn't buy them.

    in order I'd say
    1) looks
    2)equal = weight (or lack of)
    2)equal = strength - can't have any brake-rubbing.

    I don't care about reliability (or longevity) - when they wear out i'll buy some newer better looking ones.
  • wheeler585
    wheeler585 Posts: 552
    Campag shamal ultra's are so easy to fit tyres on,you dont even need levers! I use the pro race 2's or 3's and they fit themselves!!
    Up hup hup hup.....fricking hate that!
  • windsock07
    windsock07 Posts: 26
    For me, wheel performance is top of the list when selecting my summer wheels but when it comes to spare wheels/winter wheels practicality becomes much more important.

    Mavics in general tend to be supereasy for tyre-fitting. My Campag protons were a bit of nightmare. I think I'll now try some Shimanos for a change.

    Does anyone know the difference between RS20s and the new 105 wheels? They look pretty similar to me

    Cheers Windsock
  • bill57
    bill57 Posts: 454
    gkerr4 wrote:
    those are all very good criteria - but if the wheels still looked like crap (like handbuilts for example) then I still wouldn't buy them.

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I don't think handbuilts look crap, I also think factory wheels look fantastic. But from an engineering standpoint I see handbuilts as designed to fit a purpose, which they do superbly, and factory wheels designed to seduce the buyer, which they also do superbly.

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