20" tire question

[Aaroneous]

Ok, I just pulled a complete BMX bike out of the dumpster behind my apt building the other night :etard: . The frame is ugly, but it's got a lot of decent parts on it, so I figured I'd fix it up as a winter project. Anyway, when I went to take the tires off yesterday, I could not get them off! I have never faced such ridiculously tight tires in my life!! I tried multiple kinds of tire levers, and was on the verge of attacking them with a utility knife when I gave up last night.:fool:

So what's the deal? Is there some special trick w/ BMX tires? Am I stupid? If it matters, they're Weinmann 48sp rims + GT 2.125 tires...

[manual63]

Weinmann 48sp........oh no!!!!! not those!!!!!

Yep, probably the ones we sold and TC BMX awhile back. Well, good luck. These was a reason we were able to get these wheels at good closeout prices.

The only solution is to have metel tire levers, they are thinner and to spray WD-40 or something around the bead. Then push the bead of the tire to the middle of the rim away from the edges. By doing this you will allow for the bead on the opposite side, the side you want to start removing, to be looser. Now, you should be able to work the bead off, but you need to do two levers at the same time about 2 or 3 inches apart. Once you get one little section of bead over the edge, use a third lever to pry and slide to get the rest of the bead off. It isn't gonna be easy, but it can be done. Then replace the GT tires with Haro Fusion 2.1. If I remember correctly, the Haro tires had a looser fit.

Good luck and if possible, you should just get different wheels altogether.

We ordered 100's of them on closeout thinking they were a good deal, but then had to deal with the tight tire issue, which sucked. I punched many holes in good tubes with these stupid rims. When we were offered a second batch of these to order, we refused. They were closed out really cheap, but man, they were no worth the pain!!

Just when I thought I would never have to deal with those rims again!!! Die rims....please die!!!

[Aaroneous]

Great. :eyeroll:

Well, I'm not gonna spend any money I don't have to on this bike, so I guess I'll give it another shot tonite - the utility knife is still looking like a viable option...

Thanks for the advice Shad!

[berrywise]

Might need a wire cutter. A lot of cheap tires have metal wires running inside. Just slice a hole in the top of the tire and then take a wire snips and cut the bead. Should be able to yank the tire off no problem.

Then shop around and find a tire that is a little more loose than others. Run a set of thornproof/jumping tubes so then you should never have to fix a flat :D


Great. :eyeroll:

Well, I'm not gonna spend any money I don't have to on this bike, so I guess I'll give it another shot tonite - the utility knife is still looking like a viable option...

Thanks for the advice Shad!

[manual63]

Then shop around and find a tire that is a little more loose than others. Run a set of thornproof/jumping tubes so then you should never have to fix a flat :D

This is an excelent idea, because once you have tires back on those rims, you don't ever want to take them off again. Either this or a bunch of slime. I hate that stuff, but for this app.......go for it.

[Aaroneous]

Good point on the tubes. I already ordered these IRC Tractor Grip tires from Nashbar cuz they were so cheap ($4), so I hope they fit. If not, I'll pick up some of those Haro's. And HD tubes AND Slime. Nothing kills like overkill.

But I'm gonna strip & repaint the frame first - I'm thinking John Deere green and yellow to go with the Tractor Grips (if they fit)... Green frame, yellow bars... Sweet! I think I have a theme! Nothing like a project bike!

Thanks guys!