Was having a really having a heck of a time removing a worn out set of tyres for my bike earlier and it got me thinking, are there any tyre removal and mounting tips anyone would like to share? Also what are your tyre choices?
I generally try avoiding the Continental tyres as their beads are incredibly hard to unseat and putting the tyre back onto the wheel is another nightmare all together.
I’ve never had a particularly hard time getting tires on and off and just use the park tool blue plastic levers. Probably just lucky and I may have cursed myself now 
As I understand it, some of it comes down to tire and wheel combos.
I’m a big fan of the Panaracer GravelKing Slicks as I barely need to use levers at all to get them off and never need them to get them on.
I know a handful of people (including a bike mechanic) who swear by this thing. One guy I ride with keeps it in his jersey pocket (though it does stick out a bit):
I’m guessing you’re running the tires with tubes, Sir @DarrenWCKam?
My “trick” for putting the tire’s on, fwiw, is to start at the valve stem on one side till it’s on all the way around, then the reverse for the other side leaving the harder bit at the valve stem. When there, I’ll squeeze the tire pushing the tire bead into the centre channel as much as I can and if I do that, usually, any trouble I was having getting the last bit up and over gets easier enough to get the tire fully on the rim.
Good luck!
Oh I have experience with these too and they are pretty good tyres, and dare I say, pretty easy to put them on.
I saw this thing too recently on an e-commerce site and find it quite intriguing. Probably a good item for a home mechanic like myself. 
Yes sir I am, TPU inner tubes now from those standard butyl tube. Not yet ready to go tubeless if I am to be honest.
Will give your tip a try!
Perhaps this is a thread I might want to keep alive to help others as well.
I like the tool called Tyre Glider it can be used to remove and install a tire. It is easier to use than balancing multiple tirelevers.
I just saw this on AliExpress and it seems pretty legit
AliExpress - RideNow tyre lever
Can’t speak to the RideNow lever’s effectiveness, but I’d have to see and use it myself to think it’s much gain. It does not look like something I’d carry on the bike, tho’ because it’s not that compact compared to standard levers.
I’ve used nothing BUT Continentals for road tires for more than 2 decades, always the GrandPrix versions (3-4-and now 5000), and while I’ve had to fight some of them more than others, generally it does come down to wheel choice, in my opinion, as @Glen.Coutts stated.
The only time I used other than Conti’s was when I got a set of Mavic wheels that came with Mavic YKSION tires, and they were literally so SLOW that I took them off within several rides and gave them away. What a DRAG they were!!
And I also used the stock Bontrager R3 Hard Case Lite TLR tires that came on the DOMANE, liked many thing about them, but not the tread life, nor their tendency to spin out and slide too easily on wet roads. But they did get me onto tubeless on road tires.
I am now a total tubeless road tires man, no regrets, no intention of going back to tubes. I’m on a Trek Domane with 32mm wide Conti GP5000S TR tires (and room for much wider. In fact, I use a second wheelset with 40mm Tufo Speedero tires for gravel rides. The Tufos were very easy to install, btw.)
I use similar approach to tire install as Sir Glen does, but I always start at the opposite point from the valve with the valve oriented to the top, working the bead into the center of the wheel at the “deepest” point of the rim. That is critical because that is effectively the smallest circumference point of the rim.
So as you work the bead into that recessed point all the way in both directions as you work back toward the valve from both sides, you are trying to keep the bead set down into that smallest circumference of the wheel so that when you are closing in on the valve point at the top, you have maintained the bead in the shallowest, center point of the rim, which will leave you the most possible height remaining at the top of the tire bead to work it up over the rim at the top, again from both sides as they close in on the valve point.
I rarely get away with not having to use a lever at that point, and sometimes it is a pretty tough stretch to pop the bead over the top, but I always do succeed, and for me, it’s not likely I’ll have to do this again until the tire comes off. I’ll add sealant through the valve with core removed and ride till it’s worn out.
IF I have to remove it again before that time, it usually is easier to do after it’s been on the rim for some time.
Trust me, if you haven’t used this method of placing the bead into deepest part of rim, it WILL surprise you how much difference it makes.
Some rims, including my Bontrager AEOLUS PRO 3V rims, do NOT have much of a recess to begin with, especially with the stock Bontrager formed rim strip inserts, which reduce the recess a lot. That does make it tougher to gain that advantage, but the principle is still true and does matter, but isn’t as big a help as other rims with a nice deep place in the center.
I’ve read about the tire bead jack Sir Glen mentioned, and am curious enough that I may try one some day, but so far, all I’ve used is good old plastic levers. My hands are getting weaker and arthritis is a limiting factor, so maybe I’ll spring for new technology one of these days… 
unrelated but I also have my OTB (One True Bike). A 2023 Domane SL6 Gen 4 with 12 speed 105 Di2 I call The Black Knight. I Freakin’ love him.
Stock wheels have Conti Terra Speed 40mm that just took me on a lovely 55 km gravel grind with 435 metres of gain (living where I live that’s HUGE, lol!!).
For road I’ve got the Bonti Aeolus Pro 37s so the inner rim is smaller than yours making the Panaracer Gravel King 35mm tires measure out over 37mm. A lovely and surprisingly lively ride. Like you, they came with the bonti R3 TLR and as much as I love the look and ride feel, I’ve had zero luck with them. Super easy to set up tubeless but pinch flatted when the rear wheel came down hard on a road gap I tried to hop. Would not seal, despite all my efforts both on the road and at home. Using my “old” Panaracers now and used up the last bit of Bonti sealant (which I’ve also given up on in favour of Stan’s). Got a good deal on a pair of new Conti 5000 AS TR in 35mm just waiting for my Panaracers to die.
I’ve never used the plier thingy but my LBS mechanic swears by them as does one of our club members. They both said that the leverage you get could potentially damage your rims so consider yourselves warned. I’ll just keep doing what I do until I can’t 
@Glen.Coutts I’m curious about your assessment of the Gen4 Domane… Am I correct in thinking you had a Gen 3 Domane previously, with the Front Isospeed?
If so, I’m wondering about your experience with the new frame that does not have front isospeed?
My 2020 SLR6 has been a fabulous bike, albeit with an endless chase of creak noises, and with the front isospeed replaced having come totally unthreaded leaving the headset/fork crazy loose (good thing I caught it before going out to ride the day that it was fully loose) at less than 6 months of riding, and replaced again another year and half later because it was creaking again, bearings were badly rough on one side.
So now I’m working with Trek via my Trek bike shop again due to seeing that the mounting holes are misaligned in the front of the frame (they just don’t line up straight across the head tube), forcing the isospeed decoupler to have heavy binding stress put on it when it is secured in the frame. That’s been the trouble since day one, explaining the failing bearings always only on one side, and possibly explaining the original loosening of the decoupler. Not sure why the previous tech work didn’t note that binding stress because it was super obvious when I did this myself, following the service manual. Maybe they saw it and just didn’t bother to tell me; maybe they didn’t check that the decoupler moved freely after install, as directed in service manual.
In any case, I expect Trek to do the right thing here and replace the frame, which will mean changing to the Gen4 frame you have but in SLR spec. I’m wondering how much I’ll notice the loss of front isospeed, although mine has almost surely never functioned as it designed, because the bearings were always in a bind and restricting motion of the decoupler (except for the first few months of ownership, when the setup was loose and getting looser!)
You obviously love yours as is, so maybe it’s not going to be a big loss anyway, and losing the weight of the mechanism as well as one less thing to maintain is a plus (though they specifically said “no maintenance required” when I bought it. 
)
I also am considering the Conti 5000 AS TR as my next tires INSTEAD of the 5000 S TR because the tread life has dropped CONSIDERABLY with the TR from the TL that preceeded it, and it’s obvious why. They thinned that tread down too much on the TR model. I’m pretty disgusted at that because the cost is higher than ever, but the wear is probably 2/3 or 3/4 of what it was.
It’s easy for me to believe that they had the AS in mind all along, as basically the exact same thing that the TL used to be, albeit with possible technological improvements that may or may not have been made in creating the TR model. The AS model is pretty much spot on with tread thickness that used to be standard on the TL, which for me was THE TIRE. I never wanted it to change. It held the road better in wet or dry, gave good wear life, and NEVER let me down with flats or failures of any kind (as long as I didn’t let sealant go dry.)
My latest TR tires were worn down close to losing the wear dots by the time I reached 2000 miles, and I’ve pushed them now to almost 2500 miles, but the dots are mere shadows, if that. I’m starting to spin out some even on dry climbs and it’s time to let that tire go, but after getting well over 4000 and even over 5000 miles on previous rear tires of the TL variety, it’s a hard pill to swallow.
(And on front tires, the TL gave me about DOUBLE the life of the rear tires, so yes, close to 10,000 miles. I’m currently at about 4800 miles on the front TR model, the first one on the front, and it has quite a bit of life left.)
Yeah, that’s exactly what my hesitation has been about that device… It might be fine, but I’ve only gotten really frustrated trying to get a tire mounted a very few times, and those a long time ago.
The Bontrager AEOLUS PRO 3V have been very reasonable with the Conti GP series tires, at least for me.
I can actually count the number of times I have actually changed the tyres and I think it would be 5 times, at most, and, I vividly remember the first time 2 times were Continental Ultra Sport tyres which were just OK to be honest. Removing the tyre from the rim was just fine, but putting them back on was a little difficult as I remember.
Yesterday, the GP5000s were quite a handful in both respects, removing and fitting them again. Actually I haven’t yet change the tyres, I was just being my usual OCD self by aligning the Continental logo with the valve on both wheels.
Really? I wouldn’t have guessed it in all honesty but I am starting to thing that could well be true as well. The ones I was working on yesterday were the DT Swiss Arc 1100. Maybe it’s the wheels.
I should give this a try when I do get a new set of tyres for the wheels in time to come. I tend to start with from valve all the way to opposite end of the valve but still working on the beads on both sides, i.e. left and right to the valve. Perhaps I have been doing it the wrong way? 
The only time I found it such a breeze to work on the tyres were the Pirelli P Zeros which I used to have quite a few years ago. But those Pirellis are waaay too expensive now costing almost 60 USD per piece.
Oh I happen to see this. Doubt it will work on tyres with tubes especially like the ones I am running on, the TPU tubes.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S96WfqdHxUI
Not sure if I would be going tubeless in time to come or not though but I know the my Entity WR50 wheels on my Polygon bike is tubeless ready.
Yes, hate to say so bluntly, but that’s the HARDEST way there is. The valve is in that center channel, so it PREVENTS the tire bead from settling in to that smallest circumference spot, meaning you lost another millimeter or MORE that now has to come from tire bead stretch at the opposite side of the wheel.
Try reversing your practice and be shocked at the difference it makes! I still remember learning this the hard way years ago, and once I made a firm practice to start opposite the valve and finish AT the valve, and KEEP the bead down in the center of the tire as much as possible as you work it around both directions, I thought to myself, Wow, I sure was making that hard on myself. 
Indeed. I had the Gen 3 SL5 with the front and rear isospeed. That was the Red Baron, whom I also loved. As you know, the Gen 4 SL6 dropped the front isospeed, and I suspect this was as much because of the problems some folks (like you 
) had with it as it was to drop the few grams. I gotta say I don’t miss it at all.
I noticed the first couple rides were a little firmer on my hands on the Gen 4 but I put that down to a couple things:
So my assessment is that while the road is definitely a little rougher, there’s things you can do to mitigate (bar tape, tire width and type, tire pressure).
On the gravel ride yesterday some of the road was a bit rough but nothing bone shaking. If I really wanted to plush out the rough bits, I’d totally go for the Red Shift suspension stem (and maybe the seat post too) but I just don’t see the value in that for 99% of my riding.
Edit: and as for creaks, I was one of the unfortunate ones with the seat post creaking/slipping issue that finally resolved when Trek replaced their wedge with revision #4! That was a bit of a nightmare, but it is whisper quiet now 
. I imagine the SLR will be a dream ride!!
One good hack I learned a year ago was a layer of plastic packaging which new bedsheets come with.
I have yet to try with those packaging films those courier people use though but I think that should help as well 
Hmmm. Don’t think I’d ever do that, tbh. The typical advice for carbon post in a carbon seat tube is carbon paste. I did that and it helped, a bit. Turns out the slipping/creaking was a known issue for this model year as the seat post bolt is hidden and connected to the rear isospeed with a proprietary “wedge”, also hidden.
Looks GREAT but Trek, in their infinite wisdom, created a problem with a new design that really wasn’t necessary in the first place. Though, to be fair, their previous seat mast design on their Gen 3 was also pretty weird with its seat post tightening bolt in a crevice in the mast creating a nice place for water, road grit and such to make its way in. I covered that up with a strip of black electrical tape
This was the prior Gen 3 design:
For the Gen 4 with the problematic seat posts, Trek’s specific advice was to NOT use carbon paste but to throughly clean with isopropyl alcohol, dry, then torque to spec. My issue was not with slipping as much as it was with creaking that would quiet after the alcohol cleaning but would re-emerge after about 60 kms or so. It was infuriatingly noisy on a wet group event/ride of about 100km. People riding beside me had all said something to the effect of “your bike sounds very unhappy” or (my favourite) “is that your bike creaking or your knees?” 
I tried it for a good year but in the end, I did end up going back with grip paste. Have you had any experience with Decathlon’s grip paste?
Oh dang, this would warrant a visit to the doctor if it’s really that.
My previous bike, an aluminium one had creaking at the bottom bracket whenever I cycle up an incline and especially if it’s out of the saddle and I can’t remember if I started to have the creaking sound came about after the BB was serviced or was it already there before the service.
Nope. I just had a small pack of Giant paste my LBS gave me years ago. It’s not been used much.
Ah, yes, the Red Baron! I remember seeing reference to that now…
I appreciate your feedback about the current model! It’s very encouraging to hear from one experienced with both the current and previous models.
I’m probably similar to you in that I can live with and adjust to some change in how it handles rougher roads or gravel. Only time will tell what I may notice and conclude, but I’ll probably just make adjustments to make it work out. Tubeless and lower pressures makes a HUGE difference anyway, all other things being equal.
Ok, so if I understand correctly, @Glen.Coutts this “revision #4” of the wedge pertains just to this latest GEN4 frame? In other words, did they try FOUR different versions just in that new rear isospeed setup before getting it right? (Or do you mean there were 3 other REVISIONS of wedges counting back through and including our GEN3 frames and any before that which used wedges?)
I have to admit, what I read a couple nights ago about that new design, with the bolt hidden under the pop-off trim piece, didn’t make me excited at the prospect. You’re correct in that the old design was subject to debris gathering, especially if you rode much gravel or nasty roads, but mine always held, no slipping, no creaking issues, I was mostly content with it. Like your solution of black tape over it, however! Never thought of that.
(I did NOT like the very limited range of seatpost height, however, and the size post I had pushed me right to the very highest point of reach for the bolt within that small slot in the mast. I’d have been forced to secure a longer post [at my cost, I’m sure] to raise the seat any higher.)
So with that new isospeed design, I can see a gain in that the bolt is covered, but that in itself means more hassle making adjustments, tweaking position, etc, but I admit that should settle down soon. I just also see a better chance of losing that small part that covers it up, and that would also be a pain. My previous frame, the Gen3, came with those TWO parts that basically covered each side access point of the isospeed, and they were not properly applied and rested crooked on the frame. I finally got aggravated enough to take them off and rework them till they sat straight and aligned, and the issue was solved.
I’m just hoping that the new design works well and isn’t a hassle to fiddle with whenever I need to toy with seat height for whatever reason.
I had a similar but opposite issue with the Gen 3 seat mast/seat post design. I was fit for a 56 and the seat post was nearly at its very lowest level and I would not have been able to make it more than a couple of mm shorter without having to cut the seat mast. What a ridiculous design (again though, I loved the look so 
). I purchased it online in the midst of the pandemic bike shortage so was pretty freaked when I saw how tight the fit was.
Correct. As for the wedge, this was completely different from the Gen 3 design. I never had creaking issues with that one. Also, I think there may have been differences in isospeed adjustability in the SLR frame set vs the SL that I had with The Red Baron. At least I never adjusted it.
The “wedge” issue on the Gen 4 refer to actual part number changes that Trek made in their attempts to fix the creak/slip issue and this, in the Gen 4 only afaik. My first wedge had Rev.2 embossed on it. My LBS, after going through all the obligatory other troubleshooting steps, ordered a replacement wedge and now it is embossed with Rev.4 and this one seems to have done the trick cuz it’s dreamily quiet now and all I hear is the whir of my chain as I pedal, the bzzz bzzz sound of the front derailleur adjusting when I shift and the never ending headwinds that define my prairie life.
I don’t see myself ever tweaking the isospeed. The cover though, to put your mind at ease, takes a bit of effort to remove. It’s a nice snug fit and has a magnetic interface on both sides that makes it snap right into place.
I hope you get your replacement soon.
Sorry (but not too sorry ) to hijack the thread Sir Darren, 
As you can tell, I really like talking about my bikes.
No worries Sir. We all love our bikes and talk about them and I haven’t started with mine yet actually now that I have both the Polygon and the Cervelo 
.
Going back to the tyres, I am considering going tubeless to save some trouble with tubes especially with those TPU tube as they are kind of fragile.
