Removing Stuck Tubeless Tires

bobknh wrote: Maybe we should make a list of tubeless tires that are hard to install or remove. Any other candidates?

Below is a quote from Guitar Ted on an older tire thread.  It's a pretty concise explanation of tubeless tire/rim compatibility.

Personally, I've had great success with Schwalbe tires and run them on all my bikes - 23c, 25c, 28c, 30c & 35c on road and gravel bikes and larger sizes on mtn bikes.  The road tires @ 23c have been on Campagnolo Eurus wheels and the rest on DT Swiss XR 1501 wheels.  All have gone on by hand and have inflated w/a floor pump.

In fact, the Schwalbe tires were a revelation for me on the Eurus wheels.  The tires I previously used were Hutchinson and they were nearly impossible to get on or off the wheel even in a shop situation.  And when I cut a sidewall on a ride, it took 6 hands to install the tire over a tube w/o using tire levers.  I had thought the problem was primarily with the wheel but, after converting to Schwalbe, it seems it was either the tire or the combination.  Now I'm confident that I can install a tube by myself if I get a flat.

What I've discovered regarding gravel riding is that a lot of this stuff is all new.  There is still a lot of innovation and experimentation going on - especially in drivetrains.  So sometimes we have to figure it out as we go.

"Dr Spoke is on the right track. Stan's- a product meant to convert non-tubeless tires to tubeless- uses a BSD (Bead Socket Design) which is slightly larger in diameter to accommodate for the comparatively imprecise bead measurements of folding bead, standard tires. This will allow you to convert them to tubeless with less fear of blowing the tire off the rim.

Tubeless design tires have much tighter (comparatively) specifications for bead diameter. And if the tire uses UST dimensions, the bead diameter is even a tiny bit smaller than a standard folding bead tire bead diameter to allow for an air tight seal with UST design/based rim designs. Remember- The differences are within a millimeter or less, but that makes a huge difference in how things actually fit.

WTB, GEAX/Vittoria and Michelin all adhere to UST based dimensions on their tires and it is a well known issue that these brand's tires do not work well- or at all- with Stan's based rims, which American Classic rims are based off of. Sun/Ringle' tubeless rims also use a Stan's based design/dimensions for tubeless rims, by the way.

So, if the Schwalbe G-One is based off a UST dimension for the tire bead, it would be no wonder that it doesn't fit the American Classic rim well, because they base their design off a Stan's dimension.  I cannot confirm that Schwalbe is using this UST based dimension for their tire bead design, but it sounds like they are. 

This is the trouble with tubeless tires at the moment- There are two major competing rim designs and tire manufacturers that either buy into using UST or fudge it so that they fit more rims than UST based ones. Some rim manufacturers shoot for a middle ground as well. The tire and rim folks  are not going to freely share info regarding where their products fall in terms of fit either because that limits sales, which they are loathe to risk doing. Although some publicly do post this information, it isn't industry wide. Meanwhile, the consumer is left to sort it all out on their own dime.

RidingGravel.com has a tire finder guide, and with that we may start adding some info on tubeless tire fit. Perhaps a rim guide is in order as well. It's a monumental task, but we may give it a go.

Thanks for using the forum guys!"