Today’s tip comes to us from Brian Becker, an Aussie roadie, who writes:
“After finding the easy way to mount tubeless road tires by warming them first, I have now adopted the practice for new tube road tires as well.
“I wrap them in a towel and put them in the oven after my wife has prepared a baked dinner or cake. I wait till it is about 100C (212F), about the boiling point of water, and leave them in till they are warm to the touch, probably about 10 minutes.
“They slip on like butter after that. Naturally, you could heat the oven and switch it off when it is hot and do the same thing. Do not leave the oven on, just let the tires warm in the cooling oven. Hope that helps.”
Here in Arizona, I just put them out in the sun for a couple of minutes. Careful…if leave them out too long, they might melt.
Putting the tire in the clothes dryer for about 5-10 minutes has worked well for me for many years.
Thanks for the the advice Mark regarding heating up your tires using a clothes dryer before installing them on my road bike wheels.
Gee, this is a new finding? I knew cyclists, including me did this way back in the early 80’s and I’m sure it went further back then that.
If I have tough to install tire I put it in my car parked in the sun with windows closed and let the tire heat up for a couple of hours in the car.
My wife frowns on using the oven.
The way I look at things, if I cannot remount the tire during a ride I won’t use it, be it tubed or especially tubeless. Ever repair a flat in 17F temps?
Thanks for making this point, Bill.
Jim Langley