Mounting Vittoria Corsa 2.0

[DCilliams]

I have Hplus son TB14 clincher wheels and am trying to mount Vittoria Corsa graphene 2.0 tires and I CANNOT get them on. Do they need to stretch on rim for a bit? Little worried how hard these are to mount. Don’t want to damage sidewalls. Anyone have any similar experiences or tips?

[CDollarsign]

I just put a set of corsa control 2.0s on Belgium c2s and needed a tire lever to get them on...

[DCilliams]

I just put a set of corsa control 2.0s on Belgium c2s and needed a tire lever to get them on...

Wow. What’s the deal with these tires?

[9tubes]

Tips:

The first tire bead is usually easy, and it's the second that's a bitch. Put the first tire bead fully on the rim. Then put the second on the rim as far as it comfortably goes on. Then take a moment or two and make sure both beads are centered in the lowest part of the little channel in the middle of the rim, all the way around. This maximizes the amount of slack for that last little bit.

Next, put the wheel vertically on the bench or table and put your hands at the 11 and 1 positions. Pull like you're trying to stretch the tire to the bottom (6 o'clock). Work your hands down from the 11 and 1 positions to the bottom. The tire really doesn't stretch, but this makes sure that both beads are fully seated and you've taken up all the slack possible. You might even do this more than once. It will seem like it doesn't do anything because you won't be able to see the tire move relative to the rim. Have faith and patience, grasshopper. Then turn the wheel and pop the last bit of the second bead that was at the 6 o'clock position.

A little soap can help. Mix a little dishwashing liquid with water, like a half-tsp for two ounces of water. Put this on the bead and the rim for that last few inches that you need to pop over the rim. Soap is a great temporary lubricant and doesn't degrade rubber so it's fine to use. Just be sure to clean it off your brake track when you're done.

Another more obscure tip: Some rims are designed to be very tight (some tires too). Rim tape can be just thick enough to make mounting difficult. It prevents the bead from dropping fully into the channel. Use thin, high-quality tape and don't double-wrap.

I use Vittoria Corsas and this technique works well enough that I can pop them on with bare hands, both on my Industry Nine aluminum wheels and my Bora WTOs.

[rowebr]

+1 to everything 9tubes said. I’ll just add that if your using a traditional cotton rim tape like Velox, you might try switching to a thin and slick tubeless tape like Stans.

[eddief]

is ok. have not pinched a tube in quite some time. just need to check that the tube is not caught in the bead as you inflate.

i love these for getting the tire off, extra long and strong for more leverage. you can wrap your whole hand around this thing: Lezyne Power Lever XL

https://road.cc/content/review/134666-lezyne-power-lever-xl


and something smaller and rounder-edged for lifting bitch beads over the edge of the rim. sometimes you gotta even use two at a time.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/tire-lever-set-3-set

[9tubes]

In three decades of cycling, racing, and doing my own wrenching, the best tire levers by far are the Campy levers. Thin is key, and these are super thin and so stiff it doesn't seem possible. Plus they are made for carbon rims.

Link: make sure you buy two.
www.modernbike.com/product-2126187351

[sleepyfelix]

Vittorias are often tight but wait until you try Challenge tires!

Anyway, I've found these Crank Bros levers really help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbO_03rKyPk

They protect your fingers, and there's a handy slide tool to help get that last bit on without pinching the tube.

[R3awak3n]

Buy a kool stop tire bead jack. Had helped me get some impossible tires into rims. A tool I can no longer live without

[speedevil]

I just installed 2 sets of Vittoria Corsa G+ 25mm tires on 2 sets of TB14 rims. They are a bugger to install.

I used powder on the outside of the bead and on the inside of the bead and the tire itself. Also on the inner tube as well. Since there isn't much of a channel in these rims (none, actually) I try to push the first bead towards the outside to give me more room to install the tube and the second bead. The powder does help, or at least it seems to help, the bead to slip over the rim. My tires were fairly new and the rubber seemed "grabby" so I powdered it and I think it was a bit easier.

I add a little air in the tube once it's installed so that it will move up (out) into the tire itself and not be in a position to be pinched during while popping the second bead over the rim. I bought a tire jack and it helps a lot at home, but on the road you may well be making the call of shame because these tires don't come off easily.

I'm hoping that they will be easier to remove than they were to install after having 95+ psi in them for a while. But I'd prefer not to find out except at home.

[DCilliams]

I just installed 2 sets of Vittoria Corsa G+ 25mm tires on 2 sets of TB14 rims. They are a bugger to install.

I used powder on the outside of the bead and on the inside of the bead and the tire itself. Also on the inner tube as well. Since there isn't much of a channel in these rims (none, actually) I try to push the first bead towards the outside to give me more room to install the tube and the second bead. The powder does help, or at least it seems to help, the bead to slip over the rim. My tires were fairly new and the rubber seemed "grabby" so I powdered it and I think it was a bit easier.

I add a little air in the tube once it's installed so that it will move up (out) into the tire itself and not be in a position to be pinched during while popping the second bead over the rim. I bought a tire jack and it helps a lot at home, but on the road you may well be making the call of shame because these tires don't come off easily.

I'm hoping that they will be easier to remove than they were to install after having 95+ psi in them for a while. But I'd prefer not to find out except at home.

I'm in the same boat. I managed to get them on only to ruin a tube lol. Appreciate the advice.

[jtbadge]

Thinner "tubeless" tape will definitely help with mounting the first time.

By the time I flatted my Corsa G+, they had stretched a little and were easy to mount and unmount just with my hands. You'll probably be fine in the field.

[ColonelJLloyd]

If it makes you feel any better, TB14s (and similar short, box-section rims) are harder to mount folding tires onto than most other rims. Tubeless tape should be a prerequisite on all rims these days, but those like TB14s especially.

[DCilliams]

Good call on the tape. Thanks guys!

[OtayBW]

In three decades of cycling, racing, and doing my own wrenching, the best tire levers by far are the Campy levers. Thin is key, and these are super thin and so stiff it doesn't seem possible. Plus they are made for carbon rims.

Link: make sure you buy two.
www.modernbike.com/product-2126187351Yep - strong and skinny. They're really good.

Thinner "tubeless" tape will definitely help with mounting the first time.

By the time I flatted my Corsa G+, they had stretched a little and were easy to mount and unmount just with my hands. You'll probably be fine in the field.

I just mounted - this week - two Corsa v2s onto brand new Bora WTO 45, and bar none, these were the hardest tires I EVER put on. Point well taken about the thin tape, as no matter how you really tried to work it (at least with this tire/rim combination), I never really could pry the sidewalls down into the 'well' because, in part, there isn't much of a well. I literally couldn't mount these tires in my first evening's work and I have never had any kind of problem like this.

In the end, I did 2 things:
1) Mounted the Corsas onto a couple of HED Ardenne FRs to stretch for a week, and then
2) After I went back to the Boras, I got all but ~10% of the tire mounted and was stuck. I was squeezing the sidewalls toward the center like crazy, but in the end, I put a heating pad on that last 10% of tire for ~10 minutes to soften them up. Still an unbelievable PITA to mount this combination, but it was done.

So, in the end - yes - squeeze those sidewalls inward. Every little bit helps, and get a thin rim strip if you can. It makes a difference.
Finally, I swear, I hope I don't flat anytime soon out on a solo ride because I will likely be hitchhiking home!

[NHAero]

I recently mounted Corsa G+ tires that I'd previously used on HED Belgium rims on Campy Proton wheels, and it was an epic but I did get them on without needing a lever, but I'm not looking forward to a flat on the road :-(

[Jeff Weir]

Windex is your friend

[rccardr]

I’ve got this combo on a couple of bikes. Two suggestions:
Kaptan/capton tape
Warm tires (fella I know puts them in the clothes dryer, but sun works too)

They’re tight, but can be installed by hand without levers.

[speedevil]

Warm tires (fella I know puts them in the clothes dryer, but sun works too)

When installing motorcycle tires, I put them in a black trash bag and leave them in the sun for a while. The black bag will warm them more than just leaving them in the sun.

I didn't do this before mounting the Vittorias on the TB14s, I just didn't think of it. I've mounted enough motorcycle tires that warming them up is a habit, just didn't make the connection with installing new bicycle tires.

I'll remember that for next time.

I did use kapton tape on the TB14s, and two layers is much thinner than velox. I picked up two rolls of kapton tape from amazon in two different widths.

[soulspinner]

I’ve got this combo on a couple of bikes. Two suggestions:
Kaptan/capton tape
Warm tires (fella I know puts them in the clothes dryer, but sun works too)

They’re tight, but can be installed by hand without levers.

Used the dryer for first time install at home for 20 years.

[jpritchet74]

The good thing is that Vittorias do stretch. I had a set of Corsa pre-2.0's that were absolutely awful to get onto an old set of Campy Zonda wheels. It took forever to get them on. But after being on there for months, when I had to change a flat they were fine going off and back on.

Earlier this week I tried to mount a Vittoria Corsa Speed to a Hed Jet 5 wheel and there was absolutely no way that it was going to get onto the wheel. So now that tire is stretching on another wheel for a while...