Boulder Colorado tire change

[craiger123]

I went around to 5 tire shops. None of them would change my tire (yes I removed rim from the board). No one would touch it. Now I need my 3rd tire. I'm happy to drive to a nearby town.

Any recommendations?

I know there are instructions and videos how to do it yourself. I just can't do this myself.

[wheelrich]

@craiger123 I saw a video where a guy used a shop clamp to squeeze the tire and break the bead for removal. You can pick them up at Home Depot. And applying air pressure to the new tire should set the bead on the install. Breaking the bead seems to be the hardest part, and that seems like an easy solution.

[readysetawesome]

You absolutely can DIY, I must insist. Take control of your maintenance! Do you really want to keep going through this, relying on others, when it is utterly possible with no special tools by yourself?

Empty the tire so that it is slightly caved in. Use your knees and hands together to press down on the empty tire edges, until the bead breaks. It doesn't seem like it's doing anything at first, but keep going, rotate the tire and keep pressing in.

[wheelrich]

or do it the easy way and use a shop clamp. they aren't that expensive and have lots of uses.

[Khayman]

Is there a tire in the same size and flat but different brand than Vega that you can recommend? My Vega original is not perfectly round so it gives me wobbles.

[Rado]

@khayman The Hoosier 6 Slick is a pretty popular replacent for the stock Vega tire. Many even prefer it over the Vega.

[craiger123]

@wheelrich Thank you for this! I have several different kinds of wood clamps. I found the old fashion clamps that have a threaded screw worked the best. I had two and worked my way around the tire just 3 clamp placements is all it took. I still had to take it to a shop (Pedego in Boulder, they sell OWs). They charged me $50 but I was just having trouble doing it myself.

[Khayman]

@rado awesome, I'll try it for next summer
Thanks