What is the best/easiest way to get the tyre back on to a rim after removing it to fix a puncture for example?
Some tyres can be really hard to get back on to the rim. I don't like using the tyre levers as I usually end up pinching the inner tube and making another hole. I can usually do it with just my fingers and thumbs but it takes a lot of time and effort (and sore thumbs).
Note, this is for a 26" mountain bike wheel with inner tube.
It depends on where you are and the conditions. Youtube has some video's, such as this one:
My little tip is:
I always use levers to get the tire off. Never to get it back on! You'll most likely pinch the tube if you do and have to start again.
The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are one of the most notoriously difficult tires to get on.
This youtube video shows you how to do it without levers and without hurting your hands or getting blisters.
You only need two toe straps or a similar strap, to push the tire bead into the well of the rim on the opposite side to the last bit of tire you're trying to get back onto the rim. As you'll see from the video, just keep working the tire bead into the well of the rim on the opposite side and you'll get it on, no problem.
This was a saviour for me, since before that I'd get blisters and sore hands and it could take me an hour to change the Marathon Plus. Now it takes me a little over 5mins, with no blisters or sore hands.
I use a little silicon grease on the rims and found it made a huge difference - when I was a car mechanic we always used a little tyre soap to make the tyre slip on to the rim more easily.
After a few comments, it would be wise to clean the rim after this with a degreasing agent.
I usually make sure I have my cycling mittens on. I also put enough air into the tube so that I can push the tube inside of the tyre and in place on the rim all the way around. I then use my hands to put the tyre bead on the rim, rolling on left side and then the right side, starting at the valve and working to the opposite point. I also try to use the flesh on the base of my thumbs to do the hard rolling work. As I get close to having the complete tyre on, I let a little bit of air out of the tube, so that you release the pressure on the bead enough to get the last part on with your hands. In the really tight cases, I use just a single tyre lever just to the left of the furthest point to get the tyre moving in and then use my thumb for the very last "push". Since you has the tube inflated enough at the start to position it inside the tyre, you should find that you avoid pinching the tube.
Then inflate the tube just a little bit more, and go around looking at the inside of the rim and tyre join, looking to see if the tube is pinched by the tyre. The pressure needs to be low enough to be easy to push the tyre in as you go around by high enough to give the tyre some solid shape.
When you get confident enough about putting the tyre on, you can skip the slow check and just pump the wheel up to full pressure. Then look on both sides of the wheel at the line on the tyre just above the rim. This should be a nice and even distance from the rim, all the way around. If it goes towards the rim or away from the rim in any spot then you have a pinch and you need to let the pressure out the wheel pronto, before she blows!
Perhaps you're doing it wrong. Maybe it's the type of tire levers you are using. The ones I use are made of plastic, and are quite thick. I don't think I've ever punctured a tube with the tire lever. For me, I find my tires are quite tight, and doing it by hand is impossible.
The difficulty of getting the last bit of tire bead on is a factor of the rim and tire combined. Tight bead on tire and or tight spec on rim. One of the best tool free ways is to work the tire around as stated above (like putting the lid on tupperware) starting at the valve. Then the last bit should be rolled on using the top of the palm. A twist around the rim away from you. As if you were rolling a grip forward. This gives a more leverage than thumbs and does not risk pinching the tube with a tool, plastic or not.
Slick Stick tire tool. There is no other answer.
A "Slick Stick" is a piece of nylon rod, about 1/2" diameter and 5 inches long, with notch at one end. You stick it into the gap between tire and rim, pry outward, and then slide the stick first one direction then the other to dismount the tire -- 30 seconds max. Reverse the operation to remount. Never a chance of a pinched tube.
