29er wheels and cross... Tire mounting issues...

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Starter
Posts: 997
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:28 am

by Starter

Lately I've been building up a C-Dale SuperX "one solution bike"... Gravel, road, CX. I wanted wheels that could handle high-pressures for road tires (run with tubes), wide enough for CX tires (again with tubes), and hubs that could run an XD driver, since my setup is 1X, and I don't want to run a Shimano 11x42, since by experience I know that a 42 ring with a 10-42 can work on a road ride with guys running road gearing, but 42 with an 11-42 isn't quite enough on fast flats. And 42 is as big as the Wolftooth components Hollowgram rings go.

Anyway... Before I considered the high-pressure capable rim angle, I picked up a pair of Industry 9 UL 29s. The guys at I9 flat out told me the rim wasn't spec'd for road tire pressures, and I didn't mind, because I'd been calling them to figure out why it was insanely difficult to mount a 32mm CX tire (with tubes) on the rim, and completely impossible to mount a 25mm road tire with tube.

Moving on... After some research, I settled on the Crossmax SL Pro 29. The guys at Mavic said it could handle 100-105 with a tube no problem. So I ordered a set. With the crossmax, it's even worse. Neither a 32mm CX tire or a 25 road tire is going on there with a tube. I tried three different manufacturers of 25mm tires I had lying around, including one that's super old with a bead that's gotta be stretched right now. And 32mm CX tires from two different manufacturers... Again, one of the tires was pretty broken in.

So now I'm seeing a pattern. These 29er rims may be called "700c", but they are most definitely not. I'm assuming they are intentionally produced large to facilitate a better seal when running mtb tires tubeless?

Is this a wide-spread thing, or did I get unlucky?

For now I'm over trying to make a 29er wheelset work for my purposes, and I'm not willing to give up my 10-42 cassette to make a road disc wheelset work... I guess I'll be getting a custom built set... Wider road rim with mtb rims...

(Btw I'm aware of a few cross-specific wheel sets out there that can run XD, the Stan's Grail springs to mind... I haven't found any that aren't heavy, however... Whereas when I was looking at 29er sets, the weight was far less.)
Oof.

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yz387
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 1:24 pm

by yz387

Not sure it really helps with your situation, but just adding another data point. I had no trouble mounting cross tires (35c) on my crossmax SL 29 wheelset. Not sure why our experiences differ.

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wheelsONfire
Posts: 6280
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:15 am
Location: NorthEU

by wheelsONfire

Hey, i think you should try something!

You can start off mixing a little soap or dish washing cleaning and water in a spray can.
Spray the tires sides - alot!
Try mounting tires.

Not enough!?

I was told i could rub mink oil or bees wax at the tires edges.
This will make the tires slide much smoother.

Now inflate the tires until you hear a loud popping sound from the rims.
If floor pump is to difficult, either use air compressor, the new Topeak booster pump, or buy Airshot

http://www.airshotltd.com/product/airshot/

http://www.airshotbike.com/

Don't give up,.. it's just try this small tips and take it easy!
It will solve :beerchug:
Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

bmCube
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:37 pm

by bmCube

I run 29er wheels on all my cx bikes. Bor rims, ztr crest rims. I installed 28c road tires on the crest rims. 32c, 33c not a single problem!

rothwem
Posts: 206
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2014 4:45 pm
Location: Asheville, NC

by rothwem

bmCube wrote:I run 29er wheels on all my cx bikes. Bor rims, ztr crest rims. I installed 28c road tires on the crest rims. 32c, 33c not a single problem!


I've used Crests on my cross bike too. They're too flexy for me, but I had no troubles mounting 28s, or any variety of cross tires. My stupid DT swiss X470 rims though...the tire goes on too easily and won't seat tubeless. Just FYI, the Crests have a max pressure of 55psi even with tubes. 55psi wasn't enough to keep a 28 from whacking the rim, so I pulled the tires off.

I'll let everyone in on a little secret though...sometimes I'll use a tire lever to mount my tires when my thumbs just can't do it. When I worked in a bike shop in college and I was the FNG tire changer bitch, I had super strong thumbs and could mount anything, now I'm an engineer with weak thumbs and a soft belly so I've got to use tools to help me out.

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