Stubborn bike tire won’t get over your rim?

I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me 20 years to figure this out: If you get the tire almost all the way on and the last section is way too tight to get over the rim, you need to get more slack in the tire.

Start at the opposite side, and go around the part of the tire that’s already in place, compressing it and pushing the edges down into the rim so it gets as far in there as possible. You’ll end up with more slack in the section that’s not mounted, and then you can usually get it over the rim by pushing it with the edge of your tire lever.

It’s true: You don’t have to be He-Man to change a tire!