The Easy way to mount a tire to a hub motor

While I've used this "zip tie" tire mounting technique on my ICE bike previously, I had never done it with a hub motor.

The key thing I discovered was creating a 2x6 platform to raise the motor shaft off the ground, thereby allowing the process to proceed as normal.



Start by zip-tying the tire together -- I suggest using six 24" ties spaced evenly around. The key is to make sure the tire edges touch together



Be sure to use rubber mats to protect the rim



Start by angling the zip-tied tire onto the rim as far as she will go



Slather that lube around the insides of the tire edge.



Slowly fit the tire around the well-lubed edge, constantly pushing right at the edge a little at a time back & forth and the tire will magically fall into place -- all without any tools!

Nice, i've never seen this actually demonstrated.

I've used this technique a few times and it works very well. Much easier than the traditional method.
Haven't thought of the plank with a hole trick, might make things a bit easier I should try it next time.

An other useful trick to know:
Sometimes it can be hard to inflate the tire the first time. The rubber needs to make good contact with the rim, so that it can pop in place. If you struggle to inflate it, just take a lenght of steel wire and put it around your tire, on its perimeter. Then twist the two ends of the wire together, this will press the tire against the rim. Inflate it a little until it starts holding by itself.
Finally remove the wire and inflate the tire to its operating pressure.

Or a ratcheting cargo strap.

Dang, got something like that for a car tire? Occasionally I pry one on for somebody and cant get the bead. The starter fluid thing has never worked for me. Ratchet straps might. . . .

Yeah a ratchet strap is even better if you have one around. Basically anything that can compress the tire circumference and hold the tire tight to the rim would work.
I never managed to make the starter fluid technique work either. Every time I tried it ended up in a slow burning fire and me panicking, throwing water everywhere :lol:

Dui said:

...Sometimes it can be hard to inflate the tire the first time. The rubber needs to make good contact with the rim, so that it can pop in place ...

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I found that often the inner bead of the tire will be at a slight angle to the inside of the rim, allowing the air to flow past and not fill the rest of the tire. If so, then try making the bead "evenly spaced" all around -- there will then be just enough resistance so that the tire will quickly pop into place.

i just take it to a tire shop and give them 10 bucks. takes them less then 3 minutes for a full swap. i gave up doing it myself, especially with reenforced rear tires its bascially trying to wrangle a concrete post.

l was told by a uniwheels expert to heat the new tubeless tyre up with hot-water first & then it would slip right on

stephenbadger said:

l was told by a uniwheels expert to heat the new tubeless tyre up with hot-water first & then it would slip right on

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or just leave them in the full sun for 30 minutes

flippy said:

i just take it to a tire shop and give them 10 bucks. takes them less then 3 minutes for a full swap. i gave up doing it myself, especially with reenforced rear tires its bascially trying to wrangle a concrete post.

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+1 but here it only costs $3...so definitely a no-brainer, though I may have to try the zip tie method next time I change a tire with a hard-wired hubbie.

nice method. I think i will eventually try it. thanks for sharing