Changing tires on Cliffhanger rims

Fullylugged

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Dec 3, 2020, 8:38:42 PM12/3/20

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My local friend with a Clem L asked for some help today. She was having trouble getting the Continental Contact Speed tires off the cliffhanger rim wheels of her Clem L. When I took a turn at it, I was surprised at how difficult it is to get a lever under the tire bead. Looking at he Velocity page, I noticed that they are advertised as close fitting and that a thin rim tape must be used. The wheels shipped from Walnut Creek with that rim tape so I kept looking.

I noticed the center of the rim track was depressed from the edges, so when I squeezed the tire so that the beads were over the center, all of a sudden, there was space for a tire lever to get in and work. They were tight to start with but once started, they come off like any other tire. I've not ridden Cliffhangers but have noticed that they are mentioned here pretty often.

Am I the last to discover this? :)

Tailwinds

Bill Lindsay

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Dec 3, 2020, 8:47:01 PM12/3/20

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You probably are not the last one to figure this out, but you are pretty far from the first ;-P

Retro-folks seem cursed to figure out tubeless compatible rims on their own, one at a time. Few appear to learn from others' travails.

Not even podium!

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

Braxton Colagross

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Dec 4, 2020, 1:46:07 PM12/4/20

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That is indeed the trick for tubeless rims. Push the entire tire to the well and then it isn't so bad to lever them off.

Justin Kennedy (Brooklyn, NY)

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Dec 5, 2020, 9:27:13 AM12/5/20

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Weird, I've always found the Cliffhangers to be some of the easiest rims from which to remove/mount tires. Glad you were able to figure it out. My Sun CR18's have always been a pain in the ass but often depends what tires are going on/off. And they aren't tubeless rims.

Peter White

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Dec 5, 2020, 2:14:11 PM12/5/20

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The original Cliffhanger was not tubeless compatible. It also had a shallow "V" cross section. The newer Cliffhanger is tubeless compatible and has a rounded cross section.

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