Wheels versus tyres - or not working in harmony

[Douglas]

So with Autumn approaching (sorry, but it is) I decided to get some winter tyres and wheels - 2005 Campagnolo Vento for £99.99 seemed like a sensible bet and a pair of continental GP 4-seasons (23*700) to boot. So I applied a jantex cloth rim tap, some talc to the tube and inside of the tyre and attempted to put the boot on.

It took 15 min to get one edge of the tyre over the rim and another 30 min to get the full tyre on, by which time I had punctured the new tube what with all the fanying about.

Just to prove I hadn't lost all common sense and ability I took the gatorskin off my Open-Pro rims and fitted the GP 4-season in about two minute flat.

So does anybody know what was going wrong - why doesn't the GP 4-season fit on the Vento?

I would appreciate if you could put me out of my misery...

[richv]

Campag rims seem to come up on the large side so can be tight getting tyres on (Italian tyres seem to be slightly bigger - honest ).

I would avoid them for winter wheels for that reason but that's a bit too late

[Andrew G]

As far as the Ventos are concerned they are excellent value. Mine are over 2 years old now and have been pretty bomb proof. Very strong wheels, never gone out of true despite having been bounced through potholes etc in all weathers.

I use Conti GP3000s on them all year and can't remember the last time I punctured. Now replaced by 4000s which have extra puncture protection so not sure you need any more. I've never had a problem fitting these, actually quite easy, so not sure it's a Vento / Conti thing.

The tyres can be expensive (£29 in GB's ) but you can pick them up for £21 online at Ribble etc.