# rims from hell (ambrosio 19 extra elite)



## blackfrancois (Jul 6, 2016)

what is it about these rims (ambrosio 19 extra elite) that make 'em so damn difficult to mount tires? 

i came across these again this week for only the second time when a friend asked me to rebuild a couple of his bikes. the first time, years ago, i naively bought a set off craigslist for a '84 fuji i was building. i tried to mount kevlar tires on them and knew i had finally met my match. it was an insane task. so i decided to buy a var tire lever just for these rims. it worked. when i sold the fuji, i sold the var tool with it. i have never needed a dedicated tire mounting tool until now when these rims re-entered my life.

i told my buddy that i wouldn't be changing the tires on this rebuild. but after i had done a lot of work on the bike, i noticed the continental tire labels weren't centered over the valve hole, and the rear tire was mounted backwards. this started to really bug me, so i decided to try to reposition them. it was really hard to do so with just two plastic tire levers, but i was finally able to mount the tires correctly ... and without breaking a lever. whew!

velobase says the erd is 614. is that the primary issue causing the mounting headache with these rims?










one velobase comment: "I just picked up a 1984 Trek. It had these rims on them with 27x1 1/4 tires. Maybe that solves the problem I keep hearing about trying to get 700c tires on and off."

that comment reminds me when another friend had a set of these, and he wouldn't believe me when i told him his rims weren't 27" in size. he found it impossible to believe they were 700c due to tires being so difficult to mount.

i think steel beaded tires are easier to mount on these, rather than kevlar. is that your experience too?


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## GKSki (Nov 12, 2014)

Not sure why you theorize that their ERD is the culprit? I think it is more a factor of their hook and how narrow they are. Still have a winter wheelset with them as they are bombproof. 

MA2 and MA40s used to behave almost the same. Then Mavic made a MA3 which seemed an improvement.


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## Fredrico (Jun 15, 2002)

blackfrancois said:


> what is it about these rims (ambrosio 19 extra elite) that make 'em so damn difficult to mount tires?
> 
> i came across these again this week for only the second time when a friend asked me to rebuild a couple of his bikes. the first time, years ago, i naively bought a set off craigslist for a '84 fuji i was building. i tried to mount kevlar tires on them and knew i had finally met my match. it was an insane task. so i decided to buy a var tire lever just for these rims. it worked. when i sold the fuji, i sold the var tool with it. i have never needed a dedicated tire mounting tool until now when these rims re-entered my life.
> 
> ...


Yes, the wire bead tires fit easier on those rims. Kevlar beads seem to always be a little tighter than wire beads.

I always considered it a point of honor to never resort to a tire lever getting that last 2 inches of tire bead popped in place. Talc works great. Only if you're impatient will you blister up the heels of your hands kneading the tire on the rim. Don't ask me how I know.


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

GKSki said:


> Not sure why you theorize that their ERD is the culprit? I think it is more a factor of their hook and how narrow they are. Still have a winter wheelset with them as they are bombproof.
> 
> MA2 and MA40s used to behave almost the same. Then Mavic made a MA3 which seemed an improvement.


THIS. I don't think it's the tire hook, however. I think it's the O.D. of the rim, which must be built to a different spec. I have a Mavic MA40 front rim which I bought from a shop when it was already a long obsolete product. It must have been built under different standards because it's pretty stubborn when it comes to mounting tires.
I experienced the same thing with Weinmann A124s (?) when the first Kevlar beaded tire, the Specialized Turbo, was introduced to the market back in the late '70's.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

It's the BSD... because it's shallow and there's no center channel to drop the bead into. Those look like a nightmare to mount.


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## bvber (Apr 23, 2011)

blackfrancois said:


>


Well, there are bottom brackets with Italian thread and English thread. Did you use the tire bead of compatible nationality?


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

tlg said:


> It's the BSD... because it's shallow and there's no center channel to drop the bead into. Those look like a nightmare to mount.


Well, that graphic you have shows the BSD to be exactly the 622mm that is common to ALL 700c clinchers. now, if for some reason, they decided to make their BCD an extra mm or 2, that would be a b!tch, but then, a common 700c tire wouldn't really seat without stretching.


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