[PerazziMx14]

IF using tire irons stiff wall tires will go better if you have help.

3 short tire irons and a couple clamps to like below to squeeze the opposite side of the tire into the drop center while working very small bites of the tire bead that is properly lubed.

If you are using excessive force and are hearing or seeing ripping and/or tearing STOP and regroup as you are doing it wrong. Even stiff walled tired are not that much harder to install verses soft walled sport tires. It's all about the technique.

 

[PerazziMx14]

FWIW RuGlyde is $16.99 a gallon at Advance Auto and $19.99 at NAPA and I suggest investing an a $0.99 spray bottle as an applicator. Make's it easy to effectively apply the tire lube w/o overdoing it. The idea is to not to se who can apply the most. A simply misting of the wheel and tire beads are typically all that is needed. Use in the proper amounts you'll be able to change 250+ tires per gallon. Its readily available, inexpensive enough @ about $0.07 cents per tire adn designed for this exact use so why even use anything else?

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[PerazziMx14]

No argument ru-glyde or the equivalent is the preferred choice. I've been through a couple gallons over the years, plus a gallon or two of a homemade version (the ingredients are printed on the package after all, or at least they once were), as well as other tire lube specific products. But I'm not going to lose sleep over the fact that I've used Windex over the years either. I haven't found a definitive answer whether it's harmful to aluminum, but I'm not going to doubt the personal experience of someone. I do wonder if perhaps the composition and treatment of alloys on vintage bikes makes it more of a problem there.

The definitive answer is Windex contains ammonia and ammonia reacts with aluminum/aluminum alloys so there's that!

 

[PerazziMx14]

Ammonium Hydroxide

 

[PerazziMx14]

What flavor of ammonia?

Aluminum Chemical Compatibility Chart

www.calpaclab.com

https://uwaterloo.ca/fine-arts/sites/ca.fine-arts/files/uploads/files/windex_glass_cleaner_2017-05-23.pdf