Wobbly Tyre - Wheel is true?!

iLukeKendall

Hi all,

I've got an ongoing issue with a wobbly tyre, although the rim is perfectly true.

The tyres are Continental X King 29 x 2.2" ProTection BlackChilli, running with Continental Tubes on Stans NoTubes ZTR Arch EX 29er rims.

It started a few weeks back after getting a puncture. After replacing the tube, I struggled a ridiculous amount to get the tyre back on using tyre levers, having to use a large amount of leverage. After getting it back on, I noticed it was very wobbly, as can be seen in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz1pfNx5fTU

I removed the tyre and realised I'd mashed the original rim tape with the levers, and after trying to mount again and having the same issue, I purchased some new rim tape - the only stuff my local bike shop had in stock was Velox, which was great stuff, but according to Stans it's too thick to use with their rims, and I did find it was causing problems interfering with the 'bench/step' of the rim. I followed a YouTube guide which showed me how to refit a tight tyre without levers and this method without levers has been working fine since to get the tyre on.

I've since bought the proper Stans yellow rim tape, which I applied today, in the hope the thinner tape would solve the problem, but annoyingly the wobble continues.

What else could be causing this? The only conclusion I can come to is that I've damaged/stretched the tyre when trying to lever it on with levers initially? Is this a possibility? The tyres are folding bead.

Chunkers1980

Double check the seating but in practice I'd doubt it'd make any difference

iLukeKendall

I've checked the seating - it's even all the way around on both sides (the visibile part of the tyre with no pattern to indicate seating even-ness).

Is it possible I could have stretched the bead when trying to force it on with levers?

The Rookie

Yes.....

coulddobetter

Got same on bontrager xr4 . In practice it doesn't affect riding .

iLukeKendall

coulddobetter wrote:

Got same on bontrager xr4 . In practice it doesn't affect riding .

Hmm, mine definitely affects riding - the front wheel ends up wobbling all over the place. I can't have any confidence in attacking corners at speed because the front end is so unpredictable.

coulddobetter

Just watched your clip , mines nowhere near as
bad

chedabob

Bit of a long shot here, but when I had a similar wobble on my road bike, it was caused by the tyre warping where the thicker rubber of the valve stem was. It had been about 18 months since I had to fix a flat, and when I did I put the tyre back on, I put it on 180 degrees from where it was.

Horton

I had a similar issue with the 26" version of that tyre - although running with tubes as you are, I used a similar method to tubeless - ie soapy water around the bead of the tyre then pumped it up to a much higher pressure than you would ride at (around 80 -100 psi iirc). That made sure the tyre was 100% seated correctly which it looked like it was but evidently wasn't as after that it was fine. Might be worth a try

CitizenLee

Same deal with my front Hans Dampf (rear is ok). I just put it down to the fact they're folded and left sitting in a warehouse / stockroom for so long. Fortunately it's not noticeable when riding.

steelo

You could try letting about 75% of the air out but leave the tyre on the wheel. Then have a good play with the tyre, really bend it back and forth (laterally) over each side of the wheel rim to try and get the bead seated a bit better in the rim. Then continue doing this as you re-inflate the tyre - slowly. I've experienced similar to this before and it's been because the tyre is slightly twisted on the wheel.

You shouldn't be able to stretch a kevlar bead that much to cause permanent deformation by using tyre levers. If you've ripped the Kevlar (doubtful) then the tyre is shot anyway as it's structural integrity has gone.