Tyres not seating on rim

joey54321

I'm hoping someone can help me!

I've left getting my cross bike up and running a bit late, but never imagined running in to this issue.

I have tried 3 different tyres with inner tubes and 1 of those tyres tubeless but I can't get any of the tyres to sit properly on the rim. At first I thought the wheel was out of true but I put it in my wheel jig and it's close enough. I've contacted Alexrims and they're super helpful response has been "you shouldn't have a problem", er, great, thanks.

Any ideas? I can't see any visible issues with the rim, the rim tape is tubeless tape as last year I was running (the same tyre) tubeless without issue.

With my first race on Sunday I may end up missing a bunch of what is normally a very short season!

photonic69

Explain how so they are not seating properly.

mike1-2

You shouldn’t have a problem.

cycleclinic

you may have to over inflate and make sure the inner tube. you could try talc on the bead and tube.

joey54321

The tyre doesn't come out to the edge of the rim so there are low spots that are throwing the 'trueness' of the tyre off. None of the tyres are particularly tight, even the tubeless one, and I've tried soapy water to help move the bead up the rim bed but that didn't work either. I haven't tried talc as I don't have any but my understanding is that it does the same thing as the soapy water?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I've had this a few times, usually fixed by fully deflating, pinching bead off the rim around whole wheel and then inflating again.

photonic69

NitrousOxide wrote:

I've had this a few times, usually fixed by fully deflating, pinching bead off the rim around whole wheel and then inflating again.

This. Then inflate to around 120-130psi. Leave for an hour then deflate and inflate to preferred riding pressure.

joey54321

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

i.bhamra

Maybe a dumb question, but, is your inner tube wide enough for the tyre??

photonic69

joey54321 wrote:

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

You can usually safely go much higher than the recommended pressure to seat the tyre BUT NOT FOR RIDING. Try 90-95psi just to seat it.

Also use actual soap like a bar of soap that has been left wet for a while. Liquid soap like Fairy is not slippy enough and dries too quickly. Get tyre seated as best as possible. Deflate, pinch tyre away from rim where it is not seated. Rub soapy mush into rim and bead. Inflate again. Should pop in.

You running tubeless? You'll be stuffed if you get a puncture out and about if not with that tyre/rim combo and need to change a tube.

joey54321

I was running tubeless fine last year (when I didn't have any of these issues, even with the same 3 tyres). I'll try upping the pressure and see what happens.

robertpb

I recently put a new WTB Resolute on my cross bike, at 55psi they were still not seated, never had this problem in many years of tubeless.

As the tyre wasn't loosing air I put it on the bike and went for a little roll down the path at walking speed loading the tyre, within 30 seconds and four pops later all was well.

joey54321

I tried going for a short ride yesterday but it didn't help. It was also quite unnerving as I could feel the back of the back shifting around from side to side.

gazza1286

The best solution is to inflate to around 30psi. Then manually press the tread/tyre wall to ease the bead into the channels where there are low spots. Best to do this with the wheel off the frame. Once you're happy - fully inflate.

joey54321

Can anyone think of a reason why I haven't had to do this with this tyre/rim combo before but have to now? It seems strange that it's gone from perfectly fine by just slapping it on and throwing in some air to having to use talc, soap, inflate, deflate, inflate, ride, deflate, manipulate and then hopefully it might just be sitting straight?

I really can't think of any reason, I presume given the number of tyres I've tried it must be the rim, right?

keezx

The reason is that tubeless ready rims have a different form, they have a "hump"'below the hook that is supposed to seal tubeles tyres but sometimes prevents the tyre edge/wire to fully move to the hook> wobble.
Some tyres , even the same brand/model do not match perfect to the rim as there are tolerances.
Soap and more pressure is needed to persuede the tyre to the side.

zefs

Could be that the tires/beads are defective? although you mention you tried 3 different ones, were they stored anywhere that could have damaged them?

joey54321

Possible. I haven't tried these 3 tyres on another rim yet. Two were in a shed hung up on a bracket and 1 was deflated but on the wheel throughout spring/summer.

joey54321

PhotoNic69 wrote:

joey54321 wrote:

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

You can usually safely go much higher than the recommended pressure to seat the tyre BUT NOT FOR RIDING. Try 90-95psi just to seat it.

Also use actual soap like a bar of soap that has been left wet for a while. Liquid soap like Fairy is not slippy enough and dries too quickly. Get tyre seated as best as possible. Deflate, pinch tyre away from rim where it is not seated. Rub soapy mush into rim and bead. Inflate again. Should pop in.

You running tubeless? You'll be stuffed if you get a puncture out and about if not with that tyre/rim combo and need to change a tube.

Just as a warning to others, I just tried putting 90psi in and my tyre exploded.

photonic69

joey54321 wrote:

PhotoNic69 wrote:

joey54321 wrote:

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

You can usually safely go much higher than the recommended pressure to seat the tyre BUT NOT FOR RIDING. Try 90-95psi just to seat it.

Also use actual soap like a bar of soap that has been left wet for a while. Liquid soap like Fairy is not slippy enough and dries too quickly. Get tyre seated as best as possible. Deflate, pinch tyre away from rim where it is not seated. Rub soapy mush into rim and bead. Inflate again. Should pop in.

You running tubeless? You'll be stuffed if you get a puncture out and about if not with that tyre/rim combo and need to change a tube.

Just as a warning to others, I just tried putting 90psi in and my tyre exploded.

Wow! Sorry to hear that mate. Hope you are OK? Ears still ringing? That is really unusual. I had often gone way over the max guide to seat MTB tyres back in the day. Had some 2.5" Conti Rubber Queens that were a biatch to fit and had them at over 90psi for a week to try and stretch them a bit to help fit. It might be that the rubber had started to perish being hung up in your shed? Had that with MTB inner tubes that were hung in our shed. Sunlight through the window rotted one section of both tubes and they went bang.

Plus side is you can go to your LBS and get some tyres that will fit your rims

Killerclown

https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/equi ... p/p/11881/

Get yourself something like this. There are other cheaper one’s available, but this one has a good reputation.

joey54321

Killerclown wrote:

https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/equipment/cycling-accessories/bike-pumps/bontrager-tlr-flash-charger-floor-pump/p/11881/

Get yourself something like this. There are other cheaper one’s available, but this one has a good reputation.

I don't see how that will help?

No worries about the tyre, luckily it wasn't one of the expensive ones that I was trying so not too big a loss. Yeah, it was pretty loud, though I was half expecting it, my girlfriend, upstairs wasn't :oops:

Ted Mason

joey54321 wrote:

PhotoNic69 wrote:

joey54321 wrote:

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

You can usually safely go much higher than the recommended pressure to seat the tyre BUT NOT FOR RIDING. Try 90-95psi just to seat it.

Also use actual soap like a bar of soap that has been left wet for a while. Liquid soap like Fairy is not slippy enough and dries too quickly. Get tyre seated as best as possible. Deflate, pinch tyre away from rim where it is not seated. Rub soapy mush into rim and bead. Inflate again. Should pop in.

You running tubeless? You'll be stuffed if you get a puncture out and about if not with that tyre/rim combo and need to change a tube.

Just as a warning to others, I just tried putting 90psi in and my tyre exploded.

I had a similar result when I went over the top with pressure. I use tubeless tyres and rims on a road bike. A couple of months ago I had just changed my tyres at the weekend and cycled to work on the Monday. At home time I gave my bike a quick check and noticed my rear tyre was a bit low on pressure probably by about 20 psi. I get my hand pump out and start to pump it up. I reached my desired pressure approx 90 psi and remove the pump. However, as I am unscrewing the connector it starts to take the valve core with it. After a bit of fiddling I managed to disconnect the hose and tighten the valve core up. As I had lost some pressure I reconnected the pump and tried to inflate it again only for the same to happen again. I was now at the stage where I needed pressure in the tyre as it was too low to cycle home on. It was at this time that a voice inside my head said "You have a CO2 inflator use that, the slime in the tyres will be alright its Finish Line." So I delve into my saddle bag and produce CO2 canister and inflator.

I would now like to point out to PhotoNic69 that maximum tyre pressures are put on the side of tyres for a reason and that is, it is unsafe to go above the recommended pressure either riding or not. You see I then proceeded to use my CO2 inflator on my tyre and I gave it a couple of seconds blast. At some point in the procedure I went past the safety limit of the tyre and it exploded covering me and quite a few files in the office with slime. Two elderly lady colleagues who were in the office at the same time nearly had heart attacks, seriously I thought I had killed one of them. I now have a permanent ringing in my ears the explosion was that loud. I have heard bombs go off, Challenger 2 tanks fire their main armament and they pale into insignificance when compared to the resulting noise from that tyre going bang.

I now have the problem of how to get home. Luckily I had a spare inner tube in my desk drawer. I fit this to my wheel and the tyre holds in the wheel rim. Result I can get home. I refit my wheel and now I realise that the explosion has buckled my wheel. So much so that I have to slacken my brake cable to allow the wheel to rotate. I manage to get home safely. I take the wheel off and pop up to my LBS to get it trued up.

A couple of days later I get a call from the LBS saying that the rim is knackered. It had buckled to such a degree that adjustment of the spokes wouldn't true it up. He then explained the reason why. When you inflate a tyre the pressure inside the tyre is equal in every direction not just on the tyre but on the wheel rim also. He explained further that when building wheels he has noticed a change in spoke tension when a wheel is fitted with an inflated tyre. In effect the wheel rim compresses, when the tyre exploded it released the pressure on the rim which then snapped back into shape very quickly and distorted in the process.

So for those of you want to take a tyre over the manufacturers safety limit advertised on the tyre sidewall can I recommend safety goggles and ear protection.

photonic69

Ted Mason wrote:

joey54321 wrote:

PhotoNic69 wrote:

joey54321 wrote:

I've tried both those things (except as this is a cross tyre I went up to 80psi, the max on the tyre says 70) and neither has worked so far.

You can usually safely go much higher than the recommended pressure to seat the tyre BUT NOT FOR RIDING. Try 90-95psi just to seat it.

Also use actual soap like a bar of soap that has been left wet for a while. Liquid soap like Fairy is not slippy enough and dries too quickly. Get tyre seated as best as possible. Deflate, pinch tyre away from rim where it is not seated. Rub soapy mush into rim and bead. Inflate again. Should pop in.

You running tubeless? You'll be stuffed if you get a puncture out and about if not with that tyre/rim combo and need to change a tube.

Just as a warning to others, I just tried putting 90psi in and my tyre exploded.

I had a similar result when I went over the top with pressure. I use tubeless tyres and rims on a road bike. A couple of months ago I had just changed my tyres at the weekend and cycled to work on the Monday. At home time I gave my bike a quick check and noticed my rear tyre was a bit low on pressure probably by about 20 psi. I get my hand pump out and start to pump it up. I reached my desired pressure approx 90 psi and remove the pump. However, as I am unscrewing the connector it starts to take the valve core with it. After a bit of fiddling I managed to disconnect the hose and tighten the valve core up. As I had lost some pressure I reconnected the pump and tried to inflate it again only for the same to happen again. I was now at the stage where I needed pressure in the tyre as it was too low to cycle home on. It was at this time that a voice inside my head said "You have a CO2 inflator use that, the slime in the tyres will be alright its Finish Line." So I delve into my saddle bag and produce CO2 canister and inflator.

I would now like to point out to PhotoNic69 that maximum tyre pressures are put on the side of tyres for a reason and that is, it is unsafe to go above the recommended pressure either riding or not. You see I then proceeded to use my CO2 inflator on my tyre and I gave it a couple of seconds blast. At some point in the procedure I went past the safety limit of the tyre and it exploded covering me and quite a few files in the office with slime. Two elderly lady colleagues who were in the office at the same time nearly had heart attacks, seriously I thought I had killed one of them. I now have a permanent ringing in my ears the explosion was that loud. I have heard bombs go off, Challenger 2 tanks fire their main armament and they pale into insignificance when compared to the resulting noise from that tyre going bang.

I now have the problem of how to get home. Luckily I had a spare inner tube in my desk drawer. I fit this to my wheel and the tyre holds in the wheel rim. Result I can get home. I refit my wheel and now I realise that the explosion has buckled my wheel. So much so that I have to slacken my brake cable to allow the wheel to rotate. I manage to get home safely. I take the wheel off and pop up to my LBS to get it trued up.

A couple of days later I get a call from the LBS saying that the rim is knackered. It had buckled to such a degree that adjustment of the spokes wouldn't true it up. He then explained the reason why. When you inflate a tyre the pressure inside the tyre is equal in every direction not just on the tyre but on the wheel rim also. He explained further that when building wheels he has noticed a change in spoke tension when a wheel is fitted with an inflated tyre. In effect the wheel rim compresses, when the tyre exploded it released the pressure on the rim which then snapped back into shape very quickly and distorted in the process.

So for those of you want to take a tyre over the manufacturers safety limit advertised on the tyre sidewall can I recommend safety goggles and ear protection.

Nice one ted. Made I laff!!!

I'm not advocating even doubling the pressure, just a mild increase. There is a huge safety margin with tyre pressures to stop numpties from blowing up their tyres and scaring old ladies and neighbourhood dogs. Just think of the sudden instantaneous increase in pressure when you are riding alog and hit potholes and bumps etc

I'd hazzard a guess that in both cases the tyre was old and or damaged by an impact somewhere in the carcass, often un-noticed. Or even the inner tube was pinched between tyre and rim. This was the last time I had a blow-up when inflating tyres. It was late, i was in a rush and had had a beer. Pump pump pump pump BANG! Hadn't even got to the min recommended pressure either.