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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have a brand new wheelset (King Hubs w/ Velocity Dually rims) with Fat B Numble tires on them. The rear wheel is perfectly true, but the rear tire is very wobbly (looks like the wheel is out of true when spinning). The wheelbuilder played around when he installed the tires and couldn't get rid of it. He hoped a few rides at low pressure might sort it out, but that has not happened.

Anyone have any other tricks to reseat this tire or is there some possible tire QC issue that a "bad" tire might do this?
 
#2 ·
You should be able to tell by looking if the problem is a tire bead that isn't seated correctly. Spin the wheel and look at the line on the tire sidewall right next to the rim, it should be the same distance from the rim all the way around on both sides. If it dips down or is high in one or two places then that is something that can be fixed, but if it's relatively even on both sides you have a defective tire.
 
#3 ·
Sounds like the tire is not correctly seated. Try letting out the air and unseating the bead.
Squirt some Windex around the rim/tire to lube it up and air it back up.
Most tires have a line near the rim so you can check how even you are seated.
 
#5 ·
This just happened to me. Riding tubeless Maxxis Ardents. Wheelie hopped off a 4' or so drop and it 'burped'. Thought it was my rim. LBS trued the rim, but had your same issue. He said he never saw that before and looks like the tire 'stretched'. I only have 20 or so rides so I hate to have to replace it already. I contacted Maxxis and they communicated back but nothing solved yet....this is actually why I'm in this section today.
 
#6 ·
TAOS1 said:
This just happened to me. Riding tubeless Maxxis Ardents. Wheelie hopped off a 4' or so drop and it 'burped'. Thought it was my rim. LBS trued the rim, but had your same issue. He said he never saw that before and looks like the tire 'stretched'. I only have 20 or so rides so I hate to have to replace it already. I contacted Maxxis and they communicated back but nothing solved yet....this is actually why I'm in this section today.
Click to expand...
Very similar situation to mine. Got a pinch flat off a 2ft drop and couldn't get the bead to pop out with my hand pump. Took it to the LBS and he couldn't get it to pop either. He took tire off and blamed it on my rim tape. He installed new rim tape and it still wouldn't seat completely. He put the wheel on a truing stand and the wheel was very close to true, slight adjustment and it was good. Still couldn't get it to seat on equally on the rim. I took it home and took tire off and LBS rim tape had moved preventing the bead from seating. Now it is fully seated and the tire has a wobble.

These tires have one weekend of use, and it is a notible wobble.

Is it possible to stretch a tire like that?

Maxxis High Roller exo dual compound tubeless ready
 
#7 ·
BluePitch said:
Very similar situation to mine. Got a pinch flat off a 2ft drop and couldn't get the bead to pop out with my hand pump. Took it to the LBS and he couldn't get it to pop either. He took tire off and blamed it on my rim tape. He installed new rim tape and it still wouldn't seat completely. He put the wheel on a truing stand and the wheel was very close to true, slight adjustment and it was good. Still couldn't get it to seat on equally on the rim. I took it home and took tire off and LBS rim tape had moved preventing the bead from seating. Now it is fully seated and the tire has a wobble.

These tires have one weekend of use, and it is a notible wobble.

Is it possible to stretch a tire like that?

Maxxis High Roller exo dual compound tubeless ready
Click to expand...
If the tire beads are fully seated and the wobble remains (yet wasn't present when first mounted), then the integrity of the carcass has been compromised. Maxxis will typically warranty a tire with such damage.
 
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#9 ·
I've been mountain biking for about 25 years and had several sets of aluminum wheels during that time. After mounting a tire, I have occasionally needed to deflate and massage it in order to get it to seat evenly. I didn't always get it perfect, but pretty close. I recently installed a set of wide carbon wheels (LB 38's) which have a built in bead seat, typical of carbon rims. The bead of the tire fits snuggly against the bead seat on the rim and can't be massaged or manipulated in order to adjust for wobble. Initially I figured this was going to make mounting tires foolproof as the tire has to mount perfectly. But I have some wobble in one of my tires as well. This same tire mounted evenly on my previous aluminum rims, so I don't feel like there is anything wrong with the tire. Or perhaps the ability to massage the tire into position on the aluminum rims masked the imbalance in the tire? Anyway, on the carbon rim I tried a few things which did not help:

- removing and remounting the tire
- lowering the pressure and riding around slowly

Eventually I rotated the tire 180 degrees on the rim and remounted it. That is giving me the least amount of wobble so far. It's acceptable, but not perfect.

Is anyone else seeing a correlation between tire wobble and rims with a built-in bead seat? Or is this happening on all types of rims?
 
#10 ·
I think it's mostly incongruences in the tire itself and hardly ever w the mounting (if done correctly ofcourse). It's dependent on batch/ lot you get. Considering cost of mtb tires better QC from manufacturers wouldn't be too much to ask. Just a pain for customer to install/ take off/ return/ exchange/ waste sealant blah blah blah
 
#11 ·
Could it be possible to stretch the tire out of shape? Tires are Maxxis High Roller 2 dual compound Tubeless ready foldable. They are so hard to mount. Even with spraying them with simple green for some lubrication they were very hard to mount. I'm running tubes so there's a little of the problem. I found myself pulling, pulling and pulling trying to get the tire mounted. I refuse to use a screwdriver or tire lever to pry them on so its pull till they mount.

I have them inflated to 65psi which is the max pressure on the tire and the wobble is better, not as noticeable though, but it's still there. I'm gonna leave at this pressure for a while in hopes it will stretch it back into shape
 
#15 ·
I don't believe in going high pressure to seat the beads. It needs to be lubricated and it should pop right in. Sometimes you just need to watch and wait. I usually use a spray bottle with slightly soapy water in it, but in a pinch I'll grab pretty much whatever rubber friendly liquid is handy....windex, etc.

Excessive pressure is damaging to your wheel. If you work against the friction you could be inflating FAR beyond any reasonable pressure to get the bead to seat.

I was working on a beach cruiser for a customer yesterday. I didn't bother with any spray because the tire fit very loose. Sure enough, it didn't seat. I air it down and lubricate the bead (one side) and it seats, but not the other. I hate wasted time and sure enough the valve stem tool rolls off the bench. There is a spare somewhere.... I air it down again and lubricate the other side. Aired it up seats fully all around, both sides. I put the wheel back on, bolted up the coaster brake and gave it a spin. Wobble all over the place. Turns out the white wall was formed so poorly that the tire appeared to wobble like crazy no matter what you did.

I have a pair of 26" Hutchinson Toros here at the house that wobble like mad on any wheel you can squeeze them onto. 1/4" of run out. They'd be awesome tires if they were actually round! And you now what? I guess that's exactly why they were on clearance sale.

Even the best tires I have aren't as round as I would hope...but a bad set can make you think your wheels are not true.
 
#16 ·
dledinger said:
I don't believe in going high pressure to seat the beads.
Click to expand...
I've never found it to hurt anything as long as your reasonable about it. I worked at a shop that did a high volume of tire & wheel repairs, dozens per day, and we routinely inflated tires to their max pressure and sometimes slightly beyond to seat them properly without any problems. That was pre-tubeless era though.
 
#17 ·
Looking around some other forums they refer to the tire casing being damaged. I guess when I landed that huge 2 footer it was the perfect storm to tear or rip that tire casing that influences the shape of the tire. The rim tape happened to be the issue why it wouldn't seat at first. Original rim tape was that plastic garbage, then the shop did a bad job installing cloth rim tape. Either way this seems to be an issue other people see often. No way to fix.......if it's the casing issue. The bead sealing is another. Filled out the Maxxis warranty form and ordered a new one.
 
#19 ·
@BluePitch I had this problem too, also with a maxxis high roller II.

I checked as others in this thread have suggested, and indeed the tire casing was not properly seated. The ridge line where the tire meets the edge of the rim was tucked in a little bit more on one side.

So I inflated it up to 45 psi, watching that section for movement, and lo and behold, it popped out and into place matching the rest of the ridgeline! Problem solved, no more tire wobble for me! Thanks fellas!
 
#20 ·
bholwell said:
If the tire beads are fully seated and the wobble remains (yet wasn't present when first mounted), then the integrity of the carcass has been compromised. Maxxis will typically warranty a tire with such damage.
Click to expand...
I contacted Maxxis by filling out the warranty page on their site. They sent me a prepaid UPS label and I shipped back the tire. It took a while but they did send me a new tire. However, while waiting for the new tire I had to buy a new one to keep riding(the warranty process took about three weeks). The new Maxxis I bought has wobble as well. Not enough for me to want to replace it or even bother trying to fix it. I put the wheel on my truing stand before I mounted the new tire and the wheel was so close to true it only took a couple turns to straighten. My thought is that the rim might be bent around where the bead sits, so the rim is true but it has a small flat spot. That or I have another bad tire. We are approaching winter here in the Northeast and I'll have all winter to find a new set of wheels. My current wheels have WTB i23 rims so they aren't exactly the best.
 
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