Bicycle Mechanics - out of round tire?

I took my bike all apart and cleaned everything this weekend, and replace a slowly leaking tube. Now that I have everything put back together, the tire doesn't seem to be seated right. As best I can tell (using the brake as a guide), the rim is round. However, the tire is probably off by 1/4" from one side to another. I deflated the tube and re-inflated it after checking to make sure the bead appeared to be seated properly.

I don't ride this bike much and when I do, it's usually during snowy conditions on poorly maintained roads, so it's possible it has been this way since I put it on a year ago and I just have a defective tire.

Is there something I could have done wrong during the re-installation that could have caused this? I'm racking my brain trying to figure this out and I got nothing. I thought about taking the tire all the way back on and rotating it on the rim or seeing if there's some type of defect.

Suggestions?

Take the tire off and inspect it to see if the tire seems to be round. If it appears OK then try to put it on so that the bead is evenly seated on the rim. Sometimes a tire that is not seated properly will pop into place while it is being inflated.

Take the tire off and inspect it to see if the tire seems to be round. If it appears OK then try to put it on so that the bead is evenly seated on the rim. Sometimes a tire that is not seated properly will pop into place while it is being inflated.

The inspection must be done with the tyre on the wheel and inflated properly. Tyres don't seat properly because of

i) Excess friction between the tyre bead and the hook edge of the rim

If they tyre has been left in a state where it wasn't seated properly for a long period of time - a crease may develop and you may find it impossible to get it to seat properly again. All the OP has to do is coat the bead/rim interface with a friction reducing agent. This is typically

i) soapy water
ii) for extreme cases lube has worked as well
iii) over-inflating may overcome the friction as well, but use common sense when pumping it up to higher than 'normal' pressure. The tyre will blow off if you go extreme.

This of course assumes you are not making a mistake when putting the tube into the tyre itself. e.g. - valve pulled through before inflation or tube being pinched on the sidewall.

Tires can occassionally,but infrequently,can get "out of round",as you described. Although still rideable, I don"t believe they"re fixable. Replace whenever.

Tires can occassionally,but infrequently,can get "out of round",as you described. Although still rideable, I don"t believe they"re fixable. Replace whenever.

They tyre will go out of round when it has been damaged enough (cords cut underneath). This will manifest as a bulge. Good point though - the OP should check this

Sounds like I'll be taking the tire off tonight and checking everything out. Although this may be a case of getting what I paid for.. I think it was a $7 replacement from Wal-Mart. Hey, it's a 20 year old Huffy MTB.

Well, it appears there is a seam in my rim that is visible on the back wheel. There's a bulge on the metal bead around the tire (I'm sure there's probably a word for that). That's where it's high, like the tire isn't seating right.

Does that sound like an issue? Is my rim failing, or is it just cheap construction?