Originally Posted by southpawboston

i can't for the life of me to get a tire properly seated on my 26" mtn bike rim. the tire is a schwalbe marathon (old style), 26x1.75. the wire bead on one side refuses to properly seat along the rim lip. as a result, as i ride, i feel a slight "flat spot" with every tire rotation. here's what i've tried so far:

-- deflating the air pressure to about 5 lbs and "pulling" the bead outward with my fingers. this just causes the bead on the other side of the tire to cave in toward the center of the wheel.

-- pumping in 10-15% higher pressure than the tire's max rated pressure and riding around for awhile. still won't seat.

-- deflating the tire and wetting the bead with soap water. nothing.

-- deflating the tire and putting talcum powder around the bead. nada.

for the record, i've mounted at least two other brands of 26x1.75 tires on this rim without a hitch. so i'm beginning to think this schwalbe is defective.

any ideas or suggestions? there's no way i can exchange the tire for a replacement.