I bought a pair of Schwalbe Little Big Bens on eBay. Seller advertised them as never ridden; seller is a bike shop -- probably take-offs from a new bike, right? I got them in the mail, in a large square box, probably a 16 or 18" cube. They turned these wire bead tires in on each other and got them into this box. Same concept as those wire frame windshield shades I guess, where you fold it in on itself and it doesn't actually fold or bend the bead. The description appears solid -- the tires appear to be brand new.

One tire is perfect. The other tire does not mount completely straight, and this is on two different wheels. The witness line down at the bead shows it to be seated very uniformly around the rim. But the tire itself seems to have a very slight "kick" to one side in it when spun. You can feel it when riding if you're feeling for it. I'm very certain that it's not a safety problem, as the beads are seated. But it does bother me.

Because it has the same kick to it on two different wheels, I'm thinking it's the tire itself.

I'm tempted to take it to my LBS to see if they can get it any better, but I'm pretty sure it's a bad tire. I've had it on and off the wheel a few times, and I've rotated it 180 degrees and that had no effect. The same spot on the tire has that very slight side kick regardless of wheel or how it's clocked to the rim.

I've never had a bad tire, but I'm sure it happens. Is it worth having my LBS try to get a better mount? If they can't get it right, I guess they could order a new tire. I doubt I'd get any consideration from Schwalbe on this one because I didn't buy it new. Unfortunately, my "deal" at $40 shipped for the pair will get watered down with another one at full price, but I guess that's the price paid (literally) for trying to save money, right?