Greetings everyone!

For the first time I've decided to build a bike from scratch (Surly Bridge Club frame). Most of my riding is on asphalt, sand and gravel. Trying to use components that are solid but reasonably priced. My wheels (Alexrims and shimano hubs) are both true. Decided to go with tube tires for the time being. I purchased Maxxis Pace tires (27.5 x 1.95). Don't remember the brand of inner tubes. But when I put on the tubes and tires and inflated, the tires seemed to have bubbles or bulges and the tread was not in straight line when turned. So I took the tires off and double checked wheels for true. Wheels are spot on. I was concerned when I received the tires as they were "pretzelled" to fit in the shipping box.

Not sure where the problem is. Thoughts, suggestions?

We're not sure what is exactly going on too with no more data and a lack of visuals. But a fairly common issue when installing tires is that their beads don't overlap with the rim consistently around the rim. Often some sections of the tire's bead will be stuck deeper into the rim. Most all tires now have a small rib formed into the tire's sidewall just above where the top edge of the rim will sit. This rib makes it easier to see if the tire and rim overlap is the same all the way around the tire. Usually increasing the tire pressure does the trick to fully "seat" the tire properly.

The opposite can happen when the tire bead doesn't sit deeply enough in the rim. In this case the air pressure can act like a jack and try to further unseat the tire.

A third possibility is that the tube has become trapped under the tire's bead edge, between it and the rim. And this prevents the tire bead from seating against the rim properly.

All three are usually initially tried to resolve by deflating and/or removing the tire/tube and "working" the tube/tire/rim system with one's hands then reinflating.

Of course the tires could have some casing cord issues or other defects. If the tire bead has gotten kinked from shipping one usually can unkink it with one's hands. Andy

Might be that the tread wasn't evenly applied to the tire casing. More just a problem for your eyes than it is a problem for the bicycle rolling down the road.

But it might be anything. Pic's help in this case. You can't put them in your thread yet, but you can upload them to the gallery and let us know they are there.

Welcome to BF!

It is hard to show without a vid of the wheel turning (sorry, I can't upload yet because I am a new member), but if you spin the wheel while looking down on the tread the center section of the tread drastically shifts from center to left to right. The bead seems to be equally seated all around and the tubes seems to be well seated.

I think these tires may have been "seconds". If they are seated well, is there any danger in using these even though the treads weren't applied straight?

Wasn't able to upload to the Gallery either. Oh well.

Or you thought you weren't able to.



https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/34959892

I didn't add the other since it looked like the same picture.

Videos you can put on imgur.com and just add the URL to the text of your message and obfuscate the URL. Remove the https:// and maybe change the . to dot.


Wheel doesn't look centers in the stays. That's not a tire issue for that. Maybe just the camera angle. A overall picture from the side showing the witness line of the tire in the rim will be helpful.

i've had a few maxxis tires that were VERY Stubborn to bead up... there's a ridge that is just above the bead on the tire (previously labeled a "witness strip")... it should be just about even distance from the rim's outer edge, all the way around.

if it's not, you've got some work to do.
it involves checking for a rim nipple cover strip that's preventing beading up, possibly a portion of the tube caught beneath the bead (remedy either, if found!), then getting the tire warm with a blow dryer or lots of sunshine, putting a little soapy water on the bead and rim, inflating the tire to maximum safe pressure, then putting the tire/wheel back in the sun for an hour or more..

the tire,even if a "tubeless" type, should not have actual bubbles on it's surface, since the tube is holding the air pressure, not the tire.
and "Folding tires" can be a real bugger to get evenly seated up when they're fresh out of the package.

I shouldn't have said bubble. It is the tread pulling one way or another. Thank you for your comments. It helps to know that others have had a similar problem. Even when the tire is off the wheel the tire pulls more from one side then the other at differing spots. Your suggestions are good ones. I've even pulled the tire and measured from the edge of tread to the bead and found as much as 1/8th of an inch difference around the tire. I'm clearly an amatuer, but I have changed my share of tires and I've never had this problem before. I think that maybe I need to back away for a while and give it a rest until I am fresh again.

Thanks again.

they can be maddening, for sure... i once threw a 17-19 offset box wrench clean through a coffee table... after the third time that the shift actuator managed to pop out of position in an XR 250 engine/tranny... the cases had to be split each time to reset the troublesome mechanism, and couldn't be checked without re-assembling everything... after walking away for a few hours, i duct taped the shift shaft in position for the fourth attempt... it worked.

the maxxis tire i had issues with was a 27.5"...
the bead REFUSED to bead up...
yours sounds more like it might just be normal MFG. slop... Bike tires are hand built, and there is almost ALWAYS some tread wobble... meh... the most common example is the reflective stripes some commuter tires have,,, they dance around like a happy calf after a nice sunny nap.
ride it.

There are what I would call truly hand made tires but they are generally the very high end models. Sew ups/tubulars and "open" wired ons (what most will incorrectly call "clinchers") have the tread cap hand laid down and the tire is "cold glued", which does reduce the amount of wobble compared to a hot vulcanized sew up (the cheap ones) most any sew up will have more wobble then a wired on will as there's no mold to control the shape and placement of the parts.

I'll add, to the reflective stripe not being concentric, that the addition of the stripe effects the casing's durability. I've seen so many reflective stripe edges being where the tire's cracking can be seen first. What a great location for a reflective surface, barely an inch away from the grit/grime of the road/trail Andy

I have a question: You are using inner tubes. The tire in question come in tubeless and tube type versions. I have had issues in the past seating tubeless tire while using inner tubes. If your tires are designed to be used tubeless, your problem may be there

when i hear the term "tubular" i always think of Sean Penn's surfer character, Spicoli
https://i.etsystatic.com/19416137/r/...74490_87ji.jpg

even the most automated tire plants in the world have people involved with every single step.
in that plant, the reflective strips are placed by a machine, and show the most famous, and most frequently complained of, sloppy tire build issues.

the tires are placed into the tread mold by a human... their attention to detail figures into the true-ness of the tread to the beads, as does the attentivness of the previous humans' contributions

fact time... the very earliest high pressure clinchers were called... are ya sitting down? High Pressure CLINCHERS.
the Specialized Turbo s.
my trek 930R wore them for most of it's 20K+ miles.

etc.