sea coil

I had the same problem with 700x28 Marathons and the stock rims on a 2009 Jamis Coda Comp. I gave up.

Doug5150

The soapy water can help, and leaving that little bit of soap in there doesn't harm the tire or the innertube.

Another trick is to take the wheel off the bike and lay it on its side on the floor while inflating. This allows the tire to naturally center easier as it inflates.

Some tires just don't fit well on some wheels tho. All of the physical dimensions of rims and tires aren't defined. The BSD of the rim is defined, but the height of the rim edges isn't. The bead diameter of the tires isn't really defined either; tire companies just have to guess at what will work best.

The tire has a ridge molded on to help it center on the rim; this ridge normally sits right at the top of the rim's edge when it fits correct. If the diameter of that ridge happens to be a poor size for the rim, then it doesn't help. You can carefully shave that ridge flat all the way around, on both sides of the tire, and that may help.

blakcloud

Okane, thanks for this tip. I think this might help me with a difficult tire.

okane

Let us know if it works.

If it does, I'm going to buy a huge quantity of bubble solution and rebadge the jars as Tire Setting Solution Lotion.

southpawboston

Haha, this was a long time ago. And yeah, I'm embarrassed to say I brought the wheel to my LBS and they just pumped the tire up to like 130 psi, basically they just kept going until everything just popped into place. I wouldn't have had the mental fortitude to watch my tire's imminent explosion, but they said they do it that way all the time.

ThermionicScott 

Always love hearing "the rest of the story."

trx123

I have Kendra Jaggernaut 4" tires and the sidewall says 30 psi max. I inflated to 50 psi and one side finally beaded up, but the other side still has a sucked in spot that wont bead up. Should I keep going to 60 psi?

ThermionicScott 

Getting tires to seat isn't *just* about putting lots of air in! Have you tried manipulating the sidewalls into place under low pressure first, like this? https://www.compasscycle.com/wp-cont...ns_2015_07.pdf

Don't forget safety goggles and hearing protection if you keep going with the pressure.

trx123

I tried manipulation for hours! I even bought mechanic's gloves to preserve my hands. Nothing but air pressure worked. Believe me I tried everything, a strap all around the tire, carpenter's hand clamps to pinch the tire, etc. Remeber, these are 4" fat tires, not supple, narrow road tires.

NoPhart

First try dry with Schwalbe Smart Sam Plus 2.25 x 27.5 on Halo Vapour rims didn't seat, so I did a search and found this thread. It's a little comforting that I'm not the only one...

Like the idea of using kids bubble soap. Think I'll go to the dollar store get a bottle before over inflating them.

These are E-Bike rated tires with the steel bead. Hoping it goes smoothly. Will post up results.

canklecat

Tubes or tubeless? If tubeless, you'll need to check techniques for that procedure.

If tubes, check the rim strip. If the rim has a recess and the rim strip is wider than the recess, it may be interfering with seating the tire bead. The slight additional thickness of the valve stem may interfere too if the rim strip isn't right for your wheel setup.

A couple of weeks ago I was in a hurry to replace a tube and rim strip on my errand bike, which runs relatively wider tires -- nominally 700x40, but actually closer to 700x45. I couldn't get the tire seated properly. The only difference was the rim strip. The old rim strip was thin rubber, 12mm wide to fit the narrow recess in the double wall rim. But the tube extruded through the thin rim strip over a period of months, weakening the tube in several places.

I replaced the thin, narrow rubber rim strip with a 22mm wide cloth rim strip. At the time I figured the slight overlap across the shoulders above the rim recess wouldn't matter. But it was enough to prevent the bead from seating with the heavy duty tires. The interference was enough to create a hop in the tire's outer surface. That had never occurred with the thinner, narrower rubber rim strip.

While I was waiting for an order of narrower cloth rim tape to arrive I substituted narrower, lighter weight tires that fit with the 22mm wide rim strip. But those tires aren't puncture resistant enough and I'll put the heavier tires back on after I get a chance to replace the rim strip.

trx123

You may be onto something. When I said nothing but air worked, I didn't mention that I had replaced the rim strip which was too wide and reached the shoulder of the wheel. The red thin plastic strip was also wrinkled in some spots. I took it off and replaced it with wide Gorilla tape. Then I used a sharp blade to trim the excess tape to clear the shoulder. That plus silicone lube and lots of air pressure finally seated the bead, except on one spot on one side only. Maybe a little more air would have done it but I was afraid of going higher as I was already at 55 psi. These fat tires are supposedly rated for 30 psi max.

NoPhart

It's a Thanksgiving Day Miracle! The tire seated right up using childrens bubble soap bought at Dollar Tree (3 bottles for a $1). Aired both tires back down, then painted between the tire and rim with bubble soap using a small paint brush. Next I aired them up with a hand pump to about 25psi. and checked them. The same spots were not seated, so I worked them with my hands trying to roll the tire away from the unseated side hoping the tire lip would slide up and out. Finally I aired them all the way up to 80psi. still using the hand pump (these tires are labeled 28-54psi). Never got a "pop", but the tire edge slowly side out to a properly seated position with the bubble soap applied.



Nice even gap between the rim and the line around the tire now. I left them at 80psi for an hour or two, then aried them down to 50psi.

Problem solved with a little kids bubble soap. I think it's the hot ticket!

okane

Great.....as I said I would do in my previous post, I'm off to buy a sxxtload of the stuff, relabel it Nverfail Tire Seat Solution, hire one of those hucksters with an accent you see on those godawful tv infomercials,and sell if for $1 plus shipping and handling ($12). But wait, if you order now, you get a second bottle free, just pay separate shipping and handling (another $12). AND, with an ironclad guarantee, if not completely satisfied, just return the items to me and I will refund the full purchase price (shipping and handling not included) of $1! Operators are standing by!

Witzelsucht

This happened to me after I bought a new wheel. The tire was 37-622 and the tube I was using was 1 5/8 x 1 3/8. It didn't seat correctly. Tried everything listed here and then they struggled with it at the one shop and then they used a narrower rim tape and 1 1/8 x 1 1/4 tube and it worked nicely. They said the smaller tube would fill more evenly and the narrower rim tape didn't friction against the tire bead.

NoPhart

Oops! Already posted here... (CAN DELETE THIS POST)