DarKris

So I’ve had issues with these Continental RaceKing Shieldwall tires where there would be tire wobble and yet it seems like the tire is mounted correctly. This is my 3rd tire that has this problem. That said I don’t remember this tire having that issue when it was first mounted.

That said, I did remove these from a wheel that was hard to get the bead off, so I used a tire lever to remove it. Is it possible that my using a tire lever (which I realize isn’t recommended for tubeless tires) caused this? I returned the first two tires with this issue and I really don’t want to return a third, especially if it turns out that I damaged the tire.

veganbikes

If everything is mounted and seated properly and wheel is true and the tire is not bulging anywhere or looking odd in natural state and the tire is not over or significantly under pressured, I wouldn't worry a whole lot about it. A tire is usually not true and can sometimes be a bit off and so when checking is a wheel is true looking at the tire is never a good idea.

DrIsotope

Break the bead all the way around, apply soapy water (or bubble juice) to the tire beads, re-seat. To me it just looks like the beads aren't 100% seated.

Some tires sit really tight. I never mount a tubeless tire dry. I've also used levers to remove every single tire I've ever used, and I've been exclusively tubeless for over 30,000 miles now.

DarKris

I know the wheel is true, I’m solely asking about the tire. My previous tire I had a mechanic look at it and he suggested getting it replaced under warranty. What prompted me asking about it is that this is the THIRD tire that I have run (RaceKing) that has this drastic side to side wobble, so I wanted to know from others if I messed up or all of the tires that I tried were actually screwed up.

wheelreason

The tire in the video isn't properly seated. If the usual KY type solutions don't do the trick, check the rim strip if there is one. Some rim/tire combinations don't like to play nice. I put on ear muffs and blow them to 200 or so.

Wilfred Laurier

Looks like the bead not fully seated all the way around.

Let enough air out that you can push the sidewall and bead in, and work your way all the way around the wheel on both sides to ensure the tube is not trapped between the tire and rim. If you do see tube peeking out at you, let a bit more pressure out and work the tube into the tire.

Then inflate the tire to the max recommended pressure, spin the wheel to make sure the bead is not slipping out, and if it is still wiggling, then give it another 10 or 15 percent over the max pressure and the tire should pop into place. Be sure to let that extra pressure out before riding 'cause it's rattle your teeth out.

bldegle2

Another thing to consider if it is a wire bead and not a folding tire. I had a problem with two tires I had shipped to me, wire bead and double looped to make for a smaller shipping package. The figure 8 looping caused a bend in the wire bead on one side, no matter how many times I mounted it, it would have the 'bump'. Many good suggestions already. A third tire I had would not properly mount unless I added some kind of lube, okay for home mounting because lube is readily available, but out in the wild with a flat it would always 'hump'. Just had to live with it until homey to do a lubed remount....weird riding experience for sure....

Retro Grouch 

Hard to tell from the video but it looks to me like the bulge is adjacent to the tire label. Is that right? Do you line up the label with the valve stem? If so, try this:

1. Deflate your tire but keep it on the rim.
2. Push your valve stem straight into the tire.
3. Reinflate your tire.

Betting that fixes it.

It works because the thick rubber where the valve stem is attached is holding the tire bead up. Pushing it in lets the bed seat where it needs to be.

DarKris

These are tubeless so I don’t think that’ll work

DarKris

Folding bead. I removed the tires and swapped them for a pair of Vittoria tires that I had lying around. If I try mounting them again I’ll check everything and see if it is still off. What I will say is the Vittoria tires mounted just fine dry and have no wobble so I might just not run the Contis if these don’t give me issues.

WizardOfBoz

Ok, stealing retrogrouch's paradigm

1. Deflate your tire but keep it on the rim.
2. [Run a tire lever around the wheel on each side of the tire between rim and tire (to break any adhesions.]
3. [Use a soaked sponge to get soapy water in between the tire and rim at all points]
4. [Push your valve stem straight into the tire. Probably not needed for tubeless, but you should be sure that your valve stem is properly aligned so that it isn't preventing seating of the tire.]
5. Reinflate your tire [by seating them, then gradually inflating and making sure that the little ridge around the tire sidewall shows that the tire bead is seated equally at all points.]

To emphasize: there usually is a little ridge on the sidewall that shows just above the rim. If that ridge is equidistant from the rim at all points, the tire is seated pretty much properly. If that ridge is obscured by the rim that means that the bead didn't slide out enough at that point to seat. It's usually pretty clear.

jadocs

I'm thinking bead not seated properly as well. Also tire levers aren't going to damage your tubeless tires. You should be able to reference a seam on the sidewall just above the rim. If the spacing is not uniform all the way around, it's a bead seating problem. If you do not have a seam you can reference, I would ride them a little bit to get some weight on there and see if it doesn't pop into place. Barring that, remove the tire, put some straight liquid dish soap on your fingers and run it around the bead and reinstall, air it up and putt a little extra psi in and it should pop into place.

bdumas35

I had 2 Race Kings with sidewall defects and wobbles a couple of years ago. These were purchased through my LBS fortunately and were replaced at no charge. I am now using the latest version of the Pro-Tection Black Chili Compound with no problems. My internet search verified others with similar problems at that time.

Sy Reene

Random thought.. is it possible for a rim to have misaligned bead hooks, but the wheel runs thru a truing stand showing true?

Wilfred Laurier

Maybe possible, but very unlikely. I have never seen it.

Rims are made as an extruded channel, so every inch of the circumference of the rim is identical to every other inch. It is possible that the machine used for extruding is damaged or worn and a defective part found its way through without being noticed, but I have never heard of or encountered this. Generally QC checks would catch minor inconsistencies than the machine fixed before continuing to extrude rims. The chance that the machine was damaged such that a small segment of one rim was different than the rest is not plausible.

DarKris

So I took the advice of re-mounting the tires with soapy water, I also switched the front and the rear tire to see if there were any noticeable differences. At 50 PSI I got the bead to set, and where there was 3-4mm of "wobble" in the front tire has gone down to ~1mm of wobble which I feel is acceptable. I think since the tire has such a tight fit on the rim that it requires a bit more effort to seat 100%.

I am getting rid of these tires however, only to swap them for lighter tires with lower rolling resistance, but at least I can confidently sell the Conti's knowing that there's no true issue with the tires.