madpogue 

^^^^^^ Speaking of which, I encountered a brain-teaser tire seating issue on my wife's commuter the other day. Tire would always exhibit a high spot, similar to the OP's. I tried reversing the direction of the tire on the rim, "re-clocking" the tire, even a different tube. Kept happening. The high spot would be in a different place each time, seemingly randomly. I also noticed that the tread would shift to one side at the high spot. Tire looked fine off the rim, wire beads were okay.

FINALLY I noticed that the rim tape was very wide for the rim, and it was unevenly seated in the rim. It would be off to one side over some parts of the circumference, off to the other side in others, centered only here and there. The rubber strip had developed a sort of "memory", so I could not get it to seat down the center of the rim all 360 degrees. Evidently, where it was deviating from center, it was having an impact on how the tire beads sat in the rim. So I tried a narrower rim strip. Boom! Perfect mount.

BTW, I think the OP is a post-and-runner anyway. Haven't heard boo for a coupla weeks.

tdonline

Guys, sorry for not responding. I appreciate the advice. I've been focusing on hiking (I'm going to hike the Inca Trail) and haven't found the day time to get around to bike-related stuff. And off bike topic, have had a really crappy time with work. Also never dealt with a disc brake bike before, plus the rear light wires are attached to the fender, etc, etc. I'm a little psyched out and fear making things worse. I've given up on making time for it during the day and will check it out tonight.

I'm not familiar with some of the terms used and had to familiarize myself by watching Youtube videos. Okay, so wasn't sure what seating was exactly but after watching a video realized that it was something I have been doing for nearly 20 years--making sure my tire/tube was on right on the rim. Never had any issues with the road bike tires so I'm not familiar with bulges.

Again, I'll take a look tonight. In any case, if I can't get it right tonight, the bike will go off to the LBS sometime this week.

banerjek

I was thinking the same thing.

In pic 5, it appears there are metal attachment points of some sort on the inside of the fender effectively reducing the clearance further. I suspect these are being tagged as that could also explain the noise

tdonline

I blew up the photo as much as I could on my laptop screen to look at this issue, this was before my initial post. I had seen another photo where the fender strut was outside of the rack. But to me, the Breezer sight's photo has the fender strut between frame and rack. And when I was twiddling with it--I couldn't see how I could have the rack over the fender but the fender strut outside the rack. So I figured my bike was set up just as in the Breezer photo.

tdonline

Yes, to my untrained ears, that sounds like the issue and I tried to look for the contact. Just difficult to do as I do not have a bike stand so it's awkward to get a good look.

I reached out to SKS while I waited for Breezer to respond and SKS tried to help but concluded that the fenders in my photo weren't theirs. So maybe the fenders on my bike aren't the size stated in Breezer's spec page. Not happy with having to replace a new bike's fenders but if that fixes the problem...

madpogue 

Yeah, start with this. I know there's a lot more in play and it can be daunting, but you have to fix the tire situation anyway. And I really wouldn't be surprise if your fender situation resolves itself with the tire fix. As I mentioned above, check the rim tape.

banerjek

A bit of cutting/bending might be in order.

You have nothing to lose. They bring you no benefit and if you're looking at replacing fenders, you're no worse off even if you mess them up.

Since you mention not being mechanically inclined, I don't think this will take long for someone who is presuming they have the right tools. Easiest way to deal with this might be to stop by a buddy's house with a 6 pack to share.

tdonline

Ok, so there's definitely something off with the tire. There is a bulge--not super obvious but I inflated the tire with two different tubes and there is a part where the tire's center line goes left and then to the right. It's a 2017 bike but I bought it new. I'm guessing there are a few test miles on it but surely the tire and the tube should not be damaged? I looked at the rim tape and it's not perfectly centered.

More evidence that it's a bulge issue--before I got started, I rolled the bike to see if there was rubbing. There wasn't--I haven't ridden the bike in about a month so the tires weren't fully inflated. So that the first big clue that it was tire related. After taking tire out and testing with the two different tubes, I put the wheel back on the bike. I placed masking tape on the rim where the bulge is. And I slowly rolled the wheel and yep, when the bulge reaches the back/brake part of the fender, it's really tight. There is an obvious difference in clearance compared to when the non-bulge parts of the tire to through the same area of the fender.

The tape on the rim for a section is slightly off to the left, but nothing egregious. The rim tape isn't perfectly centered over the valve hole too.

Could the above be the cause of the bulge? So should I re-tape? The tubes and tires look fine and I can't see any defect or damage.

madpogue 

If the rim tape is off far enough that it reaches into the part of the rim where the tire bead sits, then YES, it can cause exactly what you're seeing. Does the bulge in the tire seem to correspond in location with the section of the rim tape that's off center?

tdonline

The tape is off center but not by that MUCH, but you know...yeah, that's where the bulge is and where it starts to go left and then right. The off-center tape section goes further but for some reason the tube seats properly there.

I guess that's good news in a way--I may have the reason for the bulge, which may be the reason for the fender rub. Now I to have watch a few Youtube videos on how to change rim tape. And buy rim tape.

I remember about 15 years ago or so when I had a few tube punctures around the valve stem and the advice I got was to go for cloth rim tape rather than plastic. Is cloth rim tape still the advice nowadays? Can I remove the current rim tape and re-center it?

Madpogue, et al, thank you for helping me zero in on the issue.

Darth Lefty 

You can use all sorts of things for rim tape. It's there to keep the tube from bulging through the spoke holes to puncture on the spoke heads, so anything that spans the gap with a little strength will do it. You just don't want anything too stretchy like electrical tape. On my commuter I actually have Gorilla tape, and I've also tried 1 mil Kapton and next might try Tyvek. The benefit of cloth tape is that it's tough. Notice Velox is sold per-wheel and you need two rolls to do the whole bike. Or you could try Stan's which is a lot thinner and might help your problem.

rumrunn6

after a flat a cpl yrs ago I noticed the rim tape moved, or I inadvertently moved it when I mounted the tire? it was a stiff plastic sort & it had deformed to match the rim & it didn't want to move back properly & stay in place. so I used the cloth tape I had in my bag. I like it. when buying be sure to buy it narrow enough to fit in your wheel channel. I recently bought some wider stuff & had to trim it to fit my MTB wheels which were a lot narrower than I expected. ideally, you don't want it riding up the inside edges of the rim.

I use tubes w/ schrader valves so I have to widen the valve hole in Velox brand tape that comes from the factory a tiny bit. this lets the schrader valve fit thru the hole in the tape better

the only downside I've ever heard about cloth tape is that it is too thick, but I don't think it is too thick. some ppl think the thickness is enough to prevent us from squeezing the tire beads down into the channel when mounting a tire, thereby making it more difficult to mount the tire (do you know what I mean?)

tdonline

How do I determine the width of tape to buy? Is there a formula or rule of thumb relative to the rim/wheel size? Or is it simply breaking out the tape measure and measuring the current tape width?

Performance and Nashbar are still around, under new ownership, are they still good online options? Or are there others out there?

Thanks.

tdonline

The culprit bugle...

tdonline

Off-center rim tape...

rumrunn6

I buy mine on Amazon. they carry 10mm - 22mm

sure a tape measure works. measure the inside width of the wheel channel where the tape will sit. I recently bought a cheap plastic caliper from a neighborhood Harbor Freight store which comes in handy for this kind of thing

or visit your local bike shop! :-)

madpogue 

I would say that tape is too wide. Even where it's centered, it extends beyond the spoke hole area, into the tire bead areas. So measure it, and go for something narrower. Hard to get an exact scale from the photos, but I'd guessitmate you want something about 4mm narrower than what you have. It only needs to cover the spoke holes, as mentioned. Ideally it should be wide enough to do so, and not extend into the channels where the tire beads sit. This obviates the thickness issue mentioned by rumrunn6 in post 37.

I'll bet when you remove that tape, you'll witness the "memory" effect I mentioned above, where it retains the shape it was stretched into when it was first installed. This is just what happens with assembly of high-ish-volume production bikes; I'm sure that on my wife's bike, that rim tape had been like that since day one.

rhm

Those plastic rim strips are trouble. Even if you get the right size (which is a whole lot less likely than getting the wrong size), and get it properly centered in the 'well' in the middle of the rim, it can shift when you put the tire and tube on. I have a few horror stories involving those plastic strips. The most recent one, I bought a pair of rims and the rim strips from the manufacturer-- that is, Pacenti rims, and Pacenti rim strips, and I bought both from Pacenti, in the same order; the rim strip was recommended for that specific rimi; and the rim strip caused a flat. Doh!

I now use Gorilla tape. Figure out the width you need, measure that on the roll of tape, make a small cut with scissors, and start tearing it. The tape only needs to be a little wider than the holes for the spoke nipples. As you tear, the width may vary a little, but basically if you want a 14 mm strip of gorilla tape, you'll get something very close to that; and once it's stuck in place, it will stay there.

Admittedly Gorilla tape rim strips make it a little harder to replace a spoke, but that doesn't happen very often, so it's a price I'm willing to pay.

base2 

That tape is so thin, I wouldn't think it'd have much, if any effect at all.

Your tire is so wonky I personally wouldn't trust it. A little wobble is one thing. That looks like something is wrong to me.

I once had a blow out from the tube blowing into a spoke hole. The plastic rim strip migrated leaving about 1 mm of tube unsupported. The benefit to cloth tape is it can be removed and replaced in the place it needs to be once or twice. I tend to pull on it to stretch it tight when re-placing. I then trim off the extra overlap. It seems to work ok for a time or two. I find that as long as the tape is exactly centered, Seating the tire is rarely an issue.

The cheaper the tire, the more trouble I've had. The worst as far ad I'm concerned is Kenda Small-block 8's on ZAC19 rims. It took me about 3 hours & about 20 inflate/deflates per tire to get them acceptably round. 100% cheap tire, 0% rim tape.

YMMV

tdonline

Hmmm...I guess I can test it by inflating the tire in a couple of directions to see if the bulge is in the same spot. If the bulge moves, then that would indicate it's the tire and not the rim tape. Or even take the front tire and try it on the back wheel?

noglider 

@rhm, I've made rim strips out of Gorilla tape, and it worked, but it was a pain. My main driver was cost saving. I've gone back to preferring Velox tape. What advantage does Gorilla have over Velox?

rhm

If you have the right size Velox tape in hand, gorilla tape offers no advantage I can think of.

Otherwise... that is, if you don't have the right size Velox in hand, then you need to get it, or get something else. Gorilla tape is better than a preformed plastic strip, and it is better than the wrong size Velox (both too big and too small) and gorilla tape comes in whatever size you tear off the roll, including the right size and all the wrong sizes.

noglider 

@rhm, that makes total sense. Thanks. It's easy and cheap to keep Gorilla tape on hand.

tdonline

You were right.

Rim tape not making a difference. The wonky bulge happens in the same area of the tire. I rotated the tire and the bulge went along rather than staying in the same area of the rim. So not rim area specific.

This is supposed to be a new bike with new tires. Did I just get a lemon and should buy a new tire? Or is there some finessing that can be done?

Are Schwalbe Marathon Racer HS 429, Performance Line considered cheap tires?

base2 

I'm going to be completly honest: I really don't know if Schwalbe Marathon Racer HS 429, Performance Line are considered cheap or low quality tires or not. Perhaps someone could chime in with first hand experience with those tires? Since they are OEM my gut feeling is they are probably not the "best" but probably known for being very servicable for at least a season or 2.

There is more than the monetary cost involved. There is also the cost of your time, & the effort/heartache, too.

I tend to run Continental Gatorskins & where available I get the Hardshell version. They come in700x32c They can be a real b**ch to get on but with the right technique it can be done. I also run tire liners. Either Mr. Tuffy or the other brand. I got my first flat Thursday in about 2 years. (Hitting a roofing nail square on has a way of doing that.)

In any case, for me they come out round and seat consistently & last a long time where I ride. I am fully aware I am trading ride quality for a variety of factors, but getting where I am going with out problems is the quality I value most.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Good "quality" tires tend to be related to what qualities you value. But at the very least, they should fit round & consistant. I think you may have got a lemon.