Tires folded up in a box?
 

Got a Blackburn tire at Walmart as a temporary until I'm able to order a better tire. They sell theirs folded up in boxes. How do tires arrive at bike stores? Do they arrive round or folded up like this? When I ordered Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires they were shipped round in a large envelope, when I got tires from a Trek store they were in round form. I don't think either of those tires *would* fold up, or maybe I'm wrong on that.

Is it simply a function of Walmart selling cheaper, flimsy tires and I'd better have my affairs in order if I plan on actually riding on it? :)

Foldable tires commonly come folded in a box or sleeve. Rigid-bead tires are sold in hoop form. Sounds like you bought a foldable tire...

I was skeptical at first of the flexible bead tire but I’ve now got several in service with no issues, from 25 mm to 2” widths.

It sounds like all your prior tires have wire beads, which are usually shipped in a double loop (imagine a figure 8 twisted at the intersection to bring the two circular sections on top of one another) or hung as a big circle to avoid creasing the wires. Your new tire has a foldable polymer bead and is lighter, which may allow you to go a little faster. If doing so exceeds your skills, you should get your affairs in order.

Folding tires are great.

These arrived on Friday.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e8fddfa81.jpeg
and did a metric century on Sunday.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...120ca539f.jpeg

Where can you still order 4KsII?

They've been around a long long time. Not sure how you ever missed them. I'm pretty sure some of the Schwinn's back in my teen age years had them, but many of us were on cheaper Schwinn's with the smooth bead steel rims and those needed wire bead tires IIRC that didn't fold.

If your tire rims aren't hooked (crochet) type, then you probably don't want to use a folding tire. But most all rims today are crochet type except some of the newer tubeless seem to be bringing smooth beads back.

In OP's defense, I too did not learn about foldable bead tires until I got my first "expensive" bike (i.e., my road bike) in 2017.

According to the box it's a "carbon steel bead" but I noticed the bead clearly isn't as stiff as the other tires.

I went to walmart.com to see what you are referring to. For example:

Blackburn Mountain Bike Tire 26" x 1.75-2.25 - Walmart.com

"Carbon Steel bead allows you to fold and unfold the tire without damage"

So you should be fine. But just in case, save the receipt for your estate and/or heir(s).

I've used both folders and wire-bead tires. Both work fine, but the folding ones tend to be somewhat lighter.

Either can be a pain in the butt to mount, though. I've got a set of Conti Ultra Sport folders that are a royal pain to mount - as bad as, if not worse, than any wire bead tires I've ever used.

I found these for cheap on FB Marketplace and jumped on them.

I don't think the Walmart tires are going to work out. Something's off about them.

First, when I try to swap over the old inner tube, where it fits the 700c Schwalbe tire fine with a just enough air to make it softly rigid, it seems a bit cramped in the Walmart tire - there's a bit of a crimp in the tube which would lead you to think this tire has a slightly smaller circumference than the old tire.

Yet, when I tried to test-fit the Walmart tire on the rim without the inner tube it actually seems a bit too big for the rim - it won't stay seated in place, part of it always wants to pop off the rim. And the size designation seems wrong - the box says 700 x 35 (37-622) which matches the Schwalbe tires that have that designation clearly marked on both sides of the tire but on the Walmart tire itself 700c is nowhere to be found - it says (32 - 330) 27x1 1/4. Also "Blackburn" is nowhere on the tire, the only branding is a "Bell AirGuard" insignia. The box doesn't look chewed up like someone hastily stuffed the wrong tire in the box and the folded tire still had a zip-tire around it.

Also, the bead edge of the Walmart tire is much more smooth than the Schwalbe - there's only a suggestion of an edge lip on the bead whereas the Schwalbe tires have a more distinct ridge on the bead that's obviously meant to lock on the ridge on the inner lip of the rim. Now of course they've been on the rims for some time and maybe it's due to the inner lip of the rim molding the tire somewhat but those Schwalbe tires seat very positively in the rim without a tube whereas I can't get the Walmart tire to want to stay seated around the entire circumference of the tire. I think it's back to Walmart for the tire and I'll just use one of the original Giant tires until I can get another one.

If you are using cheaper foldable tires it helps if you unfold them and keep them somewhere warm for a while so that they have a chance to unkink a bit.

When fitting, they might be difficult to centre and may even pop off then or during your first ride. To avoid that, fit the tires and tubes with a little air in the tubes so that they just take a round shape. Centre the tire on both sides as best you can. Give a couple of pumps using your pump, then check the tire is still centred and centre it if it is not. A couple or more pumps and recheck - and so on until the tire is up to pressure. I then fit the wheel and give the bike a gentle ride around my garages, and recheck that the tire is still centred.

It takes a bit of time and effort, but that is the price one pays for cheap tires. Once they have been ridden for a bit, they take their original tire cross section and should cause no further problems.

Lol - that "pop off while riding" thing that I've never experienced with these other tires including the ones that came with the bike is definitely something I want to avoid. :lol:

I thought I'd be able to just pop on a "for now" tire while waiting for others - as in buy, put it on, ride. No interest in going down a rabbit hole of dysfunctionality. But it's been a learning experience.

If the tire is a 27" x 1 1/4" tire, that's a problem - a 27" x 1 1/4" tire corresponds to an ISO 32-630 tire. If your rim is for a 700c, that tire has a bead seat diameter 8mm larger than your rim is designed to use. Ain't gonna work.

Sounds to me like somewhere along the way - maybe at the factory, maybe elsewhere, who knows - the wrong tire ended up in that box. I'd suggest taking the box and tire back to WalMart for an exchange or a refund.

Obviously Walmart doesn't want to carry steel beaded tires when they can get cheap folders in neat stackable boxes. Not long ago they were a convenient source for 27" tires. But the irony is that most 27" rims on old bikes have straight inside rims w/o a hook. Pumped up to 80 psi and you're likely to get a loud blow off. Fast forward to todays chaotic supply chain I can't even find those fine Pasela 27X1-1/4 tires for my Mavic 630 wheels.

At least one source on Amazon seems to have that size Panaracer Pasela's in stock (wire bead) for $26 ea.

https://www.amazon.com/panaracer-Pas...-17&th=1&psc=1

I don't know about your Blackburn Tire that claims to have a carbon steel bead and is foldable. Perhaps it's one single strand of a steel cable they used.. Usually foldable tires are kevlar beads and non-foldable tires are steel beads. Most every one of us on a road bike made this century and a decade or so into the previous century have used foldable tires for years whether we know it or not.

I do seem to remember my fist experience trying to install a foldable tire did leave me thinking they didn't fit. But once I figured it out, they were never an issue again.

Do you know what type rim is on your bike? I'd think it's crochet rims, but if you are putting these on an old Schwinn, you better not if it's a smooth bead rim.

It's about a five year old Giant Cypress DX I'm sure they're crotcheted - there's an obvious lip on the inside edge of the rim.

The tires aren't even the same size indicated on the box so they're going back.

This is the problem. Had the tires been the size indicated on the box, they would have fit perfectly