tedder987

So for a while I have been noticing that my rear wheel has a vertical wobble. Today I was going to see if I could fix it by adjusting spoke tension and found it wasn't the rim, it was the tire that had the (vertical plane) wobble.

Its a Schwalbe Racing Ralph, 29x2.3. When I measure with digital micrometer from the rim to the height of the first outside tread, and the width at the same point I get

near valve:
height: 1.9"
width: 2.3"

opposite valve
height: 1.71"
width: 2.21"

So across from the valve the tire is both shorter AND narrower by a significant amount.

When I bought the bike (used from theproscloset.com) the wheel did not have a noticable wobble and came set up with tubes. I converted it to tubeless about 3-4 months ago and it is possible that the wobble started then but it has certainly been present for a couple of months.

I find it hard to believe that Schwalbe sold a tire with dimension variations that big, and I don't remember the wobble when it was new (well new to me). So is it possible I somehow caused this setting it up tubeless? At the rim/bead interface everything looks consistent all the way around. Could this be the result of a lump of solidified sealant that is preventing the tire from stretching (seems unlikely to me). FWIW there was still liquid sealant present in the tire, and I was using Orange seal.

So can anyone on the internet help me solve this mystery and better yet suggest a solution that does not involve buying a new tire?

CliffordK

There should be a fine line around the outer part of the bead.

The first thing is to see if that line is even all the way around the wheel on both sides.

If it is uneven, that means that for one reason or another the bead isn't fully seated. Perhaps an issue with the rim tape. At least road tubeless tires are TIGHT.

tedder987

CliffordK, I think you got it. on close inspection it looks like at the low/skinny point, one side of the tire seems to have seated about 1/4" lower than the rest of the tire. The other side at the same point might also be a bit low (the tire is dirty enough its hard to see the line you mentioned, even after hosing it down a couple of times).

I am assuming the thing to do now is to break the bead at the "bad" spot and then see if it seats properly with the compressor on another try. Thanks for the help

CliffordK

Tire shops use bead lube by the bucketfull.

But, a little soap & water may suffice.

Kapusta

As suggested, I would remount the tire using some soapy water to get the bead to seat.

tedder987

Well my first few tries have all failed both dry and with soapy water. I did not stop and remove all the liquid sealant from it first and I think that the sealant blowing out is negating the soapy water. So I am going to have to pull the tire, get all the wet and dry sealant off of it before I try again. Think I my wait another week or two though as after fighting with it for the last 2 hours I would rather ride with the wobble than continue fighting at the moment.

Darth Lefty 

There may be a lot of dried sealant around the bead right there. It would be no surprise if you needed to take the thing off and peel some sealant loose.

tedder987

So I removed the tire, cleaned everything up, added tones of soapy water, rotated the tire 180 degrees and tried about 5 times and it always hangs up at the same spot 180 degrees across from the valve, exactly where the wheel joint is. And the wheel joint is at 45 degrees and is definitely not smooth, you can feel it easily with your finger (cheap stock wheels).

So I think its the lip of the joint that is hanging it up so that the bead does not set properly but I am not sanguine about trying to smooth or polish the inside of the bead with sand paper, so I am at a loss of what to do (other than buy a new wheel, but I just bought new wheels for my road bike last month so thats not really an option without first getting a divorce).

Anyone have any other ideas of what to try?

tyrion

I'd pump it up to over max spec'd pressure (max spec is quite conservative) and see if it pops in.

tedder987

I have been taking it to 55psi where 50 is the sidewall limit. Not sure how much higher I feel safe doing...

CliffordK

Gentle use of a very fine file or sandpaper can clean up a rough spot on the rim. It should make it easier to get a good seal while seating the bead.

I'm seeing notes suggesting you can go up to about 150% of the sidewall pressure (with good lube).

mvignoly93

I have the same issue

c_m_shooter

Sounds like your valve is keeping the tire from sweating. Loosen the locknut, push it in and see if it seats properly. I would just put a tube in it. The convenience of tubeless sounds like a lot of trouble.