polygon1

Trying to install new GravelKing SSes, and I just can't get the bead to seat fully all around – part of it seems to keep catching in the centre channel of the rim and won't seat properly, even at max pressure. Any tips?

Troul 

is it tubeless? If not, spray some soap around the bead & squeeze the sidewall once it's accumulating pressure without air escaping.

polygon1

Not tubeless – but I have fabric rim tape (Velox) on my rims. Won't the moisture get trapped under the tire and eventually damage the tape?

Duragrouch

A tube should expand the tire and seat the bead. But if not, here is a trick I have used on tubeless trailer tires where the bead came undone and simple manual air pump flow was not enough to seat it, not sure if this will work on a more flexible bike tire: Put a ratchet strap around the whole tire, right on center of the tread. Now tighten it. On the trailer tire, it pushed the sidewalls out onto the bead and I was able to get some pressure in the tire to seat the beads, then release the ratchet strap, and fully inflate.

Bill Kapaun

I think we might have heard something by now.

"Velox rim tape has be an industry staple for nearly 100 years. It is an adhesive backed cotton cloth tape that is designed to guard against tube punctures."

Iride01 

I've not had Velox come loose from using soapy water. But I have had it come loose when using some petroleum based cleaners on my rim and it soaked through the spoke holes.

I tend to use baby powder still for new tires and new tubes. I have a bucket and lid with baby powder in it. I put the tube and folding tire in there then put the lid on and shake it till tube and tire are covered. It really does seem to help everything slide into place. Not sure if the corn starch based baby powder works as well. I still have a big container of the talc based baby powder from BITD.

If you don't wish to use soapy water or baby powder, it ought to be fairly easy to pull the tire bead up onto the rims bead seat before you start putting air in the tube. Just pinch the sidewall with your fingers and pull it up. Or at least get it out of the spoke channel. If you have some air in the tube you may not be able to pinch it enough to pull.

If your cloth Velox is going all the way to the bead seat which some say is proper, then that might be a issue too. I always used a size that only went a few mm beyond the spoke nipples. But that narrow can sometimes be other problems later. But I seldom had them.

Kontact 

What moisture? From tubeless sealant? You don't use Velox for tubeless.

But Velox might be the problem. If you are mounting a tubeless ready tire on a tubeless ready rim, Velox might be way too thick for the bead to pop over.

polygon1

From using soapy water to help seat. But it sounds like other people haven't had that issue. It's not a tubeless rim.

Kontact 

If it's a tubeless tire, I would assume the Velox is too thick.

Bill Kapaun

IF I need a bead lubricant, I just apply dish soap with my finger around the bead. No water.

grumpus

Velox rim tape can get dirty and rust stained but it always seems to remain intact. If it's too wide though, or not straight it could be the cause of your problem. Or maybe the valve is trapped under the bead. Sometimes just working towards the tight spot from the opposite side of the rim, working from both directions at once pushing with your thumbs towards the tight spot, will gently ease it onto the bead seat. Or leave it inflated to the max and try again tomorrow - it may stretch a little. I once had a faulty tyre that refused to seat despite my best efforts - I returned it and the replacement was trivially easy to fit.

50PlusCycling

Gravel Kings are tubeless-ready, the bead is a tight fit, but if your rim tape is installed properly, it shouldn’t interfere with bead seating. Soapy water, with lots of soap (I use dish detergent) will allow the beads to more easily seat. It may take some extra pressure to get them properly seated, it can sound like a firecracker going off when the beads pop into place.

KerryIrons

Water has this intrinsic property where it evaporates. Unless it is some sort of sealed container (this is not) the inside of your tire will equilibrate with the surrounding atmosphere.

tFUnK

Try pumping it up to the max and let it sit overnight. I don't know what size tires or what kind of rims you are working with but I've had a couple of 40mm tires that won't settle right when pumped to my recommended pressure of 45psi, so I go to 55psi and let it sit and the next day it settles. I've done this with tubes and tubeless - having a tube works better but I've gotten it to work in both cases.

If it's not obvious: I would not do this with say a 25mm road tire and pumping it up 120psi+. Never had a road tire not seat properly beyond 60-80psi.

rm -rf

My rims came with the very thin, smooth tubeless tape, even though I use tubes. (I didn't like how far the tape dimpled into the drilled spoke holes, leaving bulges on the tube itself. So I added a narrow 10mm tubeless tape layer over the middle -- not really necessary, but I like it.

The smooth tape should work better than the rough cloth surface of the Velox.

Installing tubeless tape: I have to pull on the roll to stretch it onto the rim, and go slow, to keep it centered and the edge away from the bead channel.