MyBikeGotStolen

This question is sorta a follow up on a question I had a week or two ago: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ese?highlight=

So, I finally got a new set of tires for this bike. I got a set of Bontrager Hard Case Racelites. My rims are a ~1987 set of Araya rims. When I first put the tires on the rims, I noticed that they almost seemed to be "too loose" of a fit. I could install and uninstall the tires without using a tire lever, and without too much strain.

After installing these tires, I noticed that it was really had to get the bead to seat on the rim. It looked like it was tucking under, and then around the valve the rim was trying to pop off the bead.

Anyways, I guess my question here, is there such a thing as a bad tire/rim combo? I have a tire 100 times, and have never had this much drama! Should I just try to swap these tires out with the tires on another of my bikes?

MyBikeGotStolen

I guess I should add that these are my first set of folding bead tires, I am assuming that the mounting procedure is the same for them as with a non-folding bead

JanMM

I've only mounted folding tires once and it was just like mounting a tire except that it felt a little 'weird'. I had no problems.

JanMM

Yes, some tires don't play well with some rims. I have no experience with any Bontrager tires.
Your tire size matches your rim size? Guessing you are putting 27" tires on 27" rims.

MyBikeGotStolen

Thanks, I am going to probably just try another set. I have a set of Vittoria Zaffiros that took me about 20 minutes a piece to put on my Cannondale, so maybe they will hold better on the Araya rims.

Rim/tire are definitely same size at 700c. I made sure to triple check that since it is an older bike and I didn't know if it was 700 or 26

Bill Kapaun

You need to push the valve stem in some and let the tire bead seat to the rim.
Right now, you have the reinforced area of the valve stem sitting between the bead and the rim.

Let the air out (almost all), push in stem, "massage" bead to where it should be, pull stem back out and air up.

Kimmo

Yeah, that. You don't have much chance of seating the tyre properly with the valve's base under the bead.

It might still take a bit of faffing about; with a tyre that doesn't want to seat properly, I put about 10psi in it so I can manoeuvre the bead into place and it'll stay there. Spin the wheel to confirm the bead's seated before continuing to inflate.

MyBikeGotStolen

Thanks for the tips! I finally got it on there nice and round. I first did the stem poking thing, then inflated to about 20 psi and lined up the bead where I could. Then I aired up to 30 psi and worked more of the bead into place. By 40 psi I was able to get the entire bead where it needed to be.

Lets just hope these RaceLites are as good as people say. I would hate to be stuck on the side of the road with 10 other riders waiting on me to HOPEFULLY get my tire back on right!

GeorgeBMac

+1 Using Bontrager 700x28 tire with a 700x28-32 tube and a Mavic rim (probably designed for the 700x23 tires the bike was originally fitted with). Everything fitted and went together well except: At the valve, the tube was blocking the bead from going down far enough to seat properly until I inflated the tube about half way -- then I was able to get the bead seated on the rim all the way around... It was like the tube was just too big for the rim and tire combincation -- like there wasn't enough room between the valve and the rim for the bead to squeeze in. After getting back to the LBS, at their recommendation, I bought a spare tube but in a smaller (700x23-25) size. Hopefully I won't have to find out if that is any easier to install.

Kimmo

I've never had to do it in stages like that... anyway, with a bit of luck you'll find they behave better in future; with time and pressure the rubber on the bead will change shape to become a more exact fit.

This is why you can wreck a tyre by leaving it improperly seated; sometimes they'll just refuse to ever seat properly again if you leave it too long.

JohnDThompson 

A tip from the bike industry, where we have to mount hundreds of tires daily: a bowl of soapy water and a basting brush. Once the tire is on the rim, brush the soapy water along the bead. Inflate partially, and the bead should pop into place. Check to ensure the tube isn't pinched under the bead anywhere, then fully inflate.