WTB Rim

[tykeboy2003]

Anyone had a problem getting a tyre to sit properly on a rim? I noticed that the rim has a significantly raised ridge which seems to prevent the bead from getting onto the rim. The result is illustrated by the attached image. I tried swapping the tyres and got the same result. The other wheel rim is a Mavic and both tyres sit perfectly on it (it's a mate's bike which had a different problem that I was looking at).

[francovendee]

I had a problem with a set of Schwalbe tyres I fitted to a rim that had seen a number of tyres sitting properly on it.
I tried inflating at a higher than normal pressure as advised but to no avail. I ended up smothering the tyres with talc. It still didn't seat properly the first time but deflating and inflating the tyre a couple more times I got it to fit. Getting them seated after that wasn't a problem. I've no idea what caused the problem, just glad I found a fix.

[Brucey]

soapy water can help tyres to seat easily too, but if there is a big enough mismatch between tyre and rim then the tyre may never seat correctly.

Not all rims and tyres are equally well made.

cheers

[tim_f]

WTB rims are optimised for tubeless tyres, i think the ridge is designed to help retain the tyre bead, and get a good seal to stop 'burping' of air.

Are you attempting to fit with a inner tube ?

With tubeless tyres a blast of air is used to 'pop' the tyre bead over the the ridge.

Would putting a n extra layer of rim tape (or electrical tape ) help ?

[amediasatex]

WTB rims are optimised for tubeless tyres

Some WTB rims are optimised for tubeless tyres.

Their current range is pretty much all tubeless, but that's a relatively recent thing, they've been making rims since before tubeless was a thing, and for a long while only their posh rims were tubeless. Certainly most of their rim brake rims were not tubeless.

OP, worth checking the rim tape too sometimes a bit of a ridge or bunching or even just the tape sitting off-centre can make it harder for one bit of the bead to pop into the right place.

[Brucey]

we don't know in this case if the rim is tubeless or not, but the conclusion I have come to (rightly or wrongly) is that I shall only bother with tubeless rims (esp those with a bead-retaining lip of any significance) if I am definitely going to use tubeless tyres. Since I am also not convinced that tubeless tyres offer any real benefit for me, that might be 'never'.

cheers

[tykeboy2003]

Are you attempting to fit with a inner tube ?

Yes.

Thanks for your info, it now makes sense. My mate has taken his bike back now so I'll let him know.

Thanks for all the other replies.