Part of tyre won't seat properly on rim

[Brucey]

I have also had to resort to overinflation to get some tyres to seat correctly. Some tyres seem to be worse than others. Folding tyres are often worse than rigid ones, presumably because the bead is meant to stretch slightly when the tyre is inflated. IME contis are frequently a bit on the tight side when they are new, however, improved lubrication usually sorts them out.

FWIW you can get special pliers for moving recalcitrant tyres around but anyone with a MIG welding machine can probably make their own, since they seem to be little more than a cheap set of water pump pliers with bits of shaped steel sheet (which look suspiciously like they could be cut from a section of bent tube) welded to them.

[Cowsham]

This thread is from 2007, long before tubeless bike tyres.
I have just one bike tubeless, no issues at all ( so far!) fitting or using.
Maybe rim and tyre sizing is better controlled now?
Years back Rigida Chrina rims had a (deserved) dreadful reputation for being oversize, and even longer ago 27” Michelin zig-zag tyres were so loose on Weinmann rims that you always got a bump-bump unless you put tape on the bead seat to increase the effective diameter

But my rims are tubeless ready ( 2019 pinnacle Arkose R2 ) The tyre is a Marathon greenguard as mentioned above. Maybe the success with the oversized tube was just a fluke but will carry that oversized tube now just in case.

[531colin]

Marathon greenguard isn’t tubeless ready, is it?

[JohnR]

I put some dilute washing-up liquid on the beads of tubeless tyres to help them slide into place when inflated. Can't the same be used with tubed tyres?

[Cowsham]

Marathon greenguard isn’t tubeless ready, is it?

No but it's a modern tyre ( not sure about that statement ) and as I'm fitting a tube it doesn't need to be tubeless ready but the rims definitely are.

[531colin]

Sorry, I obviously wasn’t clear;
I was speculating that tubeless rims and tyres appear to be made to a more accurate size than “tubed” .
So I would expect “tubeless ready” tyres and rims to fit properly whether used with or without tubes.
In your situation, you have a “non tubeless ready” tyre, so the “fit” is governed by the manufacturing tolerance of that tyre.

[Cowsham]

Sorry, I obviously wasn’t clear;
I was speculating that tubeless rims and tyres appear to be made to a more accurate size than “tubed” .
So I would expect “tubeless ready” tyres and rims to fit properly whether used with or without tubes.
In your situation, you have a “non tubeless ready” tyre, so the “fit” is governed by the manufacturing tolerance of that tyre.

Ah -- that could explain it.

[Brucey]

IIRC the new ISO standard for wheel rime basically says that if a tyre doesn't fit, measure the rim carefully, then blame the tyre. I think this is a pretty fair approach.

[Cowsham]

The schwalby Marathon is a well established and respected tyre as is the continental gaitor skin surely?

[2_i]

I had this problem with an old-stock Conti Touring tire in 20" size. The tire would not fully pop out from the rim somewhere around the circumference, producing a bumpy ride. I deflated the tire and tried to reseat it, and it would again stay half-in the rim, but at another location.

I read about using soapy water, ordered a tire seater Park Tool PTS-1, and decided to work on the tire until it would seat correctly. What worked for me was inflating the tire just a bit, using the soapy water, and roughing the tire with wide-jaw pliers, not yet those dedicated ones, until the tire was sitting evenly. Only then did I pump up the tire to full pressure.

By now, the dedicated Park Tool seater has arrived, and it will likely grab the tire more organizedly. There is also a Unior version of the seater 1601/2DP-US.

[Stradageek]

Nice to see that others have the same problems - I've used all the solutions listed above, in my experience there's no single reliable method for a truly recalcitrant tyre.

I punctured on a ride the other day and couldn't get the tyre to seat properly (it was fine before) a professional cycle mechanic stopped by and offered to help, he failed too. His explanation was "yup this sometimes happens, that's why I have a large can of silicon lubricant spray in my workshop".

[531colin]

The schwalby Marathon is a well established and respected tyre as is the continental gaitor skin surely?

But that says nothing about the manufacturing tolerances, does it?

[Cowsham]

Nice to see that others have the same problems - I've used all the solutions listed above, in my experience there's no single reliable method for a truly recalcitrant tyre.

I punctured on a ride the other day and couldn't get the tyre to seat properly (it was fine before) a professional cycle mechanic stopped by and offered to help, he failed too. His explanation was "yup this sometimes happens, that's why I have a large can of silicon lubricant spray in my workshop".

I'm going to make up something like that Park Tool PTS-1 thing out of a cheap set of pipe pliers --

While I was looking at the prices those I happened to see these.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176304079284 ... media=COPY

For getting a stubborn tyre onto the rim first. I haven't the strongest of hands but always manage to get the tyre on but it can take a while sometimes.

Carrying one of these plastic tools could get me on the road a lot sooner -- especially since most of my cycling is commuting and being late for work is a penalty ( basically one of the metrics the firm uses to score points towards review scores )

[JohnR]

Somewhere in my bike baggage should be a small bottle (the size used for shampoo in some hotels) of diluted washing-up liquid. It is good lubricant for intransigent tyre beads and can also be used for cleaning dirty fingers. I like the Schwalbe tyre levers. They include the useful feature of being able to clip on a rim and holding one part of a tyre in place on the rim while wrestling with another part.