Have I bought tubeless wheels

mattbrown

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I bought some road wheels on ebay recently and have just fitted the tyres I had already lying around, but they dont quite sit right. I have let air out and checked for seating but every time I pump them up they still dont sit right - I can only think i have bought some tubeless wheels. If the photos are clear - they go in for about a quarter of the wheel on each wheel so when you spin them the tyres bob up and down. Do I need new tyres, and if so do i need tubeless ones?
 

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Re:

ok, I found the spec of the bike these came off and the tyres that were fitted weren't tubeless. So possibly I still havent seated them correctly.
 
Re:

some soapy water around the tyre bead will help it pop into place when you inflate it :cool:
 
That hasnt done anything. The tyres are folding. i may buy some new tyres, possibly the ones that would have come fitted to the wheels so there isnt a reason it cant fit. Maybe try steel beead.
 
Re:

Did you buy the tyres new?

It could be that the bead has stretched, a ham-fisted friend of mine managed to do it by removing a tyre with tyre levers and brute force, rather than squeezing the tyre into the centre well of the rim and pushing it around the rim to create some slack.

I can get most tyres on and off without any tools, like this:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNhLPXfd8FM[/youtube]
 
Re:

I had this phenomenon with several brands of folding tyre, even new ones, so it might be an installation error. As folding tyres do not have a firm bead to help locate the tyre uniformly around its circumference, you have to be a bit more patient to ensure this yourself. Try this:

1. Assemble the tyre and tube onto the rim with just enough air in the tube to avoid pinch flats during assembly - the usual process.
2. Inflate the tube a bit more, just enough to give the tyre and tube normal form, enough to fill the tube within the tyre such that the sidewalls are pushed out gently toward the rim seat. Then go around the circumference observing where the tyre sits high and/or low, usually there is a moulding line or design on the tyre which can be used as a reference. You will clearly see where the tyre is high/low. Use your two thumbs on the sidewall to ease high points back down into the rim seat and pull low points up. Do this on both sides. The gentle inflation pressure will hold the tyre in whatever new position you've adjusted.
3. Inflate some more to settle the beads more firmly into place, then check around the circumference again and do a bit more fine tuning of the position if needed. Drop pressure again to readjust sidewalls if needed (usually not needed). Spin the wheel on its axle and observe the tyre.
4. If tyre runout is OK or minor, inflate to full pressure.

Folding tyres definately need a bit more care to seat them nicely, you generally can't just assemble them in a hurry and expect zero runout. If you follow this process it should be fine. If still problematic then you may have defective tyres as described in previous post.
 
Re:

I've tried your advice Rad but to know avail. The tyres have be ona bike for about a year before I took them off and tried them on the new set of wheels I've recently bought. I've tried a differtent tube as well but I think I'll but a new set of tyres as a last resort.
 
Re:

I had this very same problem many moons ago with one of my cargo bikes at work, I couldn't work out why a brand new tyre was doing what you describe. It turns out that the tyre beading had indeed deformed through storage (on top of a radiator no less, by a previous employee).

I would try and source another tyre of the same size and see what happens...
 
Cant recall having this with road bike tyres but had one or two mtb tyres like this.

No amount of pushing and tugging would solve it. When ridden i couldnt feel any difference but having it on the front is a bit off putting seeing the tyre bob up and down or tread wobbling from side to side.

Solution is another different tyre.
 

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