Can't seat bead

Get a long piece of clothes line or rope. Run it around the tire, following the center of the tread. Tie a knot in the ends, and stick a piece of pipe or a rachet under the knot and start turning it. Twist the slack out of the rope and draw it tight around the tire. The rope will press down on the center of the tire and it'll force the bead out towards the rim. Add some air and the bead should catch. As soon as it does, remove the rope.

Mount it on the bike with 10-15# in the tire. Then roll up and down the driveway until it seats. -2$en#e-

Is the tube in corrrectly? some times you can just spray with wd40 and let sit for a little while,may pop on itself. I have also used the ratcheting style tie downs as well as a last case....sometimes its best to dismount,remount the tire/tube......

A tie-down strap also works good to compress the center of the tire.

I'll try the strap and was thinking of that last night, but got tired of messing with it. The tube should be in there right, but do you ever really know for sure??? I've always put a little air in tubes to help them hold their shape when stuffing them in the tire and then squeeze the tire together to make sure I can see the rubber strip around the center of the rim all the way around on both sides.

I've heard that removing the valve core before the initial fill can help seat the bead (since this will let the air enter the tire faster).

John

Finally got it. Tried the strap... no go. Took all the air out and pushed the tire away from the edge on the side that wouldn't seat all the way around, brushed a little brake fluid all the way around and it seated with about 55#.

JRS said:

I've heard that removing the valve core before the initial fill can help seat the bead (since this will let the air enter the tire faster).

Click to expand...

Exactly as John says...that's the right way.

be careful using brake fluid...it will deteriorate certain rubbers/take paint off, etc.

i would have used dish soap or vegetable oil.

Windex works great too and evaporates real nice when done. :fart:

Some rubbers and brake don't get along, but sparingly on tires, tubes, etc. it's fine. Used it frequently back in the day for a whole host of rubber lubrication tasks. It's also great for putting dust boots on the forks of dirt bikes. Certainly isn't good for paint.

Actually, brake fluid and silicone based rubbers a no-no.

I use baby powder on the tube so it doesn't get pinched and then use a lanolin based hand cleaner to lube the tire bead and slobber the snot out it.

jrehm said:

Actually, brake fluid and silicone based rubbers a no-no.

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I've heard the same thing, along with stopping real quick after mounting may cause the tire to slip on the rim. I've heard murphys oil soap works well. I use this stuff called bead butter when installing my tires, freind did it with my help actually. here's the link to get some of the stuff. also heard if you use soap and water, your putting water inside of your rims and that's going to rust the inside of your rims out, steel chromed rims that is.

http://www.gemplers.com/a/shop/product.asp?T1=G67899&UID=2006010811320123469029

I've been changing my own tires for the last 30 years and this product is the best I've found. It leaves NO residue, doesn't cause rust and is very slippery. Tire Slick Liqui Gel. (over the last 12 months I've changed tires on 5 of my 6 road bikes).

Frank


http://www.tireslick.com/products.php?id=21