29er tire mounting issues

[diylighter]

Hey guys, I've been having a bit of trouble with mounting my 29er tires with tubes lately. Feeling a bit amateurish cause I thought I had this down pretty well - mounting without tools and all, but the trouble is that after mounting and inflating, I put them back on the bike and give them a spin and they wobble like crazy. It's not the rims. They are new and true. 2 different tires lately - Kenda Nevagal and Maxxis high roller. Both Kevlar beads. Mounting to Giant standard 29er rims (would have to check the model), but had this problem on Bontrader race disc 29er rims too.

One thing that may be causing me grief is that I ran out of baby powder so have been just throwing in new tubes. They do tend to be sticky and I'm wondering if that is the reason that are inflating unevenly. Sometimes they even pooch out new the valve stem because they didn't get down in the groove I guess (maybe due to lack of powder?).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[shiggy]

Hey guys, I've been having a bit of trouble with mounting my 29er tires with tubes lately. Feeling a bit amateurish cause I thought I had this down pretty well - mounting without tools and all, but the trouble is that after mounting and inflating, I put them back on the bike and give them a spin and they wobble like crazy. It's not the rims. They are new and true. 2 different tires lately - Kenda Nevagal and Maxxis high roller. Both Kevlar beads. Mounting to Giant standard 29er rims (would have to check the model), but had this problem on Bontrader race disc 29er rims too.

One thing that may be causing me grief is that I ran out of baby powder so have been just throwing in new tubes. They do tend to be sticky and I'm wondering if that is the reason that are inflating unevenly. Sometimes they even pooch out new the valve stem because they didn't get down in the groove I guess (maybe due to lack of powder?).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Sounds like the bead is not completely seated.

Bring the pressure up to the tire's rated maximum and let it sit for a bit.

[MTB Pharm]

a little soapy water on the bead helps it pop into place too.

[brianhirtchu]

a little soapy water on the bead helps it pop into place too.

SAGE ADVICE

a little soapy water goes a LONG way....
just watch the pros doing car tires. same principal smaller scale.

lubricating the sticky rubber enough to let the bead seat fully and easily.

[Cotharyus]

One thing worth mentioning, don't just take the tire straight from not inflated to it's max pressure. Put enough air in it to let it hold itself in place, and manipulate the whole thing, make certain it's right and not wobbling at low pressure, then take the pressure up and seat the bead.

[Maestro]

Soapy water, slight inflation, adjust tire beads manually, then full inflation. All good advice! Wear safety glasses.

Make sure your rim strip is not too wide and riding in the bead lock area of the rim, where the tire seats. I have had that happen.

Some tire / Rim combo's are just crazy tight. Just try installing a GEAX Saguarao on a Bontrager Duster rim! Forget it!

[wv_bob]

Watch where you put your fingers too, the tire will pop out that last little bit all at once and could pinch you. I grew up around a guy who lost the end of his thumb at a gas station inflating a bike tire. My Bontrager 29-3 tires on both WTB and Flow rims will only pop out if soaped or if taken to high pressure.