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I recently bought an Arkose R2, which has WTB Exposure tyres on WTB i19 rims.
Since taking off the tyres to fix a picture, I cannot for the life of me get the tyre beads to seat properly on the rim all the way round. I'm running with tubes, pumping up as high as 80 psi, but in some places the very tight tyres seems to stay hooked lower in the rim bed, leading to a lot of hop when the wheel is rotated.
Am I being a moron? Is this combination s particular pain?!? Help!?
Paint brush, concentrated soapy water all round rim and warm up tyre in sun before fitting.
Have tyre seated correctly at valve opposite end to the finish.
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Specialised EMT tyre levers are very robust and plastic. They can heft a stubborn bead without damage to rim.
If you add more pressure than 80PSI - please video.
Mix a little washing up liquid and water, wipe or spray bead and rim a little.
Inflate
Job done
Use more pressure and put soapy water on the bead / sidewall
If they're assymetric like some of my wtb rims then they're a bigger. Obviously tyres seats on the shallower side easily then doesn't seat on the steeper side without a fight.
Yep, they're very tight. As above, soapy water around the bead will help them to seat, and they usually go on with a fair old crack.
What they said, but also a shout for Pedros levers. Yellow ones are nice and easily located in grass and/or dark bag
Is this a WTB rim thing? I've ended up buckling a WTB rim recently trying to get a rear tyre on, and almost launched my front one after three attempts and a bust thumb.
Never had comparable problems with Alex, Mavic, or Mondraker own brand rims. Horrible. Will probably replace my front wheel rather than struggling with trying to change the next front tyre.
The actual lever you want are the flat schwalbe blue ones.
They have a proper hook and are extremely thin better than pedros by a long chalk.
I gave up on a set of WTB rimmed wheels but I didn’t know they could be asymmetric. Does that make a difference on how you should tackle them? It would be great if I could make use of them again.
The actual lever you want are the flat schwalbe blue ones.
I agree. And Schwalbe Easy Fit is better than soapy water as it will help seal the bead.
Thanks, folks, for the suggestions. For clarity, the problem isn't getting the tyre on the rim (although it is a pig to do so), but getting the bead to hook into the top, inner part of the rim - much of it ends up hooking further inside the rim. Will give the soapy water trick a try...
is it a folding tyre? I've used wtb rims and tyres for years with no problems but not those particular ones. what rim tape is on it? too thick?
soapy water is better than washing up liquid as it is slippier.
I semi regularly have to lube tubeless setups to get them to bead, lube the tyre sidewall and inner rim to allow the tyre to slide up.
Also still use the Park PTS-1 Tyre Seating Tool to pull beads up on stubborn setups.
I have a set of giant slr tubeless rims and it's near on impossible to seat a tyre properly without some kind of lubricant. And I'm not alone in finding that, the mag reviewers had the same issue.
Not a problem at home, but I'm dreading the day i get a puncture on the road. So much so that i bring with me a tiny 10mm bottle of washing up liquid whenever I venture out in case I need to fix mid ride
How do I know this would be about WTB tyres!
Night b4 tweedlove EWS I swapped out my hr2 for a vigilante, hours of swearing & sweating, latex everywhere
Eventually got it on about 1am
Anyway warm up the tyre first, lots of soapy water, they do stretch out after use as well
I use some soapy water in a spray bottle.
Rim tape also makes a difference. Proper Stans / WTB / Tesa type tape is naturally shiny and smooth and helps the tyre slide.
I carry a tyre bead jack tool on my winter bike as the tyre / rim combo means I couldn't get the tyre back on without it esp with cold hands. Luckily the GP4000s don't puncture very often....
As above, soapy water makes a big difference. I have an old Dettol spray bottle of soapy water in my workshop for such occasions.
And if you're still struggling, similar to the park tool seating tool. Put the wheel/tyre on the floor with it over inflated, stand on the tyre then pull up the opposite side of the wheel to try and help pull the bead away from the rim to help it seat. This worked when I had wtb rims.
Had exactly the same issue with some WTB Resolutes, it's like the outer surface of the bead drags on the inner surface of the rim and doesn't snap into place properly. You could actually see the outer woven finish just above the tyre bead being peeled back by the rim in places, really weird.
Stock answer seems to be some sort of lubricant, but since the Resolutes were just a tiny bit too big for my frame anyway I just saved myself the hassle and bought some Vittorias instead.