How to pull low spots out of a tire without tire pliers

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MarkJohnston

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Mar 25, 2021
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Do you guys know how to pull the low spots out of a tire? The wheel looks out of true and has a wobble that and sends vibration throughout and hurts my hand. I already trued the rim.

What's the technique to fix this? I ve just been pulling and twisting side to side on low pressure
 

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Tire shops use soapy water to encourage the tire to slide into place.
Let the air out and soap the whole bead.
 
I did that and it didn't work. Everybody says I need tire pliers but I don't have any. This wood working vice won't work either. Wheel slips out and it's not round to hold the tire firmly
 
Notice you post same question in 3 places. Don't do that. Best to have all answers and information in one place.

Here

Re: Brake track split. Now what?

and

Re: Swalbe cargo e pick up 26 x 2.15 559 x 55

How I do it. Best tool to mount and dismount bike tires is your hands. If that don't work I use whatever I have. Been dreaming of buying special bike tire levers. I might be lucky, but I have never had such trouble mounting a bike tire. Have poked a hole in the tube with stupid tire levers. Mount the tire. Put some air in it. Done.

Here is some fun reading:

7 Ways to Seat Stubborn Bike Tires

If all else fails? Local bicycle shop might be able to figure out what is going wrong with your wheel, tire adventures?
 
MarkJohnston said:
I did that and it didn't work. Everybody says I need tire pliers but I don't have any. This wood working vice won't work either. Wheel slips out and it's not round to hold the tire firmly
Click to expand...

When mounting stubborn motorcycle tires, generous amounts of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish helps.
It is really slippery stuff.
Your taking the air pressure way up ?
 
PaPaSteve said:
MarkJohnston said:
I did that and it didn't work. Everybody says I need tire pliers but I don't have any. This wood working vice won't work either. Wheel slips out and it's not round to hold the tire firmly
Click to expand...

When mounting stubborn motorcycle tires, generous amounts of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish helps.
It is really slippery stuff.
Your taking the air pressure way up ?
Click to expand...

YEah I take it all the way to 100 PSI with copius amounts of straight up dish soap and tiny bit of water. Super slippery. I was afraid the cheap chinese inner tube was going to burst. IS it true a low spot in the tire hit at the right angle could damage the rim? Should I use a compressor to "shock the tire" when pumping it up? I've been using a floor pump
 
Lower the air pressure first. Like 20/25 psi. There's a sweet spot where it's just right to see the humps, but still be able to wiggle them. Sometimes you have to push in a high spot to pull out a low one. Then pump it a little more, wiggle some more etc. I like using Windex, less slippery after.
 
MarkJohnston said:
PaPaSteve said:
MarkJohnston said:
I did that and it didn't work. Everybody says I need tire pliers but I don't have any. This wood working vice won't work either. Wheel slips out and it's not round to hold the tire firmly
Click to expand...

When mounting stubborn motorcycle tires, generous amounts of Lemon Pledge Furniture Polish helps.
It is really slippery stuff.
Your taking the air pressure way up ?
Click to expand...

YEah I take it all the way to 100 PSI with copius amounts of straight up dish soap and tiny bit of water. Super slippery. I was afraid the cheap chinese inner tube was going to burst. IS it true a low spot in the tire hit at the right angle could damage the rim? Should I use a compressor to "shock the tire" when pumping it up? I've been using a floor pump
Click to expand...

I used the soapy water when I mounted Schwalbe tires, but only put in a few psi at a time, and worked the tire with my hands and added a little more air, and kept repeating; then filled it up until the bead popped into place. Took a few tries. Fortunately I dumped those tires before ever having to do any field repairs.
 
I told Swalbe about my problems. They sent me a free tire but they shipped it all tangled together. I haven't had a chance to install it because taking off a hub motor is a pain with all the torque arms and stuff. But it seems like that bead may have been damaged in transit.
 
I am probably going to need those tire pliers because the vice will not grip the tire since it is too round because it's too wide for the rim. I don't think that small low spot is too too bad, it's a little annoying and causes some un true ness. I am a pavement warrior however and am very good at spotting pot holes, glass, and other debris in the road. I usually baby the bike anyways and I have front suspension where this low spot is
 
I GIVE UP! I got a Schwalbe marathon plus e-25 and tried to mount it. IT, too, gets hung up on the rim. It such a janky POS rim! With the marathon 559-50 there is much smaller of a low spot but still there nonetheless. Surprisingly the cheap chinese tire that came with the kit goes on no problems and I can see the bead all the way around. too bad it's a POS tire. My hands hurt so badly from manipulating the tire. I wound up using tire leavers and screaming at the tire to get it even on there. WTF. I think I will next time to spend the extra $600 on a LEAf motor or something with a better rim. I am learning about wheel building right now.

WELL it;s not too big of a low spot. DId I mention I spent hours truing the rim because all the spokes came loose from riding a mtb trail with gnarly rocks + 50 LBS of cargo on the rack? I couldn't even get this thing true to within 1 mm. I could only get it true to 1.2 mm. Forget the radial truing, wheel has a hop in it. I GIVE UP!
 
Trying to follow along here. So can we chalk up all your frustrating problems getting the (Schwalbe tires) beads seated to a poor quality/poorly sized rim?
 
99t4 said:
Trying to follow along here. So can we chalk up all your frustrating problems getting the (Schwalbe tires) beads seated to a poor quality/poorly sized rim?
Click to expand...

Not sure because I have another problem with another rim. Yeah I think a wider rim would be better for this. But I measured the rim and it's perfectly round so it's very strange

Maybe schwalbe tires are really difficult to seat properly
 
Ok I got the marathons. First I put on the 19mm velox rim tape. Wow this tape is very thick and taking up a lot of space inside the rim! The new tape made getting a tire on much much more difficult.

I used the crappy stock tire that came with the kit AS A FIRST TEST. It has an oily substance on it. What is that? In any case that STOCK KIT TIRE THAT CAME WITH IT, IT DID inflate properly. The bead line showed perfectly on both sides!

Ok.... Then I deflated it. I put on the schwalbe marathons. And... Well it mostly is seated correctly except for a long 8 inch low spot where the bead line is just BARELY tucked under the rim. It's just one side.

Ok so my question is then how bad is this low spot since the rim is supported on one side. Also do you guys think the rim tape might be too thick? I spent a lot of money on that velox stuff. Do I need to take it of and using a thinner tape like electrical or tubeless tire tape?
 
MarkJohnston said:
First I put on the 19mm velox rim tape. Wow this tape is very thick and taking up a lot of space inside the rim! The new tape made getting a tire on much much more difficult.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's thick. I don't like it. Velox used to be the best tape for the job, but anymore I much prefer non-adhesive rim bands made of nylon fabric with a PVC coating.

One of the boneheaded maneuvers I deal with at the bike shop is when someone decided two layers of Velox are better than one, and then the tire won't come off.

I used the crappy stock tire that came with the kit AS A FIRST TEST. It has an oily substance on it. What is that?
Click to expand...

That's mold release compound. All tires have some on them, but nicer tires tend to use a drier waxier substance.

Ok so my question is then how bad is this low spot since the rim is supported on one side.
Click to expand...

If you mount a new tire any other way than fully seated, it will mold to that position and resist being fully seated later. Make sure to try soapy water and inflating to a little higher than the max rating.
 
Yeah I used soapy water and went 30 PSI over max. No dice. I wonder if it's the tape but the crappy tire seated just fine.

It's not that bad out of whack. I can just barely see the bead line. 90% of it dips under the rim. It was a free tire. I am tired of this crap. Im thinking I'll just roll with it for a while unless someone convinces me other wise. These tires are really bomb proof

The wheel is pretty true. Unfortunately getting the radial and lateral true perfect is really difficult with a janky cheap Chinese rim and spoke shaped objects. The wheel is out of round currently. Not much I can do about it.
 
Ok so I did manage to get a Swalbe tire to seat. These are the swalbe marathon with 5mm flat guard.

This is what it took.

I had used the velox rim tape which was too thick. The velox rim tape was also too wide. It managed to slide up the rim wall to the bead area preventing the tire from seating. WE are talking just millimeters off. That is how tight tolerances are inside this junky china rim.

So then I had to go to the store and get the best high quality electrical tape money can buy. SCOTCH. $10 a roll. It is PVC backed and water proof. HAs a high tensile strength or regular strength for electrical tape. I USED A DOUBLE WRAP. Knock on wood the tape will hold and not get destroyed, it is only 70 PSI and not high pressure like velox would be required for.Also a double wall rim with eyelets.

I then had to pump it up a couple times fearing the use of soapy water. I finally used soapy water and pumped to 100 PSI. FInally, finally managed to get a swalbe tire to seat.

I am not a fan of Swalbe anymore and will try KEnda again next time. I got a a puncture the other day after doing 500 miles in five days. a huge 10mm peice of chain left on the ride went straight through ruining a $24 extra thick tube and wasting a $8 REma patch kit trying to fix it. :x
 
For tires I've used:
1. Various cheap tires that came with bikes or motor kits
2. 2x Sunlite K831 Alpha Bite 26x1.95" and 26x2.15"
3. 2x Schwalbe Marathon Cross 700x38c
4. 1x Schwalbe Super Moto-X 20x2.4"
5. 1x Schwalbe Smart Sam 20x2.35"
6. 1x Schwalbe Big Ben 26x2.15"
7. 3x Schwalbe Marathon MTB 26x2.25"

They all have mounted with little trouble at all EXCEPT all three of the Schwalbe Marathon MTB tires! I swear their mold is just too small of a diameter at the bead, because all three have a low spot / dip just as described in this post.
 
I was just buying two schwalbe pick-up performance super defense e-50 tire. And it seems to tight a fit.
Should I use the Kenda drumlinargo E-50 ebike tire. Or something else 26in 2.0- 2.20 wide ? I go 43mph detuned. And 90lbs me 240lb 6'3". I hate getting a flat on a horse trail.
Should I buy a tire jack or tire pilers ? Big adjustable pliers big ones
Thanks for your help.
 
xytst1-1.jpg


https://www.westernbikeworks.com/product/unior-tire-setter

If you can weld, or know a friend who does, you can probably fab up a suitable facsimile with a x-large pliers and a couple of sections of 3" black pipe cut longitudinally.
 
99t4 said:
xytst1-1.jpg


https://www.westernbikeworks.com/product/unior-tire-setter

If you can weld, or know a friend who does, you can probably fab up a suitable facsimile with a x-large pliers and a couple of sections of 3" black pipe cut longitudinally.
Click to expand...

good idea. I lost my welding friends though. in any case i managed to just switch tires and rim tape. Swchalbes are tough to seat
 
I still haven't seated the bead. But I have access to an air compressor now. Should I use a bunch of lemon pledge and shock the tire ? Use compressor it until I can't hear any more air going into the tire?

Where I work the engineers told us to pump all the tires 15 PSI past their limit of 75 PSI. THEY SRE roadies I think. But the tires haven't blown out yet.

Seems like its safe to do this so long as you listen and see if an any more air is going into the tire.

I read somewhere something about the compressor helping to seat stubborn beads with force
 
I'm no friend of SCHWALBE tires. They pose as German's, but the majority of their tires are made in Indonesia.
They have a few top tires in the high performance line, but most are overpriced Indonesian crap with high tollerances and often plastic like rubber compound. Some of their tires are considered dangerous in the wet, but they last very long.
Very good marketing, low quality product. If you change from the average Schwalbe to a Continetal, Michelin or similar, the difference is very noticeable.
 
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