# Tubeless tire not mounting evenly



## amiller72 (Oct 1, 2010)

Hey - I'm trying to mount new Maxxis Ardent tires, tubeless, on a set of standard alloy rims that came with my Niner Air9 carbon. I can't get the bead of the tire to mount evenly all along the rim. So it leaves a huge hop in tire when rolling.
I've remounted several times....same behavior. I've checked the rim tape, and it seems even. The tire bead doesn't seem damaged or uneven. 
Check out the attached pic - you can see where the bead goes too far into the rim. I've pulled and yanked the tire at this spot to get it to sit higher, but nothing. 
Any suggestions on how to get the tire to seat evenly? Thanks!


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## ksujeff99 (Nov 12, 2012)

How much pressure have you tried? Usually on new tires you have to go far above the pressure you’d ride at. Your alloy rims should be rated plenty high enough. Try 50psi and see what you get.

Next lubricate the bead if that doesn’t work. You need the bead to work itself up on the shelf. Lots of suggestions on the web. Google some ideas. 

Between higher pressure and lubrication you should get there. 


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## austink26 (Jun 24, 2019)

Spray the bead with some soapy water before inflating. And as previously stated keep pumping until the bead locks in. 

If you aren’t comfortable putting in more pressure, let some air out so it is pretty soft and manually pull that part of the tire into place. 


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## Charliektm400exc (Jan 10, 2020)

I’m not sure about bikes yet, but on motorcycles if this happens, and the other two suggestions don’t work, just going for a ride usually fixes it


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## Mikhs (May 18, 2006)

Like ksujeff and austink mentioned, lube it and keep pumping until the bead pops.


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## ocnLogan (Aug 15, 2018)

It’s just a tight bead, and it hasn’t fully set on the shelf/hook on the rim yet. 

A buddy of mine was installing a set of tires at my place a few weeks back, and he had the same issue. 

In addition to the other suggestions, I’d also say to try using heat to make the tire more pliable (within reason of course). Not sure what the temps are where you are, but my garage is/was about 50f, so bringing the tire indoors, and using a hair drier (not heat gun) on the tight spot eventually loosened it up enough to get it to fully seat. 

Manually trying to move it over didn’t work for him. Soapy water helped, but wasn’t enough, but soapy water + enough heat to soften the tire did the trick for him.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Even on the tightest beads, 30psi typically is enough for me. And the bang from the bead snapping into place....shudder. If you've ever blown up a tube from a poor install, that sound will make you a bit jumpy. I can't imagine the sort of bang you'd get from an even more stubborn one that won't fully seat until 50psi.

I WOULD be careful about the pressure, though. Some rims recommend 30psi as a max. Particularly when you're talking about bigger tires, but not always.


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## sturge (Feb 22, 2009)

Just mounted up a new set of Spank Oozy's with Maxxis DHF's. Had the same issue when I first set them up at around 35psi using my compressor to seat them. Bounced them around a bit to get the sealant worked in and put them on bike. That's where I noticed a wobble due to portions of bead that was not fully seated. I used my floor pump (not the compressor) and went up to about 45psi and they 'popped' into place.


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## Trinimon (Aug 6, 2019)

Good soapy water (heavier on the soap) usually pops the seal into place by the time I hit 30psi sometimes even sooner.


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## Kolchak (May 15, 2017)

i usually just go for a ride if I have a stubborn tire like that. a nice bouncy ride at lower pressure usually pops it the rest of the way in. I don't go barreling down any scary stuff at mach-chicken, but a standard trail ride usually does the trick.


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## Cleared2land (Aug 31, 2012)

Mach-chicken...I like that.


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## Taroroot (Nov 6, 2013)

I remember at the shop there was a big plier thing with paddle jaws that was for grabbing tires and pulling them onto bead, this was in days way before tubeless.
But for me I just pump it up and wait for the ping/pop of the bead seating.
Yes, watch the pressure, those exploding tubes are always fun, I hate to have been around when the whatever fools pumped up a new fatbike wheel and exploded the rim, saw the aftermath.


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## Rod (Oct 17, 2007)

Be careful with the pressures over 30. I've blown some nice tires off the rim and rendered them useless. The soapy water and manually moving it works for me. 

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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

Apply soapy water around the bead and do not inflate above the max recommended pressure stamped on the tire. 

If you don't get 3 or so solid pops from the bead seating, set the tire out in direct sunlight for ~30 minutes.


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## amiller72 (Oct 1, 2010)

ocnLogan said:


> In addition to the other suggestions, I'd also say to try using heat to make the tire more pliable (within reason of course). Not sure what the temps are where you are, but my garage is/was about 50f, so bringing the tire indoors, and using a hair drier (not heat gun) on the tight spot eventually loosened it up enough to get it to fully seat.


This was the tip that gave me success in the end. I tried all the other suggestions of using plenty of soapy water, or inflating with a tube first. But what worked was I left the tires out in the sun on the hood of my car, for about an hour. Softened them up just enough that they eventually (still with a bunch of fast pumping and soapy water) popped into place. Whew! Thanks for the tip ocnLogan.


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## amiller72 (Oct 1, 2010)

edubfromktown said:


> ....set the tire out in direct sunlight for ~30 minutes.


. 
This was the tip that made all the difference! Thanks edubfromktown!


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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

Awesome! 

I've wrestled with some tubeless setups over the last decade or so that were just plain stubborn for whatever reason. The way I stumbled upon this solution was being pissed off and put the damn thing outside (out of sight out of mind). 

Walked away for a while (thinking there must be a better way). ~20 mins later I heard a POP and laughed my arse off


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