New tire problem

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Hi, first post. I just got a Fuji Roubaix, my first road bike. While riding it for the first time I noticed a thumping from the tires (Continental Ultrasport). I got off and spun the wheel by hand and noticed an uneven spot on the tire as it spun by. Same thing on the rear tire. I called the shop where I bought it and they said to bring it in. When the mechanic looked at the tires, he said it is common and it would work itself out. He did try deflating and inflating but no change. Is this something I should worry about or just keep riding until it works itself out?

Thanks
Tim

He did try deflating and inflating but no change. Is this something I should worry about or just keep riding until it works itself out?

Thanks
Tim
No, it's not common, and it certainly will not work itself out. You've either got two defective tires or two tires that are improperly mounted. It's more likely that the beads weren't seated correctly in the rim flanges, and the tubes might be peeking out between the beads and the rim.

You can seat the tires yourself. Just mark the bulges with a crayon or chalk, deflate the tubes, and see that there's no tube peeking underneath. If there is, work it back inside with a tire lever and re-inflate slowly, making sure the bulge doesn't reappear. If it reappears somewhere else, the chances are that the bead is too loose for your rim. Then I'd insist that your dealer replace the tires.

Hi, first post. I just got a Fuji Roubaix, my first road bike. While riding it for the first time I noticed a thumping from the tires (Continental Ultrasport). I got off and spun the wheel by hand and noticed an uneven spot on the tire as it spun by. Same thing on the rear tire. I called the shop where I bought it and they said to bring it in. When the mechanic looked at the tires, he said it is common and it would work itself out. He did try deflating and inflating but no change. Is this something I should worry about or just keep riding until it works itself out?

Thanks
Tim

What a hack(bike shop guy, not you). Sounds like the tires weren't seated, the bead on the tire all the way into the 'hook' of the rim. Not enough air, just not seated, tube pinched between tire and rim, tire to narrow for rim(doubt this tho).

What a hack(bike shop guy, not you). Sounds like the tires weren't seated, the bead on the tire all the way into the 'hook' of the rim. Not enough air, just not seated, tube pinched between tire and rim, tire to narrow for rim(doubt this tho).
I agree with Peter + it is also possible that a belt is broken.

http://sheldonbrown.com/flats.html

Especially sections on Tire Inspection & Re-Installing the Tire.

Also while the bike shop guy was telling me this we checked some other Fuji's in the shop and those tires were the same!

Also while the bike shop guy was telling me this we checked some other Fuji's in the shop and those tires were the same!

Once again, no bad bikes just questionable bike shops. I have never understood why bike shops that sell 'bikes outta boxes(we don't), use the guy at the bottom of the food chain to put them together. Just like seeing a dirty new car, the first impression a person gets, often right after talking to the rude sales clone, is test rides on a poorly assembled bicycle.

Also while the bike shop guy was telling me this we checked some other Fuji's in the shop and those tires were the same!If THAT is true, then I suspect that someone at the factory installed the wrong size tube (i.e., too large) in an entire batch of wheelsets ...

Regardless, the shop should replace the tube and/or tire-and-tube for you to resolve the problem (at their cost).

Update: I went back to the shop and they agreed to try and fix the problem. The swapped out 2 sets of tires and tubes and rim tape the problem still existed. Then the manager informed me that they wanted to swap the rims. After swapping rims it solved the problem. They put on Forte Titan rims front and back (no charge.) So far so good. Thanks for everyone's input

Tim


If THAT is true, then I suspect that someone at the factory installed the wrong size tube (i.e., too large) in an entire batch of wheelsets ...

Regardless, the shop should replace the tube and/or tire-and-tube for you to resolve the problem (at their cost).

They put on Forte Titan rims front and back (no charge.) So far so good. Thanks for everyone's input

Tim
Interesting. A problem with the rims themselves should have been easy for the shop to diagnose right away.

Was this a Performance shop, by any chance?

Yes, it was Performance.



Interesting. A problem with the rims themselves should have been easy for the shop to diagnose right away.

Was this a Performance shop, by any chance?

Yes, it was Performance.
The stuff I've bought from Performance generally gave me what I needed, but I can see how this bike and salesperson slipped through. Glad you persisted. The Forte wheels should do the job nicely.

The stuff I've bought from Performance generally gave me what I needed, but I can see how this bike and salesperson slipped through. Glad you persisted. The Forte wheels should do the job nicely.
OBC, your "educated guess" certainly doesn't say much for the quality of Performance sales and service personnel. Can't understand how they would sell a Fuji with defective wheels, but it probably tells us what they think of their new bike customers.

Do you have any experience with Forte wheels? I'm leary of them because build quality is so important to the life of a wheelset, and don't see how they could afford to take time to properly stress-relieve and evenly tension the spokes at the prices these sell at. How would you rate them, honestly?

Performance is a chain, and like all chains, your local store is only as good as the people working and running it.

I've never bought a complete bike or Forte wheels from Performance but I know people who have and have been very satisfied. I just bought a second set of Forte pedals after relegating the ones I've been using for ten years to my fixie, and I'm pleased as hell with them.

I've been buying stuff from Performance since 1979 and they've never disappointed me, so I believe they deserve some benefit of the doubt. Bikes come out of crates in unimaginable condition and I can understand how a bad set of wheels can squeak through. Performance did the right thing to try to fix the wheels one more time, and they did the right thing to pull a decent sub-2000gr wheelset off the rack to make the bike right. Remember that the bike in question is a Fuji Roubaix.