Seating Vredestein Tyres - a nightmare!

I've just bought 2 Vredestein Scarab tyres. The first ride with the was awful, it felt like I was
riding on oval wheels!

Closer inspection showed that at various points the rim line on the tyres disappeared under the rim.

The damn things are impossible to seat. No matter how many times I try it is impossible to seat
either tyre so that the rim line doesn't disapear below the rim at several points. At some places
the Vredestein logo is half below the rim.

Any ideas? They're steel beaded and I have never had this sort of problem with any other
tyres fitted to these rims. Is it just a case of shoddy manufacture or is there something
else I'm missing.

Any tricks to help me fit these things would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards Paul.

 

Paul wrote:
> I've just bought 2 Vredestein Scarab tyres. The first ride with the was awful, it felt like I was
> riding on oval wheels!
>
> Closer inspection showed that at various points the rim line on the tyres disappeared under
> the rim.
>
> The damn things are impossible to seat. No matter how many times I try it is impossible to seat
> either tyre so that the rim line doesn't disapear below the rim at several points. At some places
> the Vredestein logo is half below the rim.
>
> Any ideas? They're steel beaded and I have never had this sort of problem with any other tyres
> fitted to these rims. Is it just a case of shoddy manufacture or is there something else I'm
> missing.
>
> Any tricks to help me fit these things would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Kind Regards Paul.
>
>

Had the same trouble with V. Spiders when new. Soaped the rim and pumped them to max. rec. pressure
to set them and had no further trouble. Glad I persevered because they were great heavy duty tyres,
very puncture resistant.

Soap the rim lightly by moistening your finger and dab a cake of bath soap or similar and run it
around the rim and/or tyre where the bead sits and inflate straight away while still wet.

Good luck,

Alan.

 

Thanks for the idea, sounds good. I'd thought about using something to lube the rim with but wasn't
sure what to try (GT85, talc. etc.).

I've tried pumping them up to max. pressure with no luck. The strange thing is that the tyres aren't
particularly tight on the rim, with the tyre fitted but not pumped up it's possible to manipulate
the bead into place but in doing so another section ends up well below, no matter what there is
always 2 points (each tyre) where the rimline goes deeply under the rim for several inches.

I think part of the problem also is that my bike is relatively cheap and so 'attention to detail'
isn't quite what is would be on a more expensive bike, consequently the rims are fitted with cheap
rubber rim tape with also seems to be very loose fitting and can shift all over the place during
fitting the tyres, I guess that if the bead is resting against rubber rim tape it's going to be
hard to shift.

For now I've gone back to using my old tyres (which also don't seat absolutely perfectly), I'll try
the Scarabs again later,get some proper fabric rim tape and try your soaping technique.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Kind Regards, Paul

 

On Sun, 25 May 2003 10:05:27 +0100, "Paul" <[email protected]> wrote:

I'll try the Scarabs again later,get some proper
>fabric rim tape and try your soaping technique.
>
>Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
>
>Kind Regards, Paul
>

..there's your answer, maybe. Sometimes if the rim tape is too wide, it doesn't just cover the spoke
nipples - it also crowds into the channels where the tire-beads seat, effectively increasing the
circumference and lifting the sidewalls up in places - Ъ×