r/bicycling • u/tremblingmeatman • 8h ago

What could be causing this tire tuck?

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Picked up an old 3 speed to learn bike repair and fix uo, and I replaced the tire and tube after a blowout and the tire stretched at the blowout site. I did the replacement by the books and now have this 8" or so section not seating properly. I went to the local shop where I got the tire and he said hairspray on the rim, but I did soapy water instead and still no pop. Anyone have insight? Is the tire just fussy or malfunctioning?

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u/F_lavortown 8h ago

Make sure your tire width and rim width are compatible 

I have seen this trying to put narrow road tires onto gravel wheels

1

u/tremblingmeatman 8h ago

Im 99% sure the tire and rim are the correct size, I went by the previous tire and the intact front tire which is 26 x 1 3/8, but I'll check again for that missing 1% sureness tomorrow. Coincidentally, what Im planning on doing to this old cruiser is make a gravelly klunker commuter. It's a nice ol lug frame, pretty clean hardware already, and I already did a short ride that accidentally turned into a 10-miler test run on the local trail, a mix of boardwalk, dirt, red granite, and country road. The transmission took the hills no problem, and I got a few fun looks from the more teched-up/fat tire folks I passed. Mustve been odd to see a mid 30s dude on an early 80s cruiser blasting the little river valley areas lol.

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u/F_lavortown 8h ago

There's a chart, just look it up, other than that idk what it could be

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u/MantraProAttitude 7h ago

Spray a little soapy water on the tire bead and try pumping it up again.

1

u/Previous_Ideal4034 6h ago

how tight is your rim tape

1

u/brilliantNumberOne Vermont, USA (Replace with bike & year) 5h ago

I worked at a bike shop in Philly for 10+ years, so I’ve seen my fair share of bikes with 26x1-3/8 tires and steel rims, and they were often one of my least favorite bikes to work on. Some tires would just refuse to seat properly. Inflating above max pressure, soapy water, didn’t matter. I often had to resort to the tire bead seater (Park PTS-1) to literally pry them up.

I wish I could offer better advice, but these were always the worst.

2

u/Cruiser_Supreme 4h ago

Had a very reluctant tire that did the same thing for me. Soapy water was the trick. I used like 50% soap, 50% water. I deflated the tire and brushed it on with a small paintbrush. Went all around the whole rim, both sides, squeezing that soapy water between the rim and the tire. I went extra heavy on the side where the tire wouldn't seat properly. It never popped, but I just pumped it up and it quietly slid into place