This bicycle tire bead rolled outwards — from its proper vertical position — a note regarding unrepairability

© 2018 Peter Free

 

27 April 2018

 

 

What an everted (rolled outward) bike tire bead looks like

 

Photograph of bicycle tire with everted (rolled outward) tire bike.

 

I have only seen one instance of the same thing recorded on the Internet

 

That was by Mk3supraholi at the Mtbr general discussion forum, here.

 

None of the Forum replies had seen a similar situation. And none had effective ways to fix it.

 

 

Today's blurb just archives my inability to repair the same thing

 

That, despite trying a variety of three-dimensionally aware ways to fix the wrong-way twist. Including all the suggestions in the Mtb Forum post.

 

I had to toss the tire after a few hours of effort.

 

If one mounts the tire with the everted bead, the tire will slant from low (at the everted side) to high. It will not track correctly.

 

 

My guess

 

Based on seeing flat flakes of loose rubber around the bead, I hypothesize that it broke loose from its rubber "weld" and adopted a lower energy position.

 

Afterward, with the bead loose from its previous rubber weld, my efforts at twisting the tire to reverse the torsional problem failed. With the "weld" broken, there was no way to grasp the bead tightly enough to flip it back the right way. I tried using two pliers for grip.

 

 

As a possible caution to others — how the bead "eversion" happened

 

Like Mk2supraholi's example in 2014, I had turned my tire inside out. In my case, looking for goathead thorns.

 

I frequently pick these up while riding. I once counted 15 in the front 29er tire, and 5 in the rear, after just one ride.

 

In situations like that, the best way to get the goatheads all out, is to work from both the outside and inside of the tire. To properly access the inside, I have to invert it. Otherwise there is too much chance of missing those that are barely perceptible by blind feel, but about to pop through.

 

Keep in mind that goathead thorns, which have broken off inside the tire rubber, tend to work their way inward over the following months. A series of subsequent flats will result. The cause of these will generally not be obvious from the outside of the tire.

 

I mention this because I try to memorize where I probably picked up the miscreant goatheads and avoid those lines of travel on my next ride. But if you cannot tell when you picked up the flats, this kind of memorization is useless.

 

 

The moral? — Stop turning tires inside out? — maybe not

 

In goathead country, for me, the solution may be to buy better quality tires after the stock ones expire.