# How to inflate tube tires smoothly and evenly?



## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

Hey all first post. Thanks in advance for any help.

I just picked up a cross bike and it came with FUlcrum 7 wheels and Grifo tires with tubes.

I am a mountain biker, new to cross and 700c wheels. It has been eons since I've used tubes as I am usually using Stan's on all my wheels which I love. I plan on getting stan's wheels for this bike, but I want to get out on this bike tomorrow and I need your help.

How can I inflate these wheels so that the tire shape is even? Should I soap up the bead? Could it be that these Grifo tires are shite? I usually use Schwalbe folding tires with stans and bang, no problem. These tube tires are like majorly huge near the valve and I need to remedy that.

How to?


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## TomH (Oct 6, 2008)

Install the tires and pump them up. Done. Doesnt get any better than that.


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

Haha

I guess these are just lumpy ones? Or do they even out later? It's so weird, I've been biking since the 70s but I forget how tubes behave.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Just make sure the bead is seated all the way around. If you have a spot that's sticking, deflate and drip a tiny bit of chainlube on it.


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## scryan (Jan 24, 2011)

Yeah, make sure the tube is not pinched under the bead, that COULD be it. I used to get that near the valve...

I typically put enough air in the tube for it to take shape, then install and get the tire bead in.
Push the valve into the rim to make sure the tube is inside the tire and not under it, then going around the wheel I push in the tire with my thumb and make sure the tube is sitting up inside the tire not under it.

Make sure the valve is square and inflate, that is it.

Does the sidewall bulge, or does the radius of the wheel increase?


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

It's the radius that increases, the sides are fine. It's the same issue on both wheels, about 1/8-1/4" higher on the valve side of the tire. I used soapy water to seat the bead, which seemed to go on fine, i even heard it pop into place when inflating. i tried deflating and inflating several times and rocking the tire by hand to try to seat the bead. It seemed to be in place. I'm used to doing the bead thing with tubeless. And yeah i had the tube with enough air to ensure it's inside the tire. 

It seems like the tubes or the tire itself are bigger near the valve. The valves were super short on these tubes as well. I'm ready to just ride it like this but it seems odd. The tire off the rim looked like crap too, not even and straight like a Schwalbe or Maxxis. I'm sure it will be fine for a few days and then these crappy fulcrum wheels and tube tires will go on ebay and i will never touch a tube again unless it's on my kid's bike. 

Thanks for the info.


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## TWD (Feb 9, 2004)

You shouldn't need to go through that much hassle to get a tubed clincher seated. There are some tire/rim combos that are more picky than others, but I've never in nearly 30 years of running tubed clinchers had to soap the bead like you do setting up tubeless. 

Most of the time, just throw in a tube and inflate. If you have issues with a tubed clincher seating, make sure the tube installed properly and not pinched, inflate the tire until it just takes shape, then work your way around the tire with your hands rolling the tire side to side to make sure the bead is seated, then inflate to the max pressure the tire is rated for then deflate back to the pressure you want. Sometimes I'll inflate to max, then completely deflate and reinflate again just to give the bead a second chance to seat. Of course, I'm using a compressor to do that so it just takes an extra 30 seconds. 

Soaping the bead like you do on a tubeless setup will certainly help the bead seat, but is much more hassle and really shouldn't be necessary on a tubed clincher. 

Spin the tire and watch the bead. You should be able to tell if it's evenly seated all the way around. If it is, then the tires aren't uniform, and there is no fixing that. Of course, that's a result of how the casing was made, and can happen with tubed clincher tires, tubeless, or tubular.


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## TWD (Feb 9, 2004)

Andrea138 said:


> Just make sure the bead is seated all the way around. If you have a spot that's sticking, deflate and drip a tiny bit of chainlube on it.


A bit of dish soap/soapy water can accomplish the same task and would be a bit easier to clean off the braking surface.


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

Right on, thanks for the comprehensive replies. I think I have tried everything possible with these tires. The only other thing I noticed was that the valve was a bit short on these tubes and also the rim tape and valve hole were kind of poorly done. I've drilled and taped plenty of rims for tubeless and know how important it is to get the valve properly in place. It may be that the double thick tape and the valve are pushing the tube outward in that area, causing that side to bulge. I'm going to work on it from that angle and maybe go ghetto tubeless if that doesn't work. 

Thanks all, I thought I was losing my mind with what should be such a basic thing. I had already gone through fixing a derailleur hanger that was bent so badly out of the box that the der was between the spokes. Got that sorted and working perfectly, but this tire thing is annoying.  Not what you expect to get when you order a brand new hi end bike. It could be worse! It's so sunny I'm going riding.

Take care!


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

I pump up to a low pressure then squish the sides of the tire all over to make sure the bead is seated well. Then I roll the tire on the floor a few times before fully inflating.


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

Wow I finally got these pita tires to seat properly. I had to put almost 100lbs into them soaped up but they finally pinged into place. Thankfully they stayed put as i let off the pressure down to approx 35lbs. For future notice to anyone trying to use these tires - Challenge Gripo 32 Pro. You may need a ton of air in these at first.


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## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

This is highly unusual. I suspect user error.


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

What error specifically do you suspect? lol This was absolutely an issue with these cheap a$$ tires.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

IJBcape said:


> What error specifically do you suspect? lol This was absolutely an issue with these cheap a$$ tires.


Shows how little you know. Grifo's are good to great tires. I've never had any issues like you had and I can be an idiot from time to time.


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## IJBcape (May 27, 2011)

So are you telling me I didn't have an issue with this tire? I love forum attitude, guess what - bike wrenching is not rocket science and thanks for nothing.

Please do a me a favor and delete my account if this is one of those forums where brand loyalty is going to cloud reality. 

Bye!


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## theextremist04 (Jan 23, 2009)

He's not saying you didn't have an issue, he's saying they're not cheap tires.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

theextremist04 said:


> He's not saying you didn't have an issue, he's saying they're not cheap tires.


Exactly.


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