Don't use soap to get your tires to sit right.

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peanutaxis

Squid
It's the age of very tight tires thanks to the tubeless revolution. I am not tubeless, and was told to use soap and then to over-inflate to get by ri-goddam-diculously tight Bontrager FR4's to seat properly.

The other day on a ride I broke a spoke nipple. Went to the shop to get a replacement. Got three. Lucky I did because when I was truing the wheel I broke two more nipples! Had a closer look and realized that it wasn't just soap scum sitting on all the heads of the nipples, it was corrosion. I'm going to use something oil or silicon-based to lube my tires into place from now on!

:(

Heads-up!
[p
 
Nerf Herder

Nerf Herder

Wheel size expert
Slickoleum around the bead and rim ... rejuvs the rubber ... creates an air tight seal between bead and rim ... just not sure what it does if your using sealant ? Most are water based so should be fine ... you can put it on your spoke ends to resist corrosion too.
 
retroenduro

retroenduro

Likes Dirt
Advice from my former days as a mechanic and tyre fitter (one of many jobs ive had)...use something silicon based - there are specific lubes designed for this. Oil based can eat the rubber over time...soap corrodes as you found out.

I wonder how many alloys that are around are corroding because of cheap arse tyre shops using soap and water instead of proper grease...

unrelated.....Also tyre shine...great if you are running high pressures on your car tyres but if you ever let the tyres down for sand driving with a 4wd be aware that it gets into the bead and acts as a lube...dont turn too hard or pop! your tyre will come off the rim. Might apply to MTB tyres ...maybe.
 
retroenduro

retroenduro

Likes Dirt
ctguru said:
What about using a pH neutral soap? Can't see why that would create any issues?
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its not the soap its the water....plus alot of soap has salt in it too...thats why you never use washing up liquid to wash your car/bike...dulls the paint but makes your hands fairy soft
 
fatboyonabike

fatboyonabike

Captain oblivious
harmonix1234 said:
Graphite powder. Sounds weird I know. But also works a treat on tubes in place of talcum powder.
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hang on...is'nt it more expensive than woolies talc? , why would one substitute for a more expensive option, and messier also..leaves your hands covered in silvery grey crap..
if you are'nt running tubless, cheapass silicon spray is the goods (super cheap auto), i use it all the time changing the tyres on my trailbike, going from dirt to road specific tyres..just make sure you keep it away from your disc rotors!, also makes a good tyre shine for extra bling factor at the carpark pre-ride!!
 
ctguru

ctguru

Likes Bikes and Dirt
retroenduro said:
its not the soap its the water....plus alot of soap has salt in it too...thats why you never use washing up liquid to wash your car/bike...dulls the paint but makes your hands fairy soft
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so don't you ride you bikes in the wet?

my bike wheels get alot wetter when I ride in the rain or off road in the mud

no sure using water to seat tyres is an issue, I only use a little, I use a brush to put water on the bead
 
R

RoyAL

Squid
Interesting comments; I use wash & wax to make the bubbles you need to bead a tricky tubeless tire. The same stuff I use to wash the bike, can't see that it would be any better worse than anything else re the spoke nipple corrosion problem. The issue could be that the wheels were built without some form of spoke prep/lubricant. You are putting an aluminum alloy or brass nipple directly against a stainless steel (stainless in that it "stains less" than conventional steel.... It still corrodes) when you have two metals that are far apart on the reactivity scale and have no separation it is possible to set up a galvanic corrosion when moisture gets in there - normally not a problem when things are dry. Short term it is probably not such and issue either. I doubt using soap or otherwise for tire beading is going to have more of an impact than washing your bike. Most people wash their bikes more often than changing tires. especially once you have tubelss tires. Questions you should be asking are; How old was the wheel?, when was the last time you had it tensioned and trued?, what quality were the spokes?, was it hand or machine built?. Wheels do wear out & when you break one spoke chances are you are going to break a couple more as the lost tension has to be shared by adjoining spokes. If they are close too the limit already then twang!
 
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retroenduro

retroenduro

Likes Dirt
ctguru said:
so don't you ride you bikes in the wet?

my bike wheels get alot wetter when I ride in the rain or off road in the mud

no sure using water to seat tyres is an issue, I only use a little, I use a brush to put water on the bead
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Ok smartar$e where does the water that is now inside your tyres evaporate too? How does it get through that nice airtight seal?

The main issue is the corrosive potential of the salts in the soap, the water and the alloy/brass whatever so OK maybe its not just the water then but still its not good for the wheel. If it can corrode laquered alloy car wheels then imagine whats its doing to raw MTB wheels...

And riding in the wet? Im from the UK mate...was born riding in rain and mud :eyebrows:
 
ctguru

ctguru

Likes Bikes and Dirt
retroenduro said:
Ok smartar$e where does the water that is now inside your tyres evaporate too? How does it get through that nice airtight seal?

The main issue is the corrosive potential of the salts in the soap, the water and the alloy/brass whatever so OK maybe its not just the water then but still its not good for the wheel. If it can corrode laquered alloy car wheels then imagine whats its doing to raw MTB wheels...

And riding in the wet? Im from the UK mate...was born riding in rain and mud :eyebrows:
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water inside tube mixes with Stans that's all ready in there, only probably talking about 10-20 ml of water, I use a paint brush just to wet the bead slightly

no sure how you do your tubeless, I use a modified Stans technique, my water should never touch the nipples as the rim tape covering the holes stops the water touching the nipples

I also just use hand soap in water and the total pH of the solution would be close to that of the water you are using, could probably just use water without any soap

not trying to be a smartarse, just adding to the thread
 
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