New tires on old rims

[Douglas888]

I found an old Schwinn Spitfire (N31358) to personalize and started by buying a pair of tires Geax Booze 26x2.3 / bead seat dia. 559 / wire bead in a vintage looking brick style. http://www.geax.com/en/products/?cat=5&prod=20 These should fit, but the bead doesn't seem to want to seat very well and ends up bulged and out of round. I have tried inflating them a number of times and can get them close by manually adjusting them as I slowly ad air. I believe the rims are original to the bike and they had a very old pair of 26x2.125 tires.

Holding new and old tires side by side I see that the bead on the old tires is very pronounced and obvious while you can hardly see the bead on the new tires. With so little rubber material for the rim to lock onto, it looks like it's no surprise I'm having problems.

Any ideas on getting my new shoes to behave? What did I miss?

Thanks

Oh, btw, these tires have a very un-vintage looking Geax (yellow) / Booze (white) printing on the sidewall. Otherwise they look great.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Try getting about a dozen zipties and positioning them around the wheel and tire. Snug them up to hold the tire to the rim while you start inflating them. You don't want them too tight or the tire will not have room to expand and seat the bead. Once the tire is seated, snip the zipties and inflate to the proper pressure. I have never tried it, but that is how I would/will handle that situation when it comes up in my garage.

 

[Douglas888]

Thanks Cameron, I see you work in the same field as I do. I work at Boeing in Philly, but am trying to move down to Charleston, SC soon. Does Spirit manufacture many Carbon/composite parts?

About the tire, I gotta wonder if this is a common problem or just my unique situation. I suspect your solution will be, or will be like the one I end up using. It might help if I was able to adjust the size of the zip-ties or what ever I use. Maybe if I start with them all too big and slowly cinch them down the same amount as I continue to re-inflate the tires.

I will let you know how it works out.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Thanks Cameron, I see you work in the same field as I do. I work at Boeing in Philly, but am trying to move down to Charleston, SC soon. Does Spirit manufacture many Carbon/composite parts?

Our operation here in Wichita builds the 41 section (front section) of the new 787, the USMC's Sikorsky CH-53K heavy lift helicopter cockpit and cabin, as well as many of the other composite parts for Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream, as well as others. Everything I deal with is good old aluminum. For your enjoyment if you havent seen it yet. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23080&p=231105&hilit=hard+at+work#p231105

 

[deorman]

Those modern tires w/very little bead can be a real pain fitting on old clincher rims. I recently put a skinny Ritchey tire on an old rim, and it took half a dozen tries before it quit trying to either pop off or get stuck below the bead on one side.What you said you were doing, combined with some soapy water is probably the best method. :|