How to fix a new bicycle tire wobble on true wheels in 2 easy steps

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In this article I’m going to explain how to fix a new bicycle tire wobble on true wheels. Though every product, including bicycle tires, can have production errors, the chance of this actually happening and slipping through to a customer is very small. Especially with premium tires.

The tires I’m going to be installing are the smallest width gravel tires available: the Panaracer Gravelking. They are high quality gravel tires, which mimic the tires that originally were on the Koga Miyata Adventure I’m restoring. And the fact that they are Japanese as well, makes the entire bike have a very oriental feel to it, which I like.

They’ll be replacing the Continental Gatorskin tires. Those tires turned out to be a tad too big for the 35mm. width ESGE road bike fenders I bought.

The biggest difference between the two tires is that the Panaracers are folding tires, whereas the Continentals are wire bead tires. For the differences between these two types of tires you can read up on the article: What is the difference between Folding Bead vs Wire Bead.

Funny thing is that the blog states that wire beads are harder to mount whereas I have the exact opposite experience with folding tires flopping back into their folded shape.

Video Tutorial

Causes of new bicycle tire wobble

If you know your wheels are true, then the cause of a new bicycle tire wobble cannot be the rim.

And premium brands have high quality assurance standards, which basically prohibited a faulty tire from slipping through.

And uneven inner tubes cannot be the cause either. Bicycle tires don’t stretch to the point where one part bulges where the rest doesn’t.

The cause I found is that a deflated tire is incorrectly positioned on the rim, with some parts protruding more than others. I thought that inflating a tube would automatically position the tire evenly on the rim, but it doesn’t.

Step 1 Spotting a wobbly tire

Why that is exactly I don’t know, but it has happened to me with two totally different tires. But you can very clearly spot a wobbly bicycle tire by simply holding the skewer in your hand and rotating the wheel.

Fixing a wobbly tire

You cannot simply squish the tire into the correct position while inflated. It won’t budge. You’ll need to deflate the tire and position it evenly on the rim by hand.

As a guide you might use the end of the sidewall before the part where the tire bead starts. This part will sit just atop the rim when correctly positioned.

Position it correctly. Inflate the tire and you should have fixed your new bicycle tire wobble. If you like this article give it a thumbs up. If you have any questions or suggestions for new articles, let me know in the comments below. Cheers.