Top 5 Biggest Tire & Wheel Mistakes You Shouldn't Make

Summary

The video outlines five common mistakes people make with tubeless mountain bike tires and wheels: running tires at too high or too low pressure rather than the optimal pressure, improper technique installing and removing tires that risks rim damage, failing to protect wheels from corrosion when riding indoor trainers, contaminating brake rotors with oil or grease causing noise, and neglecting to routinely inspect wheels and tires for cracks, corrosion, tire wear at the rim interface or embedded debris that could lead to catastrophic failure while riding.

Takeaways

• 😀 Optimize tire pressure based on testing data, rider weight, tire size etc. Avoid maximizing or minimizing blindly
• 👍 Install tires with valve at top, push bead into center channel, use bead jack not levers to prevent rim damage
• ⚠️ Trainer riding causes corrosion - use a wheel cover, anti-seize, clean regularly or buy a corrosion-resistant trainer
• 🚫 Squeaky disc brakes usually mean contamination - don't let oil/grease touch them and don't bend rotors in travel
• 🔍 Inspect wheels, hubs, spokes, nipples regularly for cracks, corrosion, sidewall wear from rim abrasion
• 😖 Tire levers can damage rims and tires - push bead fully into center channel and use bead jack instead
• ❗Higher tire pressure calculators don't mean higher pressure is better - indicates you need larger tires
• 💦 Sweat causes galvanic corrosion between wheel components - wash regularly after indoor riding
• 🔧 Grease on rotor bolts contaminates pads - use anti-seize on hub threads only
• 👀 Check for embedded debris in tires that could cause flats

Q & A

What is the optimal tire pressure and why is it important?

The optimal tire pressure is not the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall. It's an optimized pressure that balances speed, comfort and safety. Running too high pressure can be unsafe and uncomfortable. An optimized pressure is found through testing different pressures to find the 'sweet spot'.

What is the best practice for installing tubeless tires?

Have the valve stem at the 11 or 1 o'clock position near the top of the wheel. This allows you to push the first section of bead into the center channel. Work the bead into the channel all the way around before trying to get the last bit over the rim bead. Use a bead jack rather than tire levers to prevent rim damage.

Why is indoor trainer riding hard on wheels?

The sweat from indoor riding in a stationary place causes corrosion between the wheel components. The salt, ammonia and humidity accelerate galvanic corrosion between the carbon, aluminum, steel and brass components.

What causes brake rotor squealing and how can you prevent it?

Oils or greases contaminating the brake pads causes squealing. Don't use aerosol lubes near rotors. Don't touch rotors with bare hands. Use anti-seize rather than grease on rotor bolts.

How can you prevent brake rotor damage when traveling?

Remove rotors and pack carefully to prevent bending. The overhung design means side loads can easily bend them.

What are 5 key things to inspect on wheels?

1. Hub for cracks 2. Spokes at nipples 3. Nipples to rim 4. Tire bead interface with rim 5. Tire tread and casing

Why measure tire width instead of relying on labeled size?

The actual measured width on a wheel can be quite different from the labeled size. This significantly impacts tire stiffness and optimal pressure.

Why not just lower pressure if calculators recommend too high?

A pressure recommendation above rim or tire limits indicates you need a wider tire for best performance.

What can happen if you don't inspect wheels regularly?

Unnoticed cracks or corrosion can lead to sudden spoke, nipple or rim failures, causing crashes. Abraded sidewalls can fail catastrophically.

What is the purpose of the center channel on tubeless rims?

The center channel aids tire installation and removal by allowing the bead to be pushed into a larger radius section, providing slack when needing to pop the last bit of bead over the edge.

Outlines

00:00

🚲 Optimizing Tire Pressure for Performance

Josh from Sila discusses common mistakes with tubeless rims, tires, and disc brakes, emphasizing the importance of optimal tire pressure over maximum sidewall pressure for safety, speed, and comfort. He critiques the misconception of always aiming for lower pressures, highlighting Sila's pressure calculator that uses real test data to find the fastest pressure for specific conditions. Josh advises measuring the effective diameter of the tire with calipers due to discrepancies between labeled and actual sizes, affecting stiffness and optimal pressure. The calculator's basis on professional athletes suggests slight adjustments for amateur cyclists.

05:02

🔧 Proper Installation and Removal of Tubeless Tires

Josh explains the correct method to install and remove tubeless tires, stressing the use of the center channel in rims to avoid damage. He advises against using tire levers for installation, as they can damage rims or lead to injury. Instead, he suggests keeping the valve at the top during installation for easier handling and recommends a bead jack tool for challenging tires. This approach ensures less stress on the rim and a safer, more efficient tire installation process.

10:04

🚴 Trainer Riding and Its Effects on Bicycles

Josh discusses the damaging effects of trainer riding on bicycles, focusing on corrosion caused by sweat. He outlines how different materials in the bike's construction, such as aluminum, carbon, and stainless steel, can suffer from galvanic corrosion accelerated by sweat's salt and ammonia. To mitigate damage, he suggests using corrosion-resistant equipment like the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB or a cheap wheel for indoor training, regular thorough cleaning, and proper maintenance using anti-seize products to protect against corrosion.

15:06

🔍 Maintaining Disc Brakes for Noise Reduction

Josh addresses the common issue of noisy disc brakes, attributing the problem mainly to contamination from oils and greases. He emphasizes the importance of not touching the disc brakes and avoiding aerosol lubricants near them to prevent contamination. For installation, Josh recommends anti-seize instead of grease to avoid contamination risks. He also notes the potential for disc warping during travel and advises removing discs and storing them safely to avoid bending.

🔎 Wheel Inspection for Safety and Maintenance

Josh concludes with the importance of regular wheel inspections, especially for those using trainers. He advises checking for cracks, corrosion, and wear at the hub, spokes, and tire beads. Particular attention should be paid to the interface between tire sidewalls and rims, where friction can cause wear. He suggests cleaning and inspecting the bike regularly, especially after indoor training sessions, to identify and address potential issues early, ensuring the safety and longevity of the bicycle.

Keywords

💡tire pressure

Tire pressure is a key concept in the video. It refers to the amount of air pressure within a bicycle tire. The narrator explains that tire pressure should be optimized based on factors like rider weight, tire size, and riding surface. Too high or too low pressure can negatively impact comfort, speed, and safety. He recommends using tire pressure calculators to find the ideal pressure.

💡rim damage

The video warns about potential damage to rims when installing tires, especially with metal tire levers. Using levers can put too much localized force on the rim. The narrator recommends bead jacks instead which spread out the force more evenly.

💡trainer riding

Riding a stationary trainer indoors can be very damaging to bike wheels over time. Sweat and moisture promote corrosion between wheel components. The narrator recommends buying an indoor-specific wheel or frequently washing the outdoor wheel used inside.

💡disc brake contamination

Oil, grease and other contaminants on disc brake rotors can cause annoying squealing noises. The narrator warns mechanics not to touch rotors and to keep lubricants away during service.

💡wheel inspection

Regular inspection for cracks, corrosion and other wheel damage is strongly recommended. This is especially important for the hidden tubeless tire beads which can wear from friction.

💡bead jack

A bead jack is a specialized tool that helps install tight tubeless tires without levers. It sits on one tire bead allowing the other side to pop into place more easily.

💡valve stem placement

Proper valve stem placement aids tire installation. Situating it near the top of the wheel creates more slack bead length to leverage over the rim hooks.

💡tire bead wear

Some lightweight performance tires can experience casing wear at the rim interface over time. Inspecting this area lets you spot bare threads and prevent blowouts.

💡effective diameter

A tire's effective diameter factors in the actual inflated size, not just labeled size. This determines air volume and stiffness. Measuring with calipers is recommended.

💡galvanic corrosion

Dissimilar bike metals in sweaty indoor trainer environments risk accelerated galvanic corrosion. This can literally rot components and cause sudden failures.

Highlights

Tire pressure is an optimize variable, not a maximize or minimize one.

Higher tire pressure is not safer, faster, or more comfortable.

SILCA's tire pressure calculator uses actual test data to find the fastest pressure.

Tire pressure acts on the effective diameter of the tire, not what's printed on the sidewall.

Measure tires with calipers to get the actual width for proper pressure calculations.

Install tires with valve at top to provide extra bead length for getting over the rim.

Don't use tire levers for install, they risk rim damage. Use a bead jack instead.

Trainer riding causes corrosion from sweat and galvanic reaction between materials.

Clean bikes regularly when using indoor trainers to prevent corrosion damage.

Squealing disc brakes come from oil or grease contamination. Don't let anything touch.

When traveling, remove rotors to prevent bending from uneven forces.

Inspect hubs, spokes, nipples, rims, beads regularly for any issues.

Look for cracks, corrosion, fraying threads, tire casing damage during inspections.

Modern thin tires can abrade on carbon rims, inspect bead area for issues.

Find and remove embedded debris in tires during inspections.

Transcripts

[Music]

hey everybody Josh from Sila here with

five mistakes that I commonly see people

making with tubeless rims tires disc

brakes um so let's just jump in five

things number one pressure uh we all

remember 1015 years ago pressure was a

more is better variable for people right

some is good more is better uh everybody

was running the max sidewall uh pressure

on the tire not everybody but most

people we now know that's not true right

s's done a ton of work there the folks

at zip have done a lot of work there

flow Cycles uh Renee Hurst bicycle

quarterly um it's pretty universally

proven uh in the Science University of

Del uh UNLV actually have Labs where

they're they're studying this actively

you know kids are getting phds in this

topic tire pressure is not a maximize or

a minimize it is an optimize variable

and uh scary enough I still go to events

where people come up to me and they want

that Max sidewall pressure so if you're

watching this video you probably know

that that is not what you want so please

tell your friends do everybody a solid

uh tell them that it's it's not safe

it's not fast and it's not comfortable

but the other thing that I'm starting to

see and we saw this quite a bit at at

gravel events this year is people coming

up and saying your tire pressure

calculator is way too high don't you

know that lower pressure is faster well

yeah we kind of discovered that um and

remember our tire pressure calculator is

the only one that uses actual test data

where we have tested across pressures

and found that break point to pinpoint

what the fastest pressure is for a rider

of that weight on a tire of that size on

that particular surface so um you know

the one thing I will give you on our

tire pressure calculator is that it is

typically uh done with professional

athletes I mean probably 80% of the

5,000 Plus data points are World Tour

athletes they are lower body fat than u

i they theoretically may have a slightly

higher break point um because they have

lower body hysteresis because they're

they're just so fit so you know take the

pressure calculator number maybe go a

couple below um if you're a little bit

bigger like me um but the other thing

that I think people are missing with all

the calcul

and it confuses people with ours is that

the tire pressure acts on the effective

diameter of the tire it doesn't matter

what it says on the sidewall as the

effective diameter of the tire um grows

the tire gets stiffer at the same

pressure and this is why it is so

critical to measure the stinking Tire

right so we'll put a link below to some

uh inexpensive calipers that you can

find on Amazon or somewhere but you know

just because it says 32 doesn't mean

that it's 32 my current favorite wheel

set this 3T discus 4540 has a 29 mm

inner bead width I run 32 mm GP 5000s on

there they caliper at

36.5 millim wide that is a huge

difference 32 to 36 A5 for the same Tire

just because of the rimit on so you

really need to be using calipers to get

the measured uh casing uh width or

diameter for the wheel that you're

running with that you will really be

able to dial your pressure in to find

that sweet spot of comfort uh and speed

the last thing I will say there is if

the calculators are telling you a

pressure above what either your rim or

Tire say uh is optimal or above its Max

you know a lot of the hookless rims out

there have a 72 psi Max um if the

calculator is telling you something

bigger than that that's a sign that you

need a larger tire so don't uh people

write into the inbox uh here all the

time you know it says I need 78 is that

safe well it it might not be what that

really is telling you is that you know

that 32 mm Tire should be a 35 um

because that would get you back into

that that safe range and honestly it's

probably going to be a more comfortable

ride and it's not going to be any slower

than the slightly narrower tire so check

your

pressures number two the install and

remove

of uh of tubless tires now if you're old

like me and you've been around there's a

lot of stuff that we were all taught

back in the day with tubes or tubulars

that it doesn't hold anymore in this

tubless world and uh probably the big

one is the orientation of the valve when

you're installing and removing and so

what we've got here we've got a

cross-section of the tubless rim and you

see there's two shelves where the bead

sits and they typically have like a

little bump or something to kind of lock

the bead in once that's the popping that

you hear when the tire beads up on

install um those little lock buttons

keep the tire from being able to creep

into that Center Channel if you have a

catastrophic loss of pressure flat on

the road but that channel is there to

help you both uh install and remove the

tire and you you have to take advantage

of it or you're really going to risk

damaging your rim or or breaking your

tire lever or or bead uh Jack

installation tool depending on how

you're doing it and the way to think of

this is that the tire is a fixed

circumference but you can locally have a

larger uh radius uh if if the

circumference is at a smaller radius

somewhere else and so if we look at it

from the side you think of if I put my

first bit of bead in at the bottom and I

push it up into that channel and I work

it around the tire is now working its

way around a smaller radius but because

the circumference is fixed you are going

to have additional radius left at the

end that you can use to get over the

bead um so this is super critical when

you're installing you want to have the

valve stem more or less at the top I

tend to run mine don't run it right at

12:00 but run it you know call it 11: uh

or or

1 you get the tire up in that Groove

work it all around making sure it's down

in the groove uh or up in the groove I

guess depending on the orientation here

all the way and that's what's going to

give you that last uh extra bit of bead

to come uh to come over the bead of the

rim I say to you you should not be using

Tire levers to install tires we we see

Rim damage this way people break levers

uh you know you hear of people getting

hurt you can look this up you know and

that if a tire lever lets go on you

especially you know most of them are

plastic uh if they snap it you can

really cut cut yourself pretty bad uh

there are Tire levers like the the Sila

one which I actually have here that has

a metal core uh with plastic but you

know these are not meant for installing

these are just meant for removing you

chances are particularly with these

tubless Tire levers are much narrower

and much smaller um than they were in

the past and that really helps you get

the tire off but it really can put a lot

of pressure uh Point load on the rim

when you're getting it back on so these

really are not designed for tire install

but I would say in general if you're

needing Tire levers to get it on you're

probably either not fully up into that

groove or you have the valve somewhere

down uh in the bottom half the wheel and

the way to think of that is the valve

protrudes into that Groove and so it's

going to create a local increase in the

radial distance um that's basically

taking up extra bead giving you less

when you get to the top instead of this

and we'll drop a link below use one of

these this is called a bead Jack um you

can get these things on Amazon we don't

make one but I think this one was like

$15 on Amazon and uh this actually

allows you to sit on the opposite bead

and pull the tire over uh this way and

what that does is it gives you a

nice a nice section with good control of

the bead um and then all the forces are

vertical into the bead they're not

bending uh against it so again I have

seen you people can bend aluminum rims

and typically I you can crack a carbon

Rim but I would say more likely your

people are scratching them when they're

using Tire levers to get it over because

it's the tire lever really needs to

climb kind of up and over that surface

uh which can cause scratching so the the

B Jack really eliminates that so uh if

if you have some tires that are giving

you extra trouble try those techniques

make sure it's in make sure your valv is

at the top buy a v Jack it'll make it so

much easier

number three uh trainer writing and

there's not a whole lot more I can say

here riding the trainer is absolute hell

on your entire bicycle and it is torture

on the wheels and the the couple things

that you need to think about are you

know most of the wheels on the market

really most all of them are using call

it a carbon or aluminum rim an aluminum

or brass spoke nipple a stainless spoke

and then an aluminum hub shell that

typically has stainless bearings in it

when you are sweating um your headset

kind of stem area are taking the bulk of

the sweat but so much of that is coming

down the fork onto the wheel um and and

down the fork legs into the Hub and so

you have really just a recipe for a

galvanic nightmare you've got stainless

next to aluminum uh which is a galvanic

risk you oftentimes have aluminum

nipples in a carbon Rim which is a big

galvanic risk um sometimes it's brass

which is a little a little bit better

but in the uh presence of sweat which

has salt and Trace Amounts of ammonia in

it you you just have a massive

acceleration of corrosion uh mostly of

the galvanic type um but but also some

of it is just particularly with aluminum

some of it can just be straight

corrosion of the aluminum depending on

the ammonia in your sweat uh we've got

some pictures here that from the

internet you see that uh you know a lot

of these are carbon rims just CRA or

aluminum rims just cracking and failing

from uh the the material damage caused

by the sweat and then you have the

galvanic issues where spoke nipples

particularly on the bottom uh the bottom

half of the wheel really just turning to

dust um it's amazing how many people I

I've seen and heard of and you see the

stories on the internet where they're

riding they're zwifting they're on the

trainer and their front wheel just lets

go they think oh it's it must just be so

much force on the Wheel to ride zift

well it's not that it's so much force

it's that it's so much corrosion so the

way you can really think about fixing

this is you know for one um rather than

ruin a nice wheel I I would get a wahoo

kicker climb it makes the inside riding

a whole lot more fun it is relatively uh

designed and built to be corrosion

resistant nothing's corrosion proof but

uh the way I thought of it for my own

purchases you know I'm going to ride

this thing enough I will actually save

money using a climb over any of the nice

wheels that I have the other thing you

can do is just buy a cheap junky wheel

to ride on the front uh to to save your

nice wheels for for outdoor riding so uh

when you build the wheels make sure that

you're or you're buying Wheels you know

make sure you're using a good anti-seize

or a Spoke prep um and then the other

thing you can do if you have no other

option is clean the bike regularly and

remember wiping is not washing right

wiping everything down gets it off the

external surfaces but it does nothing to

flush out the salt and the ammonia and

the other kind of toxins that are

getting into all the nooks and crannies

you really need a wet wash with copious

amounts of clean water and ideally a

good soap um to get that stuff out so if

you have to use your nice wheel indoor

on the trainer I would probably be

washing it honestly weekly or by weekly

um just to make sure I'm not having

problems down the

road number four

rotors this is something we didn't have

to think about uh 20 years ago really

and now all of us had disc breaks

everywhere couple of things that maybe

just don't always think about but

squeaking and squealing and noise almost

always in the Disc break is coming from

some sort of oil or grease getting on

there and then contaminating the pad um

the key to really solving this is don't

touch it and don't let anything oily or

greasy touch it um this is why we say

you know no aerosol lubricants on the

bike right spraying an aerosol lubricant

on your chain you've got the disc Brak

just you know six five six centimeters

away um it's a it's huge contamination

risk it's also why when I talk to

Shimano and Sham you know they both say

no uh lubricant on the threads for the

lock ring or if it's a sixbolt don't use

grease there they are worried that that

any grease you put in here will uh

soften or melt under heat and be flung

and or migrate outward and cause a

contamination risk uh the way you get

around that is to use an anti-seize

product and the way I do it is actually

put the an's on the uh Hub thread and

then screw it in that way sometimes if

you you if you put it on the lockering

thread it can then migrate out under

this face it it really doesn't migrate

well at all even when it's extremely hot

but by putting it on the uh The Hub side

first you really eliminate the ability

for it to to migrate out even if you

know you were to see a thousand degrees

which you won't um in the setup here so

when you're installing and removing or

doing anything with this don't touch it

um the the last thing I would say with

this that I see pretty commonly are

people getting these bent out of true

from traveling uh either on the airline

or uh you know taking the wheel off to

put it in like the trunk of a car uh

something like that you can really get

yourself in trouble you know you put the

wheel in with the disc on the bottom

side and then you put something over it

and there's a side load in it that can

pull the disc out of true there are

little tring tools you can use but once

it's bent sufficiently it can be really

hard to uh to to get it just right

because it seems like every time you

move it in One spotted the the out of

true just kind of moves somewhere

different whenever I travel with a bike

uh in the airline for sure I take the

discs off and I actually put them in

like a a FedEx overnight package right

just a cardboard sleeve that it can sit

in you put the two of them together uh

to to and then put them in a place where

you can really guarantee that they're

not going to take a lot of load uh but

as you can see when they're mounted on

the wheel and you've got that overhung

uh disc surf it really is not going to

do well if it's subjected to a side load

so um keep them clean don't touch them

keep lubricants away from them if you do

get a squeal you can use a product like

the Sila break and drivve Trin cleaner

um is really good at getting some of

that stuff off uh

but the easiest way is to just not get

it on there in the first place so take

care of your

discs step five inspect the wheel and

this is pull this back up again this is

a hugee one uh anymore and I would say

again especially if you're riding the

trainer um you really need to be

inspecting the Hub the spokes at the

nipples somewhat routinely and I would

say every personally every time I wash

the bike I do a really good uh kind of

look around you think of um Hub shell

cracking and the spoke pulling out

catastrophically or suddenly while

you're riding it can be really bad so

just when you clean everything you know

really look in there look for any cracks

any sort of weird corrosion is there any

white powder coming out of anywhere

that's typically uh you know that's

aluminum oxide that forms in galvanic

corrosion you know you want to look at

with the spoke to the nipple and the

nipple to the rim and then you really

want to look at the tire uh and

particularly with these tubless tires on

Modern carbon rims you really want to

look at the interface here where the

tire is uh essentially touching the rim

modern tires have gotten so thin and so

light which makes them so Supple and so

beautiful to ride but you can get

friction uh or you will get friction at

the interface from the tire sidewall

there at the bead and the rim and

particularly with carbon rims uh which

can be a little bit abrasive you can

actually you over time you will actually

see a little bit of a breakdown of the

fibers in the casing sidewall so this is

most notable on uh handmade open tubular

style tires like we see from Victoria

challenge those Brands where they just

have a little bit less protective rubber

coating on the side um you know

Continental Tires I feel like you see a

lot they have a protective layer there

and as that layer starts to break down

you'll get threads that are wanting to

come out you you want to really inspect

for those clip them off but keep an eye

on that because uh it potentially could

be become a safety thing if you know the

bike is you know you're riding it and

riding it you're never looking at it and

particularly if you all this stuff is

hidden under dirt it could lead to a

catastrophic uh Tire blowout in time it

it's super easy it maybe takes 30

seconds to inspect the full

circumference of uh you know all four

tire beads so inspect look for cracks

look for white powder check those beads

of course look at your tread make sure

there's no you especially with sealants

and things now you you can get a staple

or something in your tire and not even

know it's there until you uh you really

look for it and find it so there you go

thanks everybody for watching and uh if

you like this video check out one of

these in our maintenance series and uh

please give us your questions comments

uh thoughts you have you agree with

everything I said do you disagree what

tips and tricks do you have put them

below we'll cover them in a future video

be sure to hit like And

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