Top 5 Biggest Tire & Wheel Mistakes You Shouldn't Make
Summary
TLDRThe 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
🚲 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.
🔧 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.
🚴 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.
🔍 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡tire pressure
💡rim damage
💡trainer riding
💡disc brake contamination
💡wheel inspection
💡bead jack
💡valve stem placement
💡tire bead wear
💡effective diameter
💡galvanic corrosion
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
subscribe
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