Wobbly Tyres - should I bother to replace them

[SpruitCommuter]

I have a hardtail 29er which I use principally for my 14k commute (50/50 trails and road). I currently have Continental X-King Protection tyres set up with tape and sealant to run tubeless.

 

I bought the bike second hand and the tyres have never been completely true - my attempts at taking them off and re-seating them have only made things worse. Both front and back tyres have quite a lot of lateral wobble that I am fairly sure is due to misshapen tyres rather than poor seating or a bent rim.

 

Should I bother to replace the tyres? They seem to run okay, but they bug me quite a bit.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Niner]

They seem to stretch the sidewalls and hence the wobble. 

 

Only replace them if they affect your riding. If you go around a corner and it feel like the front is floating rather then run on a rail then replace.

[Paul Ruinaard]

If you are tubeless it could be the sealant which is Ammonia based attacking te tires. It happened to me.

 

What sealant is it - not all are equal....

 

WRT the wobble, if it bubbles worse or gets bigger it could be a concern as the rubber is delaminating inside if the sealant (which is ammonia based) is the cause

[Belgarath]

I might be totally wrong, I think the bother is worse than the actual technical issue. If they seem to affect the ride, or lose pressure, then yes, but otherwise... spending R500 per tyre just because it's bothersome...

[Niner]

If you are tubeless it could be the sealant which is Ammonia based attacking te tires. It happened to me.

 

What sealant is it - not all are equal....

 

WRT the wobble, if it bubbles worse or gets bigger it could be a concern as the rubber is delaminating inside if the sealant (which is ammonia based) is the cause

 

Sealant does/usedto cause the delaminating. But I have never heard of seen a tyre start to wobble cause of sealant.

 

Wobble is cause by stretching the side when you remove the tyre

[nox1111]

haha, Conti's - go figure!

I've gone through 2 or three sets now, and when you seat them initially they look 100%.  first corner, even at 3 bar - after seating over night or even 2 days, it gets a slight wobble and will never run straight again.  One got so bad that CRC replaced it free of charge - it looked like the tread was stuck partially on the sidewall after an agressive trail.

My current rear has held up well, but my 2.4 Trail king up front has had the wobble since first corner on day one, and no amount of re-seating could fix it, no soap, no pressure, no taking off, spinning around or trying different rims, its just the way it is now.

[nox1111]

funny enough - it only bothers me when I'm tired, or on a big climb, or nearing the end of a long ride - where my gaze and focus is kind of only on the front wheel.  I don't feel it though.

[SpruitCommuter]

Ja - I think I must just put it out of my mind and stop looking at my front wheel

[nox1111]

Ja - I think I must just put it out of my mind and stop looking at my front wheel

I just fit a new 2.4 XKing.  Guess what - it is so warped, looks like I'm drunk when I'm trying to ride my bike...

Perfectly seated, straight rim - the tread snakes left and right more than 1.5cm in some places... what the flip!

[nox1111]

here's the vid proof:

 

[SpruitCommuter]

Looks just like my tyres. LOL

[Eddy Gordo]

I have one conti that is like that.

 

It is because the bead has broken. Not sure if yours are still intact. My other conti tyres dont have this issue.

[nox1111]

I hand fitted the tyre with no tools, straight from the boxed packaging, added sealant and inflated. Looked fine just fitted, until I rode it, then it started doing this and it got progressively worse over a couple of km's - bead looks 100%, and centered on the rim.