Wheel Balancing

[pawtoki]

Starting to look for ways to balance e-bike tubed tires & wheels. Has anyone have a system they have had tried? Success and unsuccessful attempts would be appriciated.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Starting to look for ways to balance e-bike tubed tires & wheels. Has anyone have a system they have had tried? Success and unsuccessful attempts would be appriciated.

no need to do it. your not going fast enough and what happens when you have to change a flat?

 

[pawtoki]

no need to do it. your not going fast enough and what happens when you have to change a flat?

you remove the weight and reposition it in the correct position. I disagree on going fast enough. At 175 rpms, a 26 inch rim fat tire is covering about 13 to 15 mph. I can peddle and hold 22 mph for a couple of miles. The wheel will bounce if out of balance. I don't believe there is enough precision in making a bicycle tire, tube and tannus armour to have an assembled wheel run smooth without balancing.

My rims are true, bearings snug, spokes appear to be uniformly tightened (by sound) and I have a moderate to high speed controlable shimmy. I think balancing might help. Not having a step-thru frame would be my next thought on getting rid of the shimmey.

 

[Gordon71]

"The wheel will bounce if out of balance". Are you sure the tire is centered on the rim? I once added slime when the wheel was off the ground. After air I spun the tire and could see it going up and down and then noticed it was not centered.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I have a Rad Rover and various other bikes. I've never had need of, nor heard of, balancing wheels. I did have some issues right after adding Slime, but those went away within probably a quarter of a mile of riding.

Just guessing, either your tires aren't mounted correctly or your Tannus Armour needs adjusting.

TT

 

[tc cruiser]

Starting to look for ways to balance e-bike tubed tires & wheels. Has anyone have a system they have had tried? Success and unsuccessful attempts would be appriciated.

They have Dyna beads for motorcycles but I'm not sure of the benefit for a bike tire.

Dyna Beads for Motorcycle Riders and Dealers

 

[Pulsar]

If I tilt my Ultra on the kickstand and hit the throttle, my back tire is absolutely out of balance at speeds of 30mph for I can feel the out of balance condition and the bike undulates. Do I ride that fast often, no. I’m an ex Harley rider and have used dyna beads before and they do work. But, if you run slime or any tire sealant you cannot use those. I also have a cycle wheel balancer I used when I rode Harleys for I did my own tire changes. Have not seen if the wheel adapter used for motorcycle tires would fit my bike wheel or not? But again, with any sealant in the tire that balancer won’t work for I do have sealant in both my bike tires so have not bothered. I ride 15 to 21mph mostly and don’t feel anything at those speeds.

 

[PedalUma]

It is not so much balance. It is truing the tire that matters. This can be done with oil pastels.

All you do is flip the bike and spin a wheel. Place a pastel on the chain stay close to the edge of the tire, moving it closer so that it just skip-touches, marking only the high spots. Do this again on the other side of the bike. And on the center of the tread for up and down true. Now you will know the areas that protrude out of true. Make adjustments accordingly. Re-pump, then test using a different color. Adjust and test again with a third color. You will be able to see your progress. And the tire will be true. This makes bikes much faster because they feel safe.

 

[pawtoki]

 

[pawtoki]

It is not so much balance. It is truing the tire that matters. This can be done with oil pastels.
View attachment 109603
All you do is flip the bike and spin a wheel. Place a pastel on the chain stay close to the edge of the tire, moving it closer so that it just skip-touches, marking only the high spots. Do this again on the other side of the bike. And on the center of the tread for up and down true. Now you will know the areas that protrude out of true. Make adjustments accordingly. Re-pump, then test using a different color. Adjust and test again with a third color. You will be able to see your progress. And the tire will be true. This makes bikes much faster because they feel safe.

I like the color idea, it also emphasizes the bounce caused by imbalance.

 

[PedalUma]

I like the color idea, it also emphasizes the bounce caused by imbalance.

I addressed the bigger issue, tire true. As for balance, this can be checked and corrected, or at least made much better with a similar technique. The idea being that if both the wheel and the tire are out of balance, the two can be used to cancel out each other. Spin the wheel. Mark the place where it stops on both the rim and on the tire. Do this a number of times, say eight. This will give you a sample and average to identify the heavy spot. Then reposition the tire to the opposite side of the rim. See how this changed the heavy spot using a different color mark. Keep moving the tire until the sample spots where it stops spinning become random. That is when it is balanced or good enough.

 

[fooferdoggie]

"The wheel will bounce if out of balance". Are you sure the tire is centered on the rim? I once added slime when the wheel was off the ground. After air I spun the tire and could see it going up and down and then noticed it was not centered.

ye tiem to let the air out and squeeze around the tire to unseat it and refill it and see if it is centered. I ahve had this a few times even on good tires.

 

[pawtoki]

I addressed the bigger issue, tire true. As for balance, this can be checked and corrected, or at least made much better with a similar technique. The idea being that if both the wheel and the tire are out of balance, the two can be used to cancel out each other. Spin the wheel. Mark the place where it stops on both the rim and on the tire. Do this a number of times, say eight. This will give you a sample and average to identify the heavy spot. Then reposition the tire to the opposite side of the rim. See how this changed the heavy spot using a different color mark. Keep moving the tire until the sample spots where it stops spinning become random. That is when it is balanced or good enough.

Thanks that currently is how I will be addressing any balance issue. I'm trying to find a stand to use, where I can get each tire off the ground to spin them fast enough to see any vibrations caused by being out of balance.

Out of round & alignment are not the issue I'm needing addressed.

 

[pawtoki]

ye tiem to let the air out and squeeze around the tire to unseat it and refill it and see if it is centered. I ahve had this a few times even on good tires.

Thanks, out of round is not the issue I'm trying to address or the problem in this case.