On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 5:17 AM, Harvey Sachs <hmsachs@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Well, Bob, thanks, and it seems that I repeated Michelin's instructions
> clearly enough to provoke disagreement. Michelin and I (one of whom is an
> authority almost equal to your father? :-) ) seat the tube and the valve
> stem, but then start working the second bead from the point opposite the
> valve hole. As I said originally, that allows pushing as much of the bead as
> possible down into the well of the rim, so the tire mounts easily. Nope, I
> didn't believe at first, so I tried it. And have been doing it that way ever
> since. Since I work both sides onto the rim equally, it magically turns out
> that the valve stem winds up nice and perpendicular, almost every time.
>
> Only advantage of the Michelin route is that it's easier to get the bead
> over the rim, since it's easier to push more of the bead down into the well
> of the rim.
>
> But, your mileage may vary. And I'll still respect you in the morning.
> Really.
>
I think another advantage of starting opposite the valve is that you are a bit less likely to pinch the tube when seating that last bit of bead, as the valve keeps the tube centered on the rim. It's been my experience that the norm in the industry is to start at the valve, but I switched to opposite the valve years ago, and it has worked well for me. Nice to hear that Michelin recommends it.
John
--
John Wood
Missoula, Montana, USA