Bike Tires Keep Popping Off Rim? (Beginners Guide)

Bike Tires Keep Popping Off Rim

The last thing any rider would want is for their tires to pop off as they are enjoying their smooth rides.

However, there have been several instances where one’s bike tire may pop off the rim, leading to a major accident. This article is for you if you are looking for what causes and how to prevent it.

Your bike tire keeps going off the rim because the tire’s inner tube is inflated. Once this happens, the tire pops out of the rim, resulting in friction between the inner tube and the rim. This pressure causes the bike to experience a quick puncture, which you can easily identify by a loud pop-like sound.

What Causes a Bike Tire to Come Off the Rim?

Bike Tires Keep Popping Off Rim

Several factors lead to the bike tire coming off the rim. The primary cause of such incidents is the inflation of the tires; a variety of reasons cause this inflation of the tires.

These reasons are:

#1. The Tire May be Incompatible With the Rim Size

Every bike tire has a rim that matches its size description.

To this extent, if you use a small tire with a large rim, you would only end up complicating matters, as your tire will eventually come off the rim. The same applies to a large tire and a small rim.

#2. The Size of the Inner Tubes

The inner tube of the tire is an essential part of the bike. You can describe the tube-like structure of the tire, which you can inflate or deflate. You must use a valve for this process.

An extremely wide inner tube will cause issues for the bike tire. The tire beads will be unable to wrap themselves around the rim hooks, courtesy of the valve and the body of the tube.

#3. A Faulty Tire

A faulty tire is one of the commonest reasons your tire would fall off the rim. A defective tire will not be able to stand the test of time and will fall off eventually.

The default could be a puncture or a worn-out area of the tire. When you discover a faulty tire, you should immediately fix it or replace it with immediate effect.

#4. A Worn Out Tire

Closely related to the idea of your tire being faulty is that your tire may be worn out. A tire can wear out after being used for a long time.

For instance, if you’ve used your tires for more than ten years, you may need to consider changing them as they may eventually fall off the rim.

However, you need to note that a tire can also wear out when you don’t put it to use in a long time.

What regularly happens in a worn tire is that the bead may overstretch with time, which is dangerous to the tire. Moreover, note that UV rays are dangerous to the bike tire. 

#5. Faulty Rims

You can describe the bike tire’s rims as the bike’s area that holds the tire and, in some circumstances, acts as a braking surface.

To this extent, the rims are very crucial to the tire itself. Therefore, the problem of the tire’s rim is the problem of the main tire. The rims hold on to the tire beads of the bike.

If you accidentally hit a porthole or a wall, there is a tendency for your rims to buckle inwards. Once this happens, you need to ensure you replace or fix your rim immediately. 

#6. The Rim Tape May be Wonky

You can describe rim tape as the part of the tire that protects it from punctures from spoke holes. Unfortunately, the tendency of having flat tires with faulty rim tape is extremely high. 

Depending on your type of tire, the rim tapes need to be either thick or narrow.

However, in some particular instances, the rim tapes are considered too narrow, rather than being of full width and finite thickness.

If this is the case for you, you may need to replace your rim tape immediately.

#7. The Size of the Rim Tape

Closely to a Wonky rim tape is the size of the rim tape in question. If the rim tape is excessively large, it could cause the tires to inflate and easily fall off the rim.

In addition, the tire beads will be incompatible with the bead seat(valve) because of the rims. 

Note that any default directly affecting the valve is treated with a lot of importance because the value of the bike tire consumes a lot of space.

Hence, it leaves less room for the tire bead, which can weaken easily because of any defect.

Of course, several other reasons your bike tire would come off the rim. However, the factors mentioned above are the major factors in question.

If your road bike tires tend to come off, ensure you check out for the above faults. 

Bike Tires Comes Off Rim When Inflating?

As mentioned earlier, inflation of the tires’ inner tubes is a major reason your bike tire would come off.

As the inner tube inflates, it expands out of its regular zone, making contact with the rim.

The pressure released from the contact between the inner tube and the rim results in a pop, which causes the tires to fall off the rim.

Note that the inflation mentioned here differs from the bike tires’ regular inflation.

This is because when inflating or deflating the bike tires, you attempt to increase or reduce the pressure in the bike’s inner tube.

As the bike owner, you cause this inflation and manage it properly. 

However, inflation in this context can happen anytime, even when you are on a regular cruise with your bike.

It happens predominantly because faults or incompatibilities on the bike can also cause this inflation.

Thus, you must check your bike tires regularly to ensure the tubes are not over-inflated before it is too late.

How Do You Fix a Bike Tire that Comes Off The Rim?

To fix a bike tire that comes off the rim, you need to take the following steps:

  • Ensure you deflate the tire. You can use the ARB E-Z deflator tool to deflate the tire successfully. However, be careful when deflating the tire as it is a very delicate process.
  • After successfully defeating the tire, move it away from the rim.
  • Inflate the tube slightly. I recommend using the Astrol Al Air Compressor Tire Inflator for this process. 
  • Shape the tires into the inflated tubes.
  • Work one side of the tire back into the rim. Handle this process cautiously and do this for the two sides.
  • Air the tire using a floor pump. I recommend purchasing the Chimona Bike Pump 160 PSI for this process. 
  • Ensure that the tire beads are carefully seated all around the rim.
  • Check the bike tires for any possible defects and correct them as soon as possible. However, do not proceed without ensuring all defects are corrected. 
  • Inflate the tire to 25psi.
  • Contact your technician if you cannot carry out all these steps on your own.

Conclusion 

As a lot of people would say, prevention is better than cure. It is much cheaper to preserve a bike tire and prevent it from falling off the rim than to fix a bike tire after it has fallen off the rim. 

To this extent, once you discover a  defective tire, you need to take action immediately.

First, ensure you look out for the possible causes of the bike falling off the rim and resolve them immediately.

Josh Matthews

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *