Leak in the Bead

[Josh H]

So, I put a new front tire on the NCX and it seems I have a very small leak in the bead in one certain spot. I've read other posts about breaking the bead, cleaning the rim around the affected area, and re-seating the bead, but that didn't seem to work. My concern is that I damaged the tire while spooning it on. Being my second ever tire change (the first was the day before on a friends bike), I am not the best at using spoons and rim protectors to get it on. The first side of the tire was very easy to get around the rim, however the very last section of the other side of the tire was not so simple. I had to start over several times and noticed the inside of the tire around the bead was beginning to tear and split from the outer rim of the tire in a few places (I should have taken pics). I finally got the tire on, filled it up, and hoped for the best. Sprayed the bead with soapy water to check for leaks and yep, one very small leak in once certain spot. Broke the bead, cleaned the rim, and filled it up again....same leak.

So....my question is, being that I don't really want to buy a new tire, what's the best way to correct this problem? My immediate, inexperienced thought was to put a little silicon in the area of the leak and, again, hope for the best. But something tells me this probably isn't the best idea. Any suggestions???

By the way, it looses about 2 psi a day.

 

[Chris]

Sounds like you might have caused some small damage. I'd first try a tyre bead sealant & see if that stops the leak.

 

[Harald]

Did you rotate the tire on the rim when you broke the bead to clean? Just asking because you can determine whether the tire is damaged or the wheel leaks at that spot be rotating the tire and seeing if the leak moves or not. You would need to break the bead on both sides and probably lube to rotate the tire.

 

[bamamate]

I would try what Harald said and then what Chris said. Back in the day, we used to put a little wheel bearing grease around the rim to fix rim leaks. That was before they came out with bead sealant.

 

[Josh H]

I tried rotating the tire on the rim but it wouldn't budge and I didn't want to keep putting soapy water in the rim to prevent a build-up of water inside the tire when inflated. I will get some bead sealant and try again this weekend.