Balance your tires at home, on the road or on the trail - full length lesson 

I agree its called match balancing here where you have zero weights to start and balance the tyre to the rim including any additional accessories ie tyre pressure monitor , fit accessories then see how it rotates , next deflate n rotate tyre on the rim 1 way after marking original location and get it to where it needs the least amount of weight as possible 👍

Thank You for your expertise. I am confused. When you say, "rotate the tire;" what do you mean by this? When putting the tire on the rim, one is supposed to match the yellow dot on the tire with the tire valve. I know some say this doesn't matter about the yellow and red dot. But when you say to rotate the tire; does this mean move the tire on the rim to where to yellow dot won't be lined up with the valve stem? Thank You in advance.

@@justmyself1000 On some tires, the "dot" or marking (some have a small triangle) can mark the heaviest point of a tire. Or the lightest point of a tire. The color can vary. Some tires have no markings or indicators at all (Avon Roadrider MKII for example). The best thing to do is first balance the rim without a tire on it. The valve-stem section does not need to be the lightest or heaviest part of a rim at all. it can vary greatly. So take off the tire, clean the rim and put only the rim on the balancing stand. Take off all weights if any are present. Must be a bare rim. Mark the heaviest part (the rim will rotate downwards to that point time and time again). If the tire-manufacturer clearly states that their "dot" is the heaviest part of their tire, put it 180 degrees opposite to your marking on the rim. Now both "heavy parts are exactly opposite. This is the best possible starting point. With the before mentioned Avon Roadrider MKII, which has no markings at all: figure out the rim's heavy spot as explained, then put on the tire, seat the bead but keep it a bit loos and don't inflate it yet. Use tire-mounting grease to enable the tire to slip/rotate on the rim (might take some force though) and rotate the tire bit by bit while on the balancing stand. At some point, the speed, at which the tires rotates its heaviest spot downwards (let gravity work for you) will decrease. The slower it rotates and swings, the closer you are to the ideal point. At one point, you reach the state where the entire wheel hardly spins anymore. Stop, mark that spot on the rim and start adding wheel-weights, 180 degrees opposite of the "heaviest spot" until nicely balanced.

This makes a lot of sense. If I'm putting new tires on (with tube) should I balance the tire before inflating? That way if I need to rotate the tire, the bead hasn't been set.

​@@DikkeBetha that's a great insight, I had just put tyre on the rim then balance, it makes sense to balance the wheel first then adjust for the tyre. Cheers

Best way 👍

Absolutely. Many tires have a colour spot, marking the heaviest part of the tire. If you have the empty wheel pre-balanced you will fit that heaviest spot of the tire to the lightest position of the wheel. Only European tire that doesn't offer this markings are Michelin as far as I know....

I totally agree

Will the suspension feel hard when front wheel is imbalanced??

Have you tried the squat technique? Have your back facing the downed bike, squat down and grab it andthen lift/lean back as the bike comes up. Way easier than lifting while facing the bike.

Gotta keep doing something to keep up the chatter 😂. Of course own 7 flat caps but only own one ball cap (from a track program I used to operate)

@@BretTkacs I was surprised not to see a flat cap offered in your merch store 😄

You can also break down the tire and rotate it on the rim 90% and re balance. Sometimes it won't take as much weight to balance. I took my motoz tires from 3oz to 1oz by doing this..

It's clearly an imposter!

Yes I was going to do a tire changing lesson again and I always mention that but I did a weak hand change video before and there are a lot of those videos on tire changes.

@@tsconver really?

@@RayzGarage yes really see updated post

My replies keep getting removed

Completely agree. I actually think it's a sign of poor quality control when there isn't a dot as they don't even spend a small moment to gauge it. For those of us using dual sports, wheel weights often aren't used as mud catches on them or on the wheels so that lil dot really matters to avoid wheel shake on the highway

@@kingofallworlds As you've noticed some manufacturers don't have a dot showing the light point on the tyre not due to poor quality control but more than likely due to good quality control so it's not needed ? Over the years i've found some tyres with a spot fitted near the valve still need a fair bit of weight to balance them correctly. Try this before fitting a new tyre see how much out of balance your wheel is before fitting the tyre,so it an't just the tyre you need to balance it can also sometimes be the wheel.

Not every important skill is about riding ...

Is there a mess inside the rim when you change tires?

@@peteosinga8845 no it stays caked to the tire under the tread. Zero mess at all. It's like a glaze almost.

If it isn't balanced with the current weights then always strip the weights and start from zero

Interesting thought 🤔

I use a hub adapter

Exactly the same

Yes I have TPM sensors

Never

The only way you can balance the rear is if you carry a hub adapter. On the trail I do not and run unbalanced until I get home. The rear is less sensitive to an unbalanced tire than the front

I was wondering about this as well.

I'd like to know also.

I'd like to know also, but admittedly I'm dubious.

I'd also like to know Bret's opinion on balance beads. I know from my own experience commuting in California that they work for me in both tube and tubeless situations. I've only been up to maybe 85mph though.

On the trail... You don't

Yep. That's how you do it in the racing paddock.