I’ve been running 38mm Panaracer GravelKing tires tubeless on my Soma Stanyan for years, but the front tire I just put on has enough wobble to rub in one spot on every rotation. (The wheel itself is true.)
Two shops told me that the tire wasn’t seated right, but I checked and remounted multiple times and it’s seating fine. Even used some rubbing alcohol to lubricate the tire where it seated, but it always mounts up perfectly fine. The tire is the problem.
The second shop gave the real answer after chatting with the folks there for a bit: I should go down a size. It’s a real bummer, but even the Soma website says it can do up to 35mm. :blobfoxsad:
The only other realistic alternative is a new frameset, or at least a new fork, but that will have to wait for a while. :blobfoxgooglycry:
It took many years and many professional bike fits for their extremely valuable #bikeFit tips to finally sink in. :blobfox0_0:
It took me following a hunch over several months to get to the general area where my saddle and handlebars should be for their tips to finally make sense and complete the picture in my mind. (My saddle was way too low for a long time because my first bike fitter was trying to work with my horrible technique early on, which caused me to tear a quad in one leg. :blobfoxscared: )
When @glitter and I got to the bottom of a long hill while #cycling yesterday, I heard the tell-tale sign of a #tubeless leak in my front tire, a well-used #Panaracer#GravelKing. She even said it was smoking, but I knew it was just sealant blowing out.
Thankfully, it was at the end of our ride and I didn't have to deal with steering on a floppy tire. I did snap this picture, though. :blobfoxsweating:
I tried seating it again today and it just wouldn't hold air because of the same spot. That's when I noticed the bulge in the sidewall near the bead, so I decided to toss the tire and put on a fresh (identical) one I had in reserve. The new tire seated without issue, aside from how I had to do it twice because I put it on the wrong way the first time. :blobfoxgooglymlem:
This isn't a knock on Panaracer tire quality, of course. The tire's been through a lot and there was only so much tread left anyway.