So I buy an excellent pair of Cyclocross tires – WTB Cross Boss 700 x 35c TCS Light Fast Roll Tire. I slap that new rubber on and pump it up. Hit the road and I’m like, this is gonna rock. Whaaat!? No. I’m like lurch rolling down the road with a square rear wheel. Whopa whopa whopa up and down goes my seat as I square roll down the road. Is this real or just like when you know you’re getting a flat but you’re not. Whopa whopa whopa. What the what is going on. So I check and the tire is massively out of round, it goes up and down almost a half inch in two spots while spinning round. I tried taking the tire off and rotating it which would show that if the tire was defective. The high and low spots did not follow the tire when it was rotated, they stayed right where they were – so it was the rim? But the rim is fine. Whaaat!?
Solution! Google “wtf back tire wobbs” and… I put liquid hand soap on a towel and rubbed it over the bead of the tire. I then cleaned up the inside of the tire with a dry towel. Wha-frickin-bambo. The tire slide right on and when fully aired it seated perfectly and spun round as could be. Heck yes for hand soap! I’ve been changing my own tires on road, track, mtb, and cross bikes for 35 years and never once ran into such a thing. Soap it up!