tire balancing weights

[Joe Nardy]

My question to those who say the beads work is 'Have you tried the same wheel/tire combination without the beads?' It is entirely possible that your wheel/tire combination is balanced closely enough that you would experience no issues without the beads. It is impossible to say the beads work unless you verify that you experience an issue without the weights and the issue is resolved with the beads. Has anyone performed these steps?

Thanks,
Joe

[lurch12_2000]

Time to add some discussion to this "debate":

.....stick on weights vs Dyna Beads

(+) for strip of twelve 7g (1/4oz) stick ons = $0.88 (3oz or 84g total)

dyna beads 3oz(84g) bag = $7.41 (or three 1 oz bags for $10.35)


stick ons are not reusable (unless you want to use superglue)

(+?) dyna beads are reusable, BUT herein lies one of my questions. Who has reused them or kept their bike long enough to mount a second tire?
Has anyone scooped out and weighed the beads to make sure they're all there before putting them in the new tubeless tire? If using a tube, I guess, you would just leave alone and reuse the tube if good. If the tube is no good then you'll have to cut open the tube to retrieve your beads.

I think it only prudent to check to see if the tire is out of balance before using either method, so I would not give the dyna beads a plus for saving time. In fact I think it is more time consuming to patiently tap or vibrate a back of beads through the valve stem. It is noted that you can just dump the bag in before reseating the second bead of a tubeless tire. Don't know about you, but in my garage mounting method, sometimes the tire "jumps" around on you, and I'd hate to chase those little beads around on the floor(read...20 minutes of cursing and picking up these little jewels at $8/bag)!

...dynamic balancing over the life of the tire (in theory?), so a (+) goes to the dyna beads for that.

Stick ons may fly off at triple digit speed?
dyna beads will never fly away (unless you blow out a tire and losing an $8 bag of beads is the LEAST of your problems at that moment!)

There, that will get this "important" decision discussion going again!

[Theo]

Time to add some discussion to this "debate":

.....stick on weights vs Dyna Beads

(+) for strip of twelve 7g (1/4oz) stick ons = $0.88 (3oz or 84g total)

dyna beads 3oz(84g) bag = $7.41 (or three 1 oz bags for $10.35)


stick ons are not reusable (unless you want to use superglue)

(+?) dyna beads are reusable, BUT herein lies one of my questions. Who has reused them or kept their bike long enough to mount a second tire?
Has anyone scooped out and weighed the beads to make sure they're all there before putting them in the new tubeless tire? If using a tube, I guess, you would just leave alone and reuse the tube if good. If the tube is no good then you'll have to cut open the tube to retrieve your beads.

I think it only prudent to check to see if the tire is out of balance before using either method, so I would not give the dyna beads a plus for saving time. In fact I think it is more time consuming to patiently tap or vibrate a back of beads through the valve stem. It is noted that you can just dump the bag in before reseating the second bead of a tubeless tire. Don't know about you, but in my garage mounting method, sometimes the tire "jumps" around on you, and I'd hate to chase those little beads around on the floor(read...20 minutes of cursing and picking up these little jewels at $8/bag)!

...dynamic balancing over the life of the tire (in theory?), so a (+) goes to the dyna beads for that.

Stick ons may fly off at triple digit speed?
dyna beads will never fly away (unless you blow out a tire and losing an $8 bag of beads is the LEAST of your problems at that moment!)

There, that will get this "important" decision discussion going again!

Ok, I'll bite. I'm afraid though that my experience is limited only to dyna beads so it will probably be a little biased.

I paid $3 for a 2oz bag and 5$ 3oz bag.

I will attempt to use them next time I change the tires. I have tubed tires so I think it should be simple enough. Remove tire, then remove tube, remove valve core from tube, position valve at bottom pointing towards ground and out should come the dyna beads...I think. Then cut it open to get out any stragglers.

Installing them is a little time consuming but pretty straight forward. Just don't try and dump them in and you should be fine.

Spilled your bag of dyna beads...been there, done that. Get a nylon stocking (Disclaimer: not responsible if you use your wife's or gf's stocking and get in trouble) and stuff the foot part down the nozzle of a shop vac about 6 inches or so, and roll the remainder over the outside of the hose. Turn the vac on and suck up all of the dyna beads. Now with the hose pointing up, turn the vac off and then proceed in removing the stocking from the hose. Now you should have a stocking full of dyna beads. This also works for other little things that might be difficult to pick up.

Now to my experience with them. Well...it's great. I haven't noticed any ill side effects from them. I also haven't experienced losing stability when hitting a bump at highway speed. And believe me, I hit some big bumps on my commute to work. The highway I take to work has these raised sections, almost like speed bumps for a stretch of it, and let me tell you, they hurt. I'm usually going 70mph when I hit them and almost always, if I forget to stand up, they launch me out of my seat, or compress the forks enough to the point that it hurts. But after hitting these, I haven't noticed any upsetting of the beads.

Joe Nardy brought up a good point that maybe the tires and rims are so closely balanced that beads or weights are not necessary. Maybe this is the case with my bike, but who knows? The only thing is, I've read many positive reviews from people putting them on tires that had vibrations with wheel weights, and the vibrations disappear. So maybe they do work after all. Just search "Dynabeads review" in google and you''ll see all the happy testimonials from satisfied customers. I have yet to see a truly negative review of them.

So bottom line, I will continue to use them and suggest that other people give them a shot. It's not like it's a huge investment. Even cheaper if you have a tire shop balance your tire for you.
Cheers and good luck.
-Theo

[bwringer]

Who are all these people losing stick-on weights and what are they doing wrong?

Seriously -- I've never seen one come off, on the street or on the track.

[lurch12_2000]

Who are all these people losing stick-on weights and what are they doing wrong?

Seriously -- I've never seen one come off, on the street or on the track.

not sure, but I threw that in there because it was mentioned before. Personally, I had to pry the old ones off my 1100E rim with a sturdy putty knife.

...and $8/3oz bag was list price on their website...You can revise with the $5/3oz bag street price as mentioned.

btw, check out the installation method for a tubeless bike tire and dumping the bag in first...the valve stem should be at 12 o'clock when inflating and seating the tire beads. I'm guessing that if it's flat (as most of us have it while inflating) or the valve at 6 o'clock, there is potential for the initial burst of air to blast out the pile of beads from every nook and cranny onto the floor?

[tkent02]

Dyna beads rock. I got a big bag of them from a local shop, I find a ballpark figure for how far out the wheel/tire is by temporarily taping lead weights on the rim, use about 1 1/2 times that much weight in beads.
The wheel's balance stays perfect no matter how the tire wears, no losing weights, if something sticks in the tread the beads correct this imbalance instantly.

[Dogma]

Who are all these people losing stick-on weights and what are they doing wrong?

Seriously -- I've never seen one come off, on the street or on the track.

My 850 came with stick-on weights, and they weren't stuck very well. It was very easy to remove them. Good to know that's not normal. But then, any balancing technique can get screwed up.

[tkent02]

But then, any balancing technique can get screwed up.

Except the beads. They are in there.