Do balancing beads actually work or are they a cheap gimmick for shops that either don't have the equipment to balance a tire...or don't want to take the time to do it??? Just curious. I had a new tire put on and the shop took about 5 oz of weight off my rim and put balancing beads in both of my tires. I've never used them.?.? I appreciate the feedback!

 

Dyna beads...work for me....on the bike.

I went to balance my trailer tires and the "mechanic" tells me he couldn't precisely balance my tires....took 3oz of dyna beads/ each tire...can't even feel i am pulling anything.

Oh yah...they work for me on the trailer

 

i like the ride-on product, balance plus punture protection.

 

I've been using them for a couple years now. No more worry about throwing weights.

 

I've used balancing beads for several years now. I use airsoft pellets, .25 gram, 115 in the front and 230 in the rear, my sport bikes never had any issues and I'm not afraid to get a bit stupid with the throttle, I even used them on many track days and never had a problem. I know, you're not supposed to use balancing beads on a race bike but you never know until you go, right? I couldn't tell the difference between the beads and the stick on weights.

Running tubed tires I do use the stick on weights, a tubeless tire and I'm using the beads. There has never been any degrading of the airsoft pellets and with them being a uniform size you know exactly how much weight you're running in each tire... using .25 gram pellets 115 are exactly one ounce...

 

I've heard of using air soft pellets...just curious...those won't go through the valve stem. How do you seat the bead without getting them stuck between the tire and the rim???

 

Yea, they're too big to go through the valve stem. What I do on a fresh tire is once the tire is on the wheel but before I seat the bead I'd push down on the edge of the tire to separate it from the rim, I'd have the beads pre-counted and in a ziploc bag. Dump the beads in, stand up the wheel and then use air pressure to seat the bead. If you want to use them on a tubeless tire already mounted you deflate the tire then break the bead in one spot, press down on the tire to separate it from the rim so you can dump the beads in then re-seat the bead.

I know, seems weird but those airsoft pellets do work

Edited to add: Airsoft pellets are dirt cheap, I bought a bottle of 2000 of them for under $6 at the local WalMart, there's still nearly 400 pellets in that bottle waiting for my solid disc rear wheel to arrive, 230 in the rear when I mount the tire on it and it's on my Wide Glide

 

I've been using the dyna beads for a few years now and never have had a problem. Bike seems to be smooth with them

 

Yes they work. Nice alternative to weights if you have custom rims.

 

I haven't used them but read lots of reviews that said they are great. When I get my next set of tires I'm using Ride On like Hard had said. Might as well have sealant to boot!