I just ordered a new tire for the rear of my swing witch I plan to mout myself.
My question is have those of you that mounted your own tires, do you balance them?

When I replaced the tires on my Reflex I did not balance them. Several people on the Reflex forum said it was not needed.
I have put about 4K miles on the reflex and have not noticed any vibration or adverse tire wear.

Danny

Mount it and if it shakes balance it,I would balance it though to save time and trouble

Thanks for the explanation, Bill. Please keep us informed about what Marc Parnes has to say regarding your inquiry for the Swing.

By all means I would recommend balancing you tires if possible. I have a coates 220 tire changer and static balancer that works very well. Like some have said it's not hard to static balance the tire but you need to take your time because the wheel will rock back and forth with the heavy spot on the bottom until it sets still. Some want to hurry this part and wonder why they are having a hard time getting the tire to stop in all locations. Bike shops that use a static balancer and change a lot of tires have this down pat and can do it in a pretty quick time. You do need the proper cones as noted. Unfortunatly I only have one set of cones with mine but that will be remedied prior to changing the back tire on the Swing the next time. I do try to split the weights on both sides of the rim (wheel) but this is just my preference and most balanced wheels you see have the weight on one side or the other. The old spoked steel wheels you can clamp them to the spoke near the rim and that's pretty much centered. The rear tire seems to be more forgiving than the front if you do not balance them. These wheel balancers are not all that expensive and I have read articles in the past where you can make your own. I'm sure they will work just fine. I do know that the better balancers of the past used knife edged roller bearings (a roller bearing with a raised edge on one end of the bearing) instead of the flat rollers most are made of now. Like Honda-Silver said the Nor Mar balancer would be a good choice because of the many cones they offer. They also make a very nice line of tire changers and tools. I recently tried to purchase their Mag wheel conversion kit that they made for my Coates 220 but they have quit manufacturing these. I dalied a bit to long. I can change Mag wheels just fine but would like to have more protection for them. Were not buying recaps here which could shake your eyballs out just before throwing the tread but I would suggest balancing them if you have the means to do so. There are probably a lot of us on this site that years ago never balanced any of our cycle tires. We no doubt should have but we just ligned up the yellow or red dot with the valve stem and let'er rip. Whatever you decide enjoy the ride...Dick