Going tubeless...any tips?

Darra8

I have a set of tubeless wheels and tyres and sealant. I fitted all the parts together today and got mixed results. I managed to seal the rim enough to pump the tyre up, but after an hour or so the pressures were down. Also when i spun the one tyre it seemed to be lop sided. Does the tyre bead have to be manipulated onto the rim or does it find it's own way when pumping up the tyre?

Is there an art to getting this right?

Cheers,

Steve

stu8975

Did you use soapy water on the rims/tyre bead? it helps them seat easier and you can spot any leakages of air....i'd do this before you add sealant otherwise you will end up pulling the tyre left and right tryin to get it seated with not much air in and sealant slopping out of the sides..
1) Coat rimstrip and tyre bead with soapy water.
2) Inflate tyre and check it seats corretly and seals.
3) Deflate tyre, add sealant, reinflate, spin wheel, attach to bike, go ride..

cliffhangermatt

Try inflating the tyres to the max. That should get them seated well!

When you have put the sealant in (best through the valve hole, valve removed obviously) hold the wheel infront of you and shake it backwards and forewards (imagen the way the wheel would lean under quick tight turning < like that). Shake it about 5 times then turn slightly, repeat until you have gone all the way round. Leave it to lay FLAT on a bucket, this should seal wee tiny holes. Flip over to the other way after some time (about 30 mins I find works). You may now want to test it like you would a innertube in water just to be sure. Deflate to your prefered pressure, wack it on the bike, spin up and down the road, go back in feeling all fuzzy. Then check it in the morning to see if any pressure was lost.

Happy riding!

Darra8

Thanks for the advice.

I don't think i had put enough air in the tyres to pop them out onto the rims. They are pumped to 60 psi now and seem to be holding.

landranger

I found this today:
http://www.notubes.com/movieinstall.php

A helpful video on doing tubeless. As i've never done tubeless, is this vid a fair portrayal of what you do?

uk_mr_brownstone

I found the Continental Mountain Kings I used didn't hold pressure very well, so emptied out teh sealent and replaced it- work fine now. I think too much soapy water got mixed up in the sealent (they were a bugger to get on so I had to soap them up a few times)

Marantz

I went tubeless today and have to say it was a lot harder than I thought it would be - getting the rubber on the rims was a git. But only problem after that was making sure the rubber rim was seated properly around the value.

Took the advice of an earlier poster, inflate, deflate and then add the sealant, that saved me a lot of grief later!

Darra8

I went out for a ride yesterday and they seemed ok. If i check them this morning they will probably be flat again

Darra8

Checked my tyres this morning, and there is still air in them, but not much.

I have just watched the video and it is very helpful. I think i will have to start again......is going tubeless really worth all this effort?

S_J_P

Darra8 wrote:

Checked my tyres this morning, and there is still air in them, but not much.

I have just watched the video and it is very helpful. I think i will have to start again......is going tubeless really worth all this effort?

Yes!

Do it right, and you'll never look back! Check out my Tubeless Tips in the Beginners forum.