Tubeless question.........

Weeman1973

I recently bought a set of Stans No Tubes wheels from ebay - they are a 340 slightly used front rim on Fulcrum hub with a new 400 rear rim, again on a Fulcrum hub. Guy I bought them from said he had prepped them all ready for tubeless for me by adding tape & tubeless valves.

I fitted Hutchinson Fusion 3 tyres (after a bit of effort!) and went to seat them but there is where I am having issues. Even with a compressor I can't get enough air into the tyre to seat the beads as the air is escaping from the valve hole (the tubeless valve has an 'o' ring fitted bewteen it & it's nut) and also the spoke holes. Most I can get in there is about 60psi.

Am I right in thinking the tape isn't fitted correctly and not air tight? Surely adding sealant at this point would do nothing, because from what I read the tyre should be airtight anyway without adding any sealant?

Any tips from tubeless users would be appreciated.

wheeledwidewebb

The stans rim tape should be two layers thick and should be pretty much air tight over the spoke holes. The valve should certainly be airtight in its hole.

Generally the air escaping problem is confined to the tyre edge/rim interface and can be made worse by the nature of the folding tyre rim construction. Try putting a tube in without any sealant and inflate and then leave overnight to give the tyre a bit of shape. Then try again.

Plenty of soapy water around the rim/tyre edge will also aid seating and use of a compressor with new tyres is always sensible.

maddog 2

what www said. Make sure the tape is sealed properly. Given that you didn't tape it that going to be a bit difficult to assess but have a look at it by eye and see if you can spot any dodgy areas. Then use soapy water (50/50 mix of washing up liquid and warm water) on the tyre bead to help it seat properly and seal. Check the valve to see if that fitted properly and nice and tight. Make sure the tyre bead fits nicely either side of the valve and it's not riding up slightly on one side. Don't use tyre levers to fit the tyre.