Tubeless tyre leaking air slowly
bennett_346
Posts: 5,029
So after half a year off mountain biking, and the first ride out getting a puncture, i decided i'd go tubeless.
Set it up on friday night, i'm using the Specialized tyres (2bliss ready) with DT Swiss rims that came with tubeless rim tape that was poorly fitted, so i went over it with four layers of electricians tape and that seemed to hold the air well. Put some slimepro sealant in each tyre, and rode it with no problems on saturday. Come back to it tonight and it seems both tyres have lost some pressure. They aren't flat, but pinching them with my fingers is easy now and they were firm on Saturdays ride.
Since i'm a noob, can anyone tell me where i've gone wrong? There seems to be lots of bubbling around the tyre sidewalls but i'm told this should be happening. Some air did come out around the valve hole in the rim during setup, but this seems intermittent. Is this a rim tape issue?
Set it up on friday night, i'm using the Specialized tyres (2bliss ready) with DT Swiss rims that came with tubeless rim tape that was poorly fitted, so i went over it with four layers of electricians tape and that seemed to hold the air well. Put some slimepro sealant in each tyre, and rode it with no problems on saturday. Come back to it tonight and it seems both tyres have lost some pressure. They aren't flat, but pinching them with my fingers is easy now and they were firm on Saturdays ride.
Since i'm a noob, can anyone tell me where i've gone wrong? There seems to be lots of bubbling around the tyre sidewalls but i'm told this should be happening. Some air did come out around the valve hole in the rim during setup, but this seems intermittent. Is this a rim tape issue?
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I just replaced a tyre with a WTB Vigilante and had a similar problem - no leaks from the tape or rim but bubbles from sidewall. It seems that the rubber can be porous to some extent - I chucked another 60ml of sealant in, pumped the tyre up and held the wheel horizontal with a slight up and down movement to allow the sealant to run around the sidewalls, flipping the wheel over from time to time to get both walls.
I then left it resting for an hour or two on one side before flipping and doing the same on the other.
Air is now staying where I put it.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
Interesting - i'll try topping the things up with air and seeing if they hold after making sure the sealant is spread around fully. They were still bubbling when i got home after a 30km ride. There was 90ml of sealant in each tyre, maybe it isn't a good brand of sealant?0
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+1 for leaving the tyre horizontal - lay it over the mouth of a bucket or similar (to hold it properly horizontal) for an hour or so, then flip it. Pumping it up to higher-than-normal pressure beforehand helps force sealant through any pores that hold at low pressure, but might become a weak point during the stresses of riding.0
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The Slime sealant doesn't seem to score as highly as Stan's etc but it is still meant to work.
Couple of things I'd check. First is the sidewall for any damage. I've always had good luck with Specialized 2Bliss tyres and found they are near enough air tight without sealant. Check there are no cuts. If it's bubbling a lot I'd suggest trying to warranty the tyre if it won't seal as it is sold as a tubeless ready tyre. Leaving the wheel horizontal does help a lot with sealing the sidewalls so definitely try that. I'd also redo the tape properly if it was me. I've found electrical tape can move quite easily which means the rim will start loosing air, not to mention getting all the sealant inside the rim. Also make sure there's no air leaking from the valve.
If you've not seen it yet, youtube the Stan's set up guide for tubeless. It's pretty useful knowing how to get the sealant around the tyre properly.0
