Hi all,

I’m supposed to start the GDMBR next week. Flying out in a couple of days. My bike came ‘tubeless’ ready – I have WTB Trailblazers and Jalco DD38, Tubeless-Ready, 32H rims. I got the tire to inflate to 40 PSI but it gradually loses air. First I noticed that it was coming out from around the valve. I am using STAN’s 35mm NOTUVES valves (new). Then I noticed there is airloss from the spoke nipples too! Any ideas what the problem is?

Cheers!

It sounds like the air is leaking past the rim strip.

Did you put this on yourself (duck tape? Stan’s yellow tape? something else) or did it come with the tape already in place?

It could also be leaking from around the valve.

As above, did you fit a stans tape or similar.

If you did, when fitting the tyre did you use levers? It can be quite easy to damage the tape

Hi guys,

Yeah it came with the tape already in place. I ran these tubed for a few trips already. I haven’t put any sealant in yet… would that fix the leak or is something seriously wrong?

Sealant is your friend as long as the tyres pop on the rim and as long as it’s actually proper tubeless rim tape fitted to the rims,
Most of the tubeless ready rims I’ve seen come on bikes don’t have tubeless tape fitted, just normal rim tape which is no good for tubeless.

I’m not sure it is – I just assumed it would be given it was stated as tubeless “ready”…. is there a telltale way to determine if the tape is proper tubeless rim tape or not?

tubeless tape is self adhesive so it would look like plastic tape stuck to the inside of the rim nand should completely cover the spoke holes. Normal rim tapes are either a tight fitting band or a fabric type material. Although you should be able to get the tyre to pop on without sealant it will still lose air without sealant unless it is a great fit.

can you post a photo of the rim tape in question?

My tubeless ready rims had what looked like nice tidy and tight tape which was actually just a regular rim tape and needed replacing with something suitable for tubeless running. Used gorilla Tape with no issues.

There are a few points where it looks like this:-

There’s a couple of scratches but they don’t look like that they are holes too.

That’s just looks like rim tape to me?

I prefer using the strips.

That’s just rim tape. Need some tubeless tape of some kind

Damn! Thanks for helping me out though.

… so when I get some tubeless tape should I remove that red one first?

… so when I get some tubeless tape should I remove that red one first?

Yes

Ordinary Gorilla tape, or electrical tape is absolutely fine. If the latter, stretch it as your’re wrapping it round the rim, make sure there’s several layers of it before you fit the tyre.

A little leakage sans sealant is absolutely normal, the valve needs to be tight (but not so tight as you pull the valve through the rim).

Finally, once the sealant is in, a good shake usually agitates the sealant so that it plugs any holes.

Great, I’ll try again tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice!

If you aren’t looking to save money buy a roll of the stans yellow tape

tip: check the drilling around the spoke holes for swarf and general sharp bits before you fit the tape. If they have any then use a file or some emery paper to clean them up

If you aren’t looking to save money buy a roll of the stans yellow tape

Or Tesa yellow tape (which is exactly the same)
Tesa tape on Ebay

Gorilla tape works very well, but if you ever try and take it off the rim it does leave a lot of very sticky residue, which can then cause problems with re-taping.

Tubeless ready doesn’t actually mean tubeless ready as you’ve discovered. They should call it tubeless nearly ready.

Gorilla tape works very well, but if you ever try and take it off the rim it does leave a lot of very sticky residue, which can then cause problems with re-taping.

A layer of electrical tape underneath can prevent that. It’s crucial to remember to put it on first though 😳

I have found T-REX tape even better than gorilla tape and it comes in a slightly different width that works for most of my rims…
It’s incredibly sticky, even when its not completely dry … and most of the residue comes off with the tape and any that doesn’t is pretty easy to get off with meths or isopropyl …

Iv’e got some Stans tape as well which works on a couple of rims where the lip is tight but the T-REX is way stronger … and doesn’t come off when you change tyres over.

Can’t believe no-one is recommending strips…

Can’t believe no-one is recommending strips…

I recommend strips, i used the stans rimstips when i first went tubeless and they work pretty well, although they are quite expensive, rim size specific and i felt not much lighter than an innter tube, they are easy to setup and work well in my experience though.

I use electrical tape under gorrilla tape these days works pretty well, and you can do any size wheel with the same kit. Not as simple as rimstrips though.

Not as simple to install or to inflate? Like you, my first experience with rim strips was nice and easy so I kept on it. I’ve not tried using plain tape but I’d imagine it would make the bead really slack in the rim well and hence harder to inflate?

Sealant makes a massive difference too. “Glues” the sidewalls to the rim. I’ve found with some (road) tubeless that they’ll leak a bit even with the recommended amount of sealant. Top it up with another 200ml (estimate!) and it seals em up.
Oh yeah – also riding on them will seal em up too.

Can’t believe no-one is recommending strips…

The OP’s rims are tubeless ready so strips are not needed. They are designed for standard rims.

I had cause to remove and refit gorilla tape recently as it had punctured due to ham fisted tyre removal by son. Peeled off with zero residue, reapplication took all of 3 minutes.