Thought I'd solved my puncture problems with some Dr Sludge tubes but having dropped the pressures from 40 to 35psi I got a pinch flat and then on the same ride the replacement non-sludge tube got a conventional puncture. That night I acquired another bike which had tubeless ready tyres on it so I bought some Caffelatex sealant and two 20" tubes and had go at making it work…

Five hours later amidst a world of bubbles I was still no closer to getting the tyres to seat with a track pump. Before ordering some CO2 or a compressor I did more googling and found suggestions that if the tyre wasn't a tight fit you should add some foam tape under the tube.

Foam tape duely added, tyres were seriously hard to get on, but once in place inflated immediately without soapy water or sealant. By the next day one had lost most of its pressure so I popped to the chemist who kindly gave me a suitable syringe, then unscrewed the valve core, squirted 100ml of sealant into each tyre, pumped to 30psi and they appear to be holding! Who knows if they'll work in practice, I shall report back…

Ive been ghetto tublessing for the last year on my freeride bike and more recently on my light single speed.
The Co2 can is a must really.
I use stans sealant and even if the tyres dont feel that snug they seem blow up with a bit of jiggling. 😀
Also if your out on a trail and get a tyre burp ( hasnt happened to me yet but has to my friend in the alps) you'll find it super hard getting air in fast enough with a mini pump.
On the ss i only used one cup of stans as reccommended but i do find that the tyres lose pressure quite quickly. Ok for a long day out but i pump em every ride. Im gonna put another cup full in as the freeride bike never really loses much at all. Tubeless tyres help to .

Just got a Norange 5 with Stans ZTR Crest rims & Maxxis adVantage tyres, noticed after picking the bike up that both tyres were losing pressure so I pumped them up & went for a spin to spread the 'stuff' around inside the tyres. This helped, tyres still going down but slower so I whacked a load of air in th e back one, went in the house & came back later to find the rear tyre completely flat & partly off the rim!
So this morning I give it what for with the track pump, more Stans sealant, washy up liquid, a blast of CO2, then finally some old (& much thicker) sealant I had from yonks ago which, combined with track pump enthusiasm, finally got the ba**ard inflated!
I'll always carry 2 tubes & puncture kit as I'm not convinced (for the 2nd time in my life) about tubeless MTB tyres!

Does anyone find that using CO2 causes the sealant to coagulate in to a lump? Friends have had this experience with Stans in the past.

Stans suggest you don't use CO2 with their setup IIRC.

This any use?

http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/features/maintenance/stans-no-tubes-guide.htm

i failed to inflate with two co2 cannisters, froze the valve and the fairy liquid very quickly so suppose it has bad effects on the sealant

Sixam – Member
Does anyone find that using CO2 causes the sealant to coagulate in to a lump?

I've never used CO2 but have found stan boogers in my tyres before now.

CO2 is quite water soluble so I wouldn't be surprised if it went into the sealant and reacted. Has anyone else used the foam tape trick to get the tyre to seat? I use 3mm thick 25mm wide stuff at work so I cut it down to rim width and it helped the tube and tyre seal well together so I didn't even have to pump maniacally with the track pump – I wonder if the mini-pump might have worked?

Clearance on the forks is quite tight with Bontrager XR4 2.2 but it doesn't half make the bike look a lot less of a XC race thing (previously it had Speed Kings in 2.3 (2.1" really) and 2.1" (1.9") – hopefully the extra grip will be worth the drag!