Inflating awkward tyres for Tubeless use !

I found a thread on making a ‘compressor’ from a drinks bottle – I made one and it worked !! Having tried with a tyre compressor with no luck and virtually given up on getting my Onza Ibex FR 2.25 tyre inflated without a tube, due to the very loose bead – I’m very pleased this worked, using things I already had in the shed!

I used a 2 litre drink bottle.

Drilled a 6mm hole in the bottom end and inserted a presta valve from a cut inner tube – to use as the end I attach the pump to. Where you screw on the tightening ring, I made a rubber ‘washer’ from a piece of inner tube with a tiny hole in the middle – so the tightening ring formed a better seal.

I inflated this with the lid on the bottle to ensure it reached sufficient pressure and 60psi was fine.

Then drilled a 6mm hole in the bottle cap (centrally) …. and inserted another valve in that end, this time with the valve core removed as this would be the ‘exit’ end.

I had the No Tubes sealant kit which has a short length of plastic tubing off the syringe for sealant to go through, so decided to cut this tube to use. It has a handy screw on piece the other end for attachment to the valve on the wheel! [valve core removed for now]

In order to fix the tubing to the bottle-cap valve [tubing was slightly too big] I wrapped some blu-tak around the valve outer thread and squeezed the tubing over that and then zip-tied it in place – so that was air tight.

I then tested it again by crimping the tube with a set of grips [using spare inner tube rubber to protect the tubing from the metal edged grips & create a nice tight seal].

Pumped up my bottle to 70psi fine.

The tyre had already been inflated for a while with a tube in, so having taken the tube out I lubricated the tyre beads with soapy water.

Then I simply attached my bottle to the wheel valve – inflated it to 70 psi – released the grip …. and ‘wham’ up it went.

Fantastic.

I let it sit for a while to allow the tyre to sit in the rim fully.

I then used my Stans syringe to inject sealant through the valve on the rim (core was already removed).

Put the valve core back in and pumped up with my track pump, which worked fine – didn’t need the bottle that time, now the beads were in place.

Job done….

I think you forgot the bit about wrapping the bottle in duct tape to make it a bit stronger and less likely to explode and cause you serious injury…

Did you find the thread on here? 😉

PS: It is a good tip.

He’s making a mess of blowing up that penguin

To be honest – I’m not sure how an empty plastic bottle would be likely to cause that much injury, since it would not likely shatter and send bits everywhere ….. but in the absence of tape I did lay a towel over the top, just in case – to help catch any impact – but it was not needed and I had tested it at a lower pressure first. 😛

I guess ‘safety first’ though ….. or at least 2nd or 3rd !

No Z1ppy – a guy via another forum told me roughly what to do and I pieced it together with the bits I found in the shed from there….. it’s a great tip though all-in-all !

A couple of friends and I did, after inflating a set of tubeless tyres, decide to see what the bottles can take.

Ours was a 3Ltr strongbow bottle (we’re students, the friend has a taste for crap cider), it hit 140PSI before blowing.

Made one hell of a bang, and lifted about 6ft off the ground. The bottle ripped down one side and the lid shot off due tot he bottle neck braking. A few pieces came off as well. The person pumping had the pump tube fed under a gate and was stood behind it. The other person and I were stood about 10ft. back and both felt the air rush, surprisingly warm.

I reckon if one was to blow you should be OK, as long as nothing goes in your eyes.

Logical, looks like your penguin has blown a seal (bum bum) 😛

Be carefull the is a genuine risk of injury if the bottle explodes. At 70psi every square inch of the bottle has 70 pounds of force behind it, that is more than enough to bury a piece of sharp plastic into your skin or eye!

Be carefull the is a genuine risk of injury if the bottle explodes. At 70psi every square inch of the bottle has 70 pounds of force behind it, that is more than enough to bury a piece of sharp plastic into your skin or eye!