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First time using tubless, Conti Mountain King Protection 2.4 on Stans Flow EX. Did a 18km trail centre ride and must say whilst still getting used to the way the new bike and tyres ride I did notice a distinct difference. Whether this is down to the new bike or the difference in tyres and tubeless set up remains to be seen. But I like what I feel 'underwheel'.
That having been said I have noticed that the tyres do seem to lose air quicker than tubes. I noticed that they were quite soft the day after first use and now, the second day after use, are very soft and almost 'flat'. I wondered if this is normal for tubeless, I could leave my inner tubed tyres for a week and only lose 3 or 4 psi.
Maybe I haven't put enough sealant in? Or are Conti's hard to seal? The seat on the rims looks fine and they 'popped' quite convincingly when first pressurizing them.I'm concerned that I may lose a couple of psi over a half day and even more over a full days riding.
What are your thoughts, chaps?
It's quite common when they're new, sometimes the tyres are a little porous but they do usually seal up fully after a ride or two.
Contis are hard to seal. Use a bit more. Once they're fully sealed they hold as well, if not better, than a tube ime.
My tubeless contis don't lose air at all really (except for last night's 2 inch long hole in the sidewall), so there's definitely something not right.
Don't go mad with the jizz - maybe lay the tyre on one side for a day, then flip it over so the jizz can plug the tiny holes
they do take a while to bed in sometimes and as stated above I found conti black chillis to have very porous side walls.
You could make a solution of weak washing up liquid and with a sponge, run it over the tyres and where they seal with the rim. Then pump them up and leave for an hour, you'll see a white foam where any leaks maybe. Then you can shake the tyre to target these areas.
I'd get a trough of water. You should be able to work out where the leak is coming from and then address it. Ordinarily it'll either be from the valve or, as mentioned above, the sidewall. That said, if you are running the protection versions, I doubt it would be the sidewall.
If you're on flows, I assume you've yellow taped tightly, and that there's not a slight leak at a spoke hole or something?
2 lids of stans on a new tyre for me. Slosh it around a lot., leave it on a bucket over night (so you get the jizz distributed to each sidewall in turn).
Good luck!
If you check the Continental site it recommends rubbing sealant into the inside of the tyre by hand prior to fitting. 😀 Pain in the baws but if it keeps them up then i guess its worth it 😉
My CX tubeless still lose air after several months, enough to require topping up every few days, dunno if it's due to ~50psi, don't seem to have any "proper" leaks. (contis - Xking I think)
<edit>1st tyre I did nowt with and it took ages to "seal", 2nd tyre I washed and scrubbed the inside as per conti instructions, sealed a lot quicker still got the slow leak tho.
That said, if you are running the protection versions, I doubt it would be the sidewall.
Conti's sidewalls are very leaky, even the Protection ones.
Just put a little more fluid in than you'd expect and ride it alot and it will hopefully seal eventually. Pumping them up and laying them on the side overnight helps. And always carry a pump with you, obviously.
I knew this would be with conti tyres, they take longer to seal, mine have tiny bubbles around the tyre/rim bead for a day after doing them but after that they are fine. Conti don't seem very tough though, currently getting on great with the Schwalbe Magic Mary on the front so hopefully that won't change
Great feedback guys, thanks.
I will try looking for any air leaks in the bath : ), rubbing sealant into the side walls and then topping up and leaving them on one side then the other on a bucket. Yeah... and the pump!
Brilliant! Gotta love this site!
as above it does happen, espeially on tubeless ready tyres and tubeless ready rims
if your on UST rims/tyres IME they drop far less pressure, as theres more of a seal instantly, and you dont need sealant on them
but tubeless ready is a mixed bag, ive just put a HR2 TR tyre on it was rock hard in the day, got home and it was soft, pumped back up and left on laying sideways on a bucket for about 3 hours each way and its stayed up brick hard since
the best thing you can do is ride it straight after youve pumped it up and it will help the sealing process no end!
Conti's sidewalls are very leaky, even the Protection ones
This has been my experience (2.2" and 2.4" Protection MK2s). I ended up buying liquid latex from hobbycraft and painting in onto the inside of the tyre to help seal them. They still go down noticeably between rides, especially the 2.2" on the rear.
My old non-UST Rubber Queens had really porous sidewalls and would take a good few days / rides to seal properly, but then they weren’t tubeless ready tyres so I kind of expected that. My new 29er 2.4 Protection Trail Kings went up ok, and sealed first time with about 90-100ml of sealant, but I ripped open the rear a couple of weeks ago so I’m not convinced the new Protection sidewalls are any better. It’s a shame, but as much as I love the handling and grip characteristics of the black chili Rubber Queen / Trail King I’m going to bin them and try a different tyre combo.
Slight hijake,
Whats the latest with which spunk to use these days - Caffe Latex or Stans?
A few days in the Alps and I got quite narked with the Bonty XR4's pinching so easily (front 5 year Minion was bloody brilliant)..
I found my conti Trailkings took a bit to seal but when I replaced the tyre the new one was a breeze.
just give it some time and all will be good.
Cheers Guys,
I'm going to think about carrying a spare folding tyre and a couple of tubes for a while.
Yetiman. Do they really rip easily? Are you riding some real rough stuff? I'm going to try to stay with the Conti's the grip characteristics seem way better than the Ardents or HR's I was using on my previous bike. Same bike actually I got a killer deal on the old style SB66.
Sul, I'm using Stan's fluid BTW, but that's what i got with the new bike.
As stated Conti are PITA to seal...but once bedded they stay up for yonks on my HT.
you really don't need to carry a spare tyre (tries not to use obvious joke about half of STW carrying a spare tyre everywhere they go). Tube or two is sensible, maybe a tyre boot. Even some zip ties if you're worried.
You'd have to be very unlucky to destroy a tyre to the extent you can't limp it home with that lot.
most likely is that you'll carry a spare tube then find it's got a puncture or the valve has gone 👿
Zedz - yes lots of fast rocky descents around here so tyres can take a bit of a hammering. For a tyre that weighs approx 880g the Protection sidewall still feels a bit too thin. By contrast, my 2.4 EXO Ardent, which has just gone back on and is a similar weight, has a much thicker feeling sidewall and has been a reliable alternative when called into use. It might be worth trying the Apex reinforced version I s'pose.
Think you have to be pretty brave not to carry a tube tbh. I can't remember the last time I had to put one in, mind, a very long time. (I've given a couple away to mates and randoms though!)
Thanks Northwind, Never thought about not carrying a tube, I always had one in my bag anyway, certainly wouldn't take it out to save weight!
Loving the tubeless setup BTW it may just be the new bike but there was so much less rolling resistance, it made you want to push all the hills. Though that may be the new 2x10 setup running 26 / 32 instead of 22 / 36 making me push harder!
Quick follow up for anyone with similar issues looking for solutions. I put some extra 'Stans' in at the trail head and inflated a couple of psi above my usual setup. Set off pretty swiftish, as suggested by Osc Wildly above to get the maximum spread around the tyres and Hey Presto! They stayed inflated and have been consistent in the garage since. I could see where the fluid was seeping between the tyres and rims.
Once again thanks for suggestions/feedback.