[Closed] Tubeless woes! Please help?

[i]Was trying to get the tyre to seat before adding sealant through the valve[/i]

this is what you should.

I have horrendous probelms on some tyre/rim combo's getting a seal, on others it's a doddle.

more very soapy water and perseverence is the only solution, ime.

Looks like I might have to get in the bath with it later?

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p ]STW magic....worked for me[/url]

Can you really get 40psi in a plastic bottle!

How long did you leave the tube in?? I'd have thought you should leave it overnight at least to remove all the kinks from the tyre & shape it a bit.

I've done 2 Spesh tyres (Purgatory & Captain) on DT Swiss420 rims. The Purgatory tyre is very loose, I can get it on & off the rim without levers, but even that goes up with about 10 vigorous pumps of the track pump while gently pushing the tyre in towards the valve as you mention above.

I'd give it a bit longer with a tube to shape it and then try again. If that doesn't work, then perhaps rig yourself up a ghetto inflator in the mean time. I keep meaning to try this.

hugh jardon - Member
Can you really get 40psi in a plastic bottle!

If you are worried about the pressure, then wrap the whole thing in duck tape.

I tried everything with my setup (maxxis high rollers, Stans strips, alex/specialized pitch rims) and nothing works, even the DIY compressor fails.

Contemplated buying a compressor but oppinion on car restoration forums is that the typical 20ltr, direct drive compressors you can get from lidle/machine mart etc for ~£80 are good for little more than tyre inflation and air brushing and anything usefull needs to be belt driven, 3hp motor and 30amp feed and a 50ltr minimum tank.

[edit] at 120psi my bottle (filled 95% with water for safety during the test) was expanded, but didn't burst.

When you removed the tube, did you leave the tyre beaded up on the other side?

With some tyres you can pull the tyre slightly onto the beads by hand... If you start right by the valve with this it can make a big difference. Very rarely found it neccesariy though.

What pump is it?

Had similar problems but got round it by making sure one bead was seated before I tried to blow it up tubeless.

If you blow the tyre up with a tube so both beads are seated then deflate and carefully break the bead on one side only. Remove the tube from that side, fit the tubeless valve and blow up with a track pump. Mine went up straight away - without sealant, added that later through the valve.

Can you really get 40psi in a plastic bottle!

[i]Have put 100psi in mine (wrapped in duct tape).[/i]

you can't be too careful;

[img] [/img]

I was sceptical. Put some milk in the tyre then popped the tyre onto the rim (didnt seat) and to help create pressure I pressed one side of the tyre into the floor/wall- this created a pocket that then shot round as you lifted the tyre away from the wall (slowly) and [ping!

I think the clue is in the 'fits by hand easy'. Tubeless rim and tyres, use maxxis they go up with track pump. Fit tyre and bash with hand all the way around to seat a bit. Track pump blows them up always. I then let them down and use a tyre leaver to make a gap to pour in two good cups of stans sealent. No faff with valve. Refit and blow up to 40psi and leave overnight, you will hear the tyre snap in to position. Let down to 20 front 25 psi rear, go ride. Works every time for me. Just changed my tyres and note the number of thorns I had collected and sealed with smug smile 🙂

Just get some UST rims.
Stans rims are rubbish for tubeless.

I left the tyre inflated with the tube for about 36hours so it appears nicely shaped.

And yes I left the bead on one side when I removed the tube.

Using a Topeak Joe Blow Ace, track pump, not a cheapy so should be up to the job?

My Joe Blow's pretty poor for tubeless- it's very low volume, takes over twice as many strokes for the same pressure as my Airtower 2. Still, should be good enough.

glenh - Member

Just get some UST rims.
Stans rims are rubbish for tubeless.

Er, no, not at all. My 819s and my Flows are functionally exactly the same, there's no difference at all in fitting tyres.

Get a few rides in with tubes in to straighten the tyre bead - i had no problems fitting to Stans rims using tyres that had been used.

Buyer beware!

Specialized The Captain S works are under no conditions suitable to run tubeless!!!

The sidewall is so flimsy the pushing down near the valve trick does not work as it is impossible to force the sideall towards the bead.

Adding more soapy water actually makes this process even more difficult.

Sweating my cobs off after having another hour long bout with the track pump, going to have one more go later, if I fail they will be going back as not fit for purpose.

in case you're not already..

remove the valve core and pump up without it. the freer flow of air allows you to get lots in quickly which is what you need. go to 45psi or so then take off the pump and stick your thumb over the valve stem then quickly fit the valve. easy.

[i]remove the valve core and pump up without it.[/i]

this is particularly true if you've already used the valve - it may be full of latex and stuff blockign air flow.

with presta the big problem is that the bit that the pump valve will lock onto is the bit that comes off with the core so obtaining a seal around the outer part of the valve can be quite difficult if you do take the core out.

On schraeder valves it's great as the inner comes out and you can still get a good lock on the outer.

with presta the big problem is that the bit that the pump valve will lock onto is the bit that comes off with the core so obtaining a seal around the outer part of the valve can be quite difficult if you do take the core out.

true though if you have a track pump with dual presta/schraeder head, the schraeder one fits perfectly on a core-less presta 🙂

Swapped my tyres last night had no problems with maxxis tyres and xtr crest rims. Slap the tyres on and pump. They go straight up same with xt wheel set. Like I said you need proper ust rims, no faff solution. I will never go back to tubes.

all of the above tips are good but basically just use a compressor. Ive managed to seat even very flappy, tyres, on bent rims with no sealant. I find that it helps if you can hang the wheel up somewhere as it stops the bottom of the tyre being squashed. you may need to kind of pull the bead towards the rim with your thumbs if the air is really gushing out, if that is the case a second person to hold the airgun will help

I managed to get my Spesh Captain seated on a split 20" BMX tube on 717s the other day with only the track pump.

It did help that the tyre has been used for a couple of weeks with a tube in it and I had my lovely lady assistant hold the wheel off the ground and pinch the tyre slightly to help maintain the seal.

I'm bragging because each and every other time I've attempted to fit a tyre on a ghetto tubeless rim, I've spent an hour running the car's compressor swearing at it in the street.

I spent most of Sunday trying to get a Maxxis Advantage Exo to blow up on a ghetto'ed DT Swiss XR400 rim - used soap and open valve etc with a Jow Blow track pump. Failed dismally.

Thought about a compressor then looked at all the stuff in the garage and decided to try a CO2 inflator. Bought the cheapest I could find at
http://www.tyreinflators.co.uk/cls-tyre-inflators/mosa-co2-mini-tyre-inflator/pump-inc-2-x-16g-threaded/prod_269.html?category=4

Just tried it a week later - soaped up the bead popped on the inflator and it inflated instantly - huge sighs of relief all round.

I set up some tubeless tyres today on stans rims. Popped them on the rims, attached track pump, lazily pumped with one hand. Inflated. I don't know how people have so much trouble with it lol.