So, building a 29er for racey XC type riding. Never used tubeless so giving it a spin.

Wheels are likely to be American Classic Tubeless which come fitted with tape and valves. Maybe still save some pennies and get Crests on Hope. Tyres will definately be Rocket Ron Evo, so Tubeless Ready.

I dont know anything about sealant…..which one am I getting? Am hoping there are plenty of vids on YouTube that can show me how to install?

Everyone will screen ‘YOU MUST GET STANS’ but i find Joe’s & slime to be just as good. Just make sure it’s a leading brand and you will wonder why you’ve never done it before

The strap technique when seating your tubeless ready tyres works best for me cos that’ll be your next post. Put a strap around the outside of the tyre and when your ready to pump, tighten he strap and it’ll push the bead to the rim. Combine that with soapy water and you’re away. Eventually you just get the knack and pump them up with just a floor pump

FWIW I’ve got a set of AC 26″ wheels and a set of Crest/Pro2s. Both run tubeless and I’ve not noticed any difference in fitting/sealing tyres on them. The ACs are an older set that I just stuck some Stans yellow tape & new valves in, so I suspect their newer ‘tubeless’ badged rims should be just as good.

I’ve used Joes & Stans sealant – the only puncture I’ve had was a 1cm slice straight across the tyre which the Joes tried to seal but it was opening up at every bump. Though TBF I’d have binned a tube with that sort of slice in it anyway. After a recent ride I counted 8 points on MrsP’s back tyre where the (Joes) sealant had oozed out during the ride, but it was still rideable when we got back.

Cool….I’m expecting some trauma getting this going but hoping I can run my tyres at nice low pressures when I need to. Will I need a compressor?

I do this
1. inflate the tyre with a tube in up to 40psi. This sits the bead. If its a baggy tyre I might leave it for an hour.
2. remove the tube (1 bead stays seated)
3. insert tubeless valve with core removed
4. pour in stans fluid
5. attach track pump
6. pump like mad

If this doesn’t work, I get neat washing up liquid and squirt it liberally around the tyre wall. It never fails to inflate then.

I used Nobby Nics on Arch Ex… no need for straps or tubes, just seated and sealed first time. Try simple first!

If you’re a serial tyre swapper then a compressor may come in handy – IME new tyres are far less faff than ones you’ve had on & off before. Seating the bead with a tube then using a track pump works for me but I’m a cheapskate and use water rather than washing up liquid – I just happened to have a pint of water to hand when I had an uncooperative tyre so just dribbled some round the bead & it worked fine.

Great, thanks. I’ve been using Rons in everything but really bad gloop on my 26″, really rate them, hopefully wont be switching much.

What is the water/washing up liquid used for?

Does the sealant go in through the valve yes?

The soapy water lubricates the bead so it can easily ‘pop’ out onto the rim.

Best to put a couple of cups of sealant into the tyre after fitting one side to the rim but before fitting the second bead. I found trying to squeeze sealant through the valve stem caused the Stans to seal in the valve and I couldn’t force the sealant in! Easier to do it when fitting the tyre. Some useful videos on the Stans website and also YouTube.

Be careful not to damage the bead of the tyre with levers. There are lots of reports on the web of Schwalbe tyres blowing off the rim when they’re inflated due to bead failure. I was able to fit a 26″ Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron by hand with no levers. They were very tight, but it’s possible.

Same wheels as you (AC XC 29ers) I bunged a tyre on, pumped it up, held pressure ok, so let the air out, put some stans thru the valve, reinflated, done.

(tyres maxxis, ikon EXO and crossmark went up easy, wire beavers needed a puff with a pop bottle reservoir to make them seat)

The new Schwalbe TLR 29ers are seriously tight on Stan’s Crests
The older ones were OK but the newish model is much tighter

Just set up some crest 29ers on proIIevo and stans and nic/Ralph combo. £20 for a stans kit from Hope – super super easy set up with supplied instructions.
Downsides? Wheels took 2 months to come!! I have had 1ride on them and the rear hub already has a wobble, so don’t know whether there is a quality control issue with the new hubs?

I’ve read Stan no longer recommends Schwalbe tyres, are people still getting on ok with them? I was all set to buy some new Nics for my Arch EX’s when I read it on here and it put me off a little.

Have gone for AC Race 29, come taped and with valves. Will let you know how I get on, or more likely, will come back with tears and trauma.

SO having a go at it tonight, wife rang to tell me the new frame and wheels are sitting in the hallway. Think I’ve convinced here my sale of 26″ bikes x 2 will cover it.

How much sealant should I put in each tyre?

none tonight.

Get them seated and inflated to a reasonable pressure overnight.

Then tomorrow if they’re still seated ok, one of the little squeezy bottles and a half of stans thru the valve core is how I roll on 29s…

For inflation duties, I recommend one of those garden sprayer. Wilkinson do them for £8 or so (less for a small one).

I had some trouble getting a tyre to seat and completely coincidentally won a garden sprayer in a raffle. It popped the tyre onto the rim with very little effort.

I’ve got Ron pacestar evo tubeless ready on crests, they went on easy enough by hand, but the sidewalls are very porous and took some serious sloshing around to make em hold air for longer than an hour or so..
Great now though 😀
H-S bikediscount.de were doing them for cheap not long ago, mine came in three days,

So….through the valve core rather than pour it stright into the tyre before seating yes?

Yes, or blow it on then unseat a bit of bead and pour it in and pump it up again. either way works

So….through the valve core rather than pour it stright into the tyre before seating yes?

Yes, cos you want to seat it without sealant as you don’t need sealant to seat it, and you don’t want to make a mess trying to seat it with sealant jizzing all over the place.

Lots of help available here.

I run Fat Albert on iodine 3 rims with stans. When ever the wheel is off give it a shake make sure hear fluid running around. Ask a nurse or Dr to acquire 50ml syringes with a blunt drawing up needles then you can inject through the valve core. That saves taking the rim off and unseating a good seal u may of achieved

So had a go at it last night. Rons on AC Race Wheels.

Did as advised, tube first, then took it off, re-inflated without the tube. Couldnt get it to seal so poured loads of neat Fairy liquid round the bead. I see the point of that now, there wasnt any problem at all getting the tyre on to the rim, the soap provides just enough temporary seal to keep the air in and get the tyre back up.
Valve core out then poured in 2 cups of sealant through the valve via the little white bottle. Pumped back up, swirl the tyre around and that seemed to be that. Were a couple of obvious leaked in the sidewall but the sealant managed to fill them eventually.

Came down this morning, one tyre still fat, the other had gone down. Found another pin-prick size hole with sealant dripping through. Pressed my finger on it, that seemed to get it to seal, will see how it is this evening.

Is this the normal state of affairs with tubeless? Do TR tyres naturally have a few holes in them when you get them that you have to be patient with? Am I going to find the tyres flat a few days after a ride where I have to get the sealant working again?

Thanks

Once they seal, they tend to stay sealed.

Sometimes they’ll need a ride to get properly sealed, get the sealant sloshing about everywhere properly.

As you note, sometimes slowing the flow of air lets it seal. I generally then get it back up to 50-60 and leave it a bit, makes sure the bead’s properly locked in place.