Hi folks,

Been going a bit insane trying to seat 2.25 Schwalbe Tough Toms on Mavic 321 disc 27.5 rims. Tyres are wire bead.
Not my first time converting to tubeless and in the past have used both the stretched innertube, and the gorilla tape methods, without too much issue. Using the tape method this time, but getting nowhere fast. I have done the following:
Removed valve core
Tons of washing up liquid
Ghetto compressor (max pressure I’ve managed has been 60psi)
Strap around the tyre.

But nothing works. What should I be doing? Any advice before I give up bike riding for ever would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Tyres are wire bead.
Not impossible…..does’nt help.

I struggle with wire bead tyres without a proper inflator. Garage air compressor in flat tyre mode and take the valve core out.

I’d suggest seating using an inner tube first, leave overnight. Pop one side off, remove tube, install valve, then repeat what you tried – maybe with more pressure in the inflator though.

Was not aware of wire beads being difficult – there used to be a (theoretical?) idea that wire beads would be better IIRC. nickdavies – garage as in petrol station, or a tyre fitters? In the past, garage pumps never worked, but happy to wander to the local tomorrow for a try.

Scc999 – appreciate the thinking, but I really can’t imagine how to do this without breaking both seals when I try to tape the valve back in…? As for more pressure – agree higher would be better but I just don’t have the strength! It’s a Revolution (Edinburgh bike coop) pump – dial goes to 160 but pretty sure I’ll never get close!

If it helps I converted two fat bike wheels to tubeless last night in under 30 minutes. They pumped straight up with the valve core in using a track pump .
Previously I have spent over a week trying to fit just one tyre though.
I’ve served my time!

Well it doesn’t help just now but I look forward to super-easy installation the next time round!

You’ve got to get the tyre walls supple.

This means flexing them with your hands as though wringing the water out of a towel.

This can take about half an hour per tyre.

So get the kettle on, grab some latex gloves and while you’re working on the tyres, watch this guy (Ali clarkson/ going tubeless). Recommended.

+1 for using an inner tube then carefully taking it back out one side only. It’s pretty easy to keep one side of the tyre still seated and remove the tube as well as put in the valve stem. Just did this on a new Magic Mary that wouldn’t seat, and it then went up first time.

Yup, inner tube first helps. Don’t know if you need to leave it overnight, just pump up til you hear both beads snap into place. Carefully pop one side back off, should be no problem to pop the valve back in. I did it the other day on a stubborn Hans Dampf.

I noticed that one of the WC DH teams stores its tyres inside out, so the beads pop into place more easily when fitting tubeless.

Tried the ‘inflate from flat’ at local garage – no joy. It’s not even obvious where the air is escaping, no bubbling dishwater, the tyre doesn’t even expand when the air goes at the point immediately over the valve.

Trying the innertube trick, and fully expect it not to work. Got a very subtle ‘pop’ but not much to speak of.

Anyone wanna buy a zesty w/ flat tyres? 👿

How tight is the tyre to mount to the rim? If it’s a fairly easy fit I’d be adding another layer or two of tape. Nearly all awkward tyres I’ve had have gone up with a track pump after adding another layer of tape.

You’re effectively increasing the diameter of the rim bed slightly which should make a tighter initial fit with the bead. (Although this can make fitting/removing tyres a little harder initially.)

I’ve never had any luck with a wire bead – I think it’s not flexible enough.

Get one of the newer tubeless-ready tyres. The Schwalbe ones, or the Maxxis (maybe others, but that’s what I’ve had that works).

They just go up, sometimes with just a track pump, but always without fuss or drama. Recently I’ve stopped even bothering with all the soapy water stuff; it’s been fine without it (mostly).

They’re more expensive (a bit) but the amount of time and aggro it saves makes it easily worth it.

So I managed to get one to seal! Unfortunately, my taping skills around the valve were somewhat lacking, so it’s gone flat, and I need to apply more tape…

SteveL – beads pretty loose, but won’t building up the tape just force the bead away from the rim edge and into the central trough?

Oldnpastit – I see your point, but I hate the idea of ditching pretty new tyres before their time… Not ruling it out, mind…

I did think about getting a ton of super strong magnets to attract the bead outwards! But I don’t even know if they’re steel beads….

I just wouldn’t bother with a wire bead. Didn’t even know it was a thing. Well done for doing one though!

If the bead is pretty loose I’d definitely be adding more tape. It shouldn’t cause any issues with holding the bead away from the rim edge, especially once it’s up to pressure.
If you are concerned about it I guess you could try trimming the tape down across it’s width so you’re only adding a layer over the well itself.

I never tape round the valve.

I mean, I tape over the valve hole then make a tiny hole or cross, force the valve through and cinch it down with the valve collar. Sealant takes care of the rest.

Johnny Panic – I have tape between the valve and rim now, but also over the top of the valve. Worked fine in the past.

Managed to get the other tyre done, but with no sealant! It’s Stans Race and says don’t fill via the valve… But I’m gonna have to I think, lest I break the hallowed seal. Back to wheel number one again, retaped, added sealant… And it won’t seal now. But I just got ta let my arms recover, gets to 50psi on my gauge and I start to struggle 😕

Try one of the track pumps with a built in compressed air tank. I struggled trying to get some folding bead tubeless tyres on with various DIY methods but they went on first time with a good blast.

Yep, thinking of that – seen a couple on wiggle, and also the separate pressure tanks from Beto and Schwalbe on Merlin. Of course, if it only delivers the same pressure and volume as my ghetto fizzy juice bottle…

I have the airwave airblast and I think the pressure goes up to 200psi. It’s the combination of pressure and volume that’s important, it seats 27.5x 2.3 tyres ok, not sure about + or fat tyres though.

**Double post**

I had to pressurise my ghettoflator to 140psi to get it to tubeless a BMX tyre* the other night = sure did take some commitment with the track pump to get there. . . . .

*Gorilla tape and seat with a tube/1 side off technique

Thanks all. I managed to inflate the rear. Front is a no go, which is weird, because I got it to seal without sealant, but there were too many leaks and it went flat, and now I can’t get the seal. My arms are shot, not helped by the air leaking from the bottle top where the valves have been inserted. 140psi is totally out of the question, at least with this setup! I’m thinking the airblast looks good, suspect my track pump is past its prime (10 years old!)

This is all seeming like a lot of effort to tubeless some mediocre tyres.
Just ride them with tubes until they die and then get some proper tyres next time.

(I also got a Nobby Nick tubeless to get the price up to enough for the £10 Clearance discount 🙂 , here’s hoping for a turn in fortunes!)

I can report that the Airblast is great! Inflated third time! Now just to fit Big Apples to my Hahanna and redo the sealant in my Inbred. Thanks folks!

Speeder – Member
I had to pressurise my ghettoflator to 140psi to get it to tubeless a BMX tyre* the other night = sure did take some commitment with the track pump to get there. . . . .

*Gorilla tape and seat with a tube/1 side off technique

That would make a mess if it “went”. Had my ghetto up to 80psi, not sure I’d trust it much higher.

Ghetto bottle up to just under 100 psi last time. 😀

Started to leak at the valves/ bottle lid at that point.

Oh, wrapped gaffer tape around the bottle. Not sure how much that would do if it went bang though.

Dunno why people don’t just use CO2 in the absence of compressors and airshots etc.

Because it’s wasteful?
I’ve never tried it but is there enough volume pressure to seat a reuctant tyre?

It is wasteful, but better than spending days farting about with it.

Of course there’s enough volume, I wouldn’t be recommending it as an easy solution otherwise 🙂 Takes seconds, works almost perfectly if you don’t accidentally get the valve outside the tyre bead… I’ve been using this since before tubeless ready tyres existed.

psycorp – Member

That would make a mess if it “went”. Had my ghetto up to 80psi, not sure I’d trust it much higher.

Mine’s a CO2 Fire extinguisher based one rather than a pop bottle so should be safe to more pressure than I can get with a track pump . . . . .

I was that person last night.
Giant wheels obviously aren’t as good as Stans.
Rummaged through my neighbours bin and made a pop bottle inflator.
Pumped to 40 psi and inflated straight away. Excellent. Let the air out to put in sealant and tyre pops back off the rim.
Not so good. Got there eventually though.
Lost 20psi over night. Might be the tyres but my nobby nicks aren’t sweating sealant out like my ground controls did. Will see how it goes over the weekend.
Might bite the bullet and get new wheels now.