Tubeless for dummies – part 937

When you fit new tyres, do you have to clean the rims?  My rim tape is sealing fine and I’m reluctant to disturb it :-)

Sometimes taking the old tyre off disturbs the tape. If you’ve got the tyre off and it is still fine then I’d crack on.

Yep, depends. I’ve got a set of Stans Flow wheels/rims that were factory taped, and they’ve been good for multiple tyre changed over 4 1/2 years.

Others that I taped myself have been less resilient to tyre changes.

It it’s still sealing, then leave alone IMO ;-)

No – never.  Your rim tape should almost totally encompass the inside of the rim, so what is there to clean?.  27mm internal rim = 33-35mm tape.  Just wipe the tape down, clean the valve, mount the tyres and add the sealant.

No – never.  Your rim tape should almost totally encompass the inside of the rim, so what is there to clean?.  27mm internal rim = 33-35mm tape.  Just wipe the tape down, clean the valve, mount the tyres and add the sealant.

Why’s that then? So long as you’ve coverd the spoke holes? Works for me.

If the tape overlaps the tyres, there’s no chance of air escaping under the tape and through the spoke holes.

If there’s dry sealant on the tyre/rim interface and its patchy it might affect the tyre popping on when inflated and the irregularity might cause a leak so I clean that bit off. Same as if the tyre bead has dry sealant I’d take that off.

Your rim tape shouldn’t be anywhere near the rim lip so removing it won’t affect it.

erm – does gorilla tape go off?

I have some which isnt sticky now, so i cant use it

I need to go tubeless, but never succeeded in doing it

Had this myself just recently, tyre removal took the tape with it, decided it was an opportunity to learn to set wheels up tubeless myself

long story short…

2 rolls of tape later (and MANY attempts for three wheels) I’ve learned that cleaning the rims and tyre edges / beads to a spotless finish is key, any small amount of dried  sealant can (and does) ruin the whole process. I found a lot of  be VERY careful if using tyre levers as they can (did) completely ruin the tape if they catch it

Be warned…thumbs…oh the sore thumbs after pressing the tape down around the rim

I also learned that double wrapping each rim helps a lot

to save potentially wasting sealant, what I did in the end was

apply tape

put tyre on and pump up,

I’ve heard some people put a tube in to help compress the tape to the rim, if there’s still air in the tyres an hour or so later, put sealant in according to your favoured method

FWIW 25mm tape on 21mm rims,

All that being said, if your current tape is sealing well still and remains undisturbed, as mentioned above, leave it be and crack on but maybe check it is BEFORE throwing your sealant in

Just done this last night. Tyre off, quick wipe of the rim to remove old sealant, new tyre on. Still holding up this morning. Thank christ I didn’t have to re-tape.

Quick tip:  Leave the new tyre in the baking sun for about half hour – makes it nice and flexible!  I wasn’t looking forward to replacing a rear Minion yesterday, but got it on 1st try!  No sore thumbs either