Okay, after 5+ years of vowing “never again” I’m tubeless curious.

I’ve just read the ‘Just Riding Along’ Wheel Milk is good, as is Stans.

a few questions:

’Glitter’ wtf? What glitter like I have to wash out of my kids hair a few times a month? And why?

How much do you need? They seem to sell it in as small quantities as 100ml is that enough?

My rims came pre-taped and tubeless ready, my tyres a tubeless ready – do I just need a couple of those valves and some sealant (I’ll be asking a mate to help me install it – he’s got a device made out of a Coke bottle).

Is it timeless tape or just regular rim tape?

check the tape really is tubeless and not just rime tape

never used  glitter personally

yes you just need  the valves

Your mate must know what to do so why are you asking us?

make sure you get the flange tape, otherwise your nuggets will stick.

sometimes it’s hard to get it under the rim but lube up your finger and stick it up, if in doubt get a mate to finger it while you hold it open.

Just done this today. Got tubeless ready rims and tyres (Easton Arc30 and Maxxis Minion DHR). I used Gorilla tape and stans sealant and valves and I also elected to use the syringe method to inject the sealant in via the valve as it seems the best way. I first checked the tyre could inflate without any sealant which also helped to seat the beads into the rim, and it went up ok with a track pump. Left it for 20 mins or so to see if it held pressure and it did, then let the air out and injected the sealant in via the valve. I did use glitter as I thought I might as well and though the jury’s out on whether it is effective or not it can’t do any harm.

The rear wheel has gone up fine with no faff whatsoever. Just waiting for my new Tyre to be delivered and I’ll do the front. Hopefully that will go as trouble free as this one did.

Only doing this as I’m curious to be honest. Seems to me its nothing but more faff over tubes and I never had any real issues with tubes, but everyone waffles on so much about tubeless I thought I’d give it a go while I had my bike in bits and it was convenient.

Glitter basically gives the sealant some more body, but I doubt anyone can really say if it works or not. I started using it back when I was using old Conti tyres like the gen 1 Baron, which were famously hard to get airtight, and it was night and day the difference it made- but that doesn’t mean it makes a difference with proper tubeless tyres.

I put about 100ml in a 2.3 tyre but get a decent sized bottle, you’ll use it sooner or later

“How much do you need? They seem to sell it in as small quantities as 100ml is that enough?”

I used 120ml. The bottle said for large tyres use 100ml to 120ml, so I went for the upper limit (2.3″ 29″ tyres).

check the tape really is tubeless and not just rime tape

never used  glitter personally

yes you just need  the valves

Your mate must know what to do so why are you asking us?

Yeah it’s tubeless Tape, the wheels were sold as pre-sealed for tubeless.

okay ta

thanks again

I dunno, making convo, looking for more than one opinion, also he’s a bit of a bike snob and I’m tight so likely to say “oh you HAVE to have blah blah blah” and trot out an expensive list of do-dahs and what-nots for the those of us without kids to feed etc.

make sure you get the flange tape, otherwise your nuggets will stick.

sometimes it’s hard to get it under the rim but lube up your finger and stick it up, if in doubt get a mate to finger it while you hold it open.

You’ve made that all up haven’t you? Ha ha

he’s a bit of a bike snob

fair enough you basically need some valves – and if you follow the advice above a  lot of lube and a new bike seat !

I ten to buy the large bottles as it is cheaper per 100ml and i have 8 sets of wheels to do [ not all mine ] so it will get use before going off – that said i have had some  for years without it going off on the  bottle but it can in the tyre

sometimes it’s hard to get it under the rim but lube up your finger and stick it up, if in doubt get a mate to finger it while you hold it open.

Make sure you or your friend don’t get your finger trapped between the bead and your rim, you don’t want any embarrassing A and E visits

Glitter makes theoretical sense when you read the stuff about nano platelets, beads etc. It’s there to help fill bigger holes than the goop would bridge by itself. This is common theory for any filler – add material bulk to improve filling.  Don’t know if anyone has done a big stab test to investigate but it should make sense – if you view puncture prevention as an aim of Tubeless.

I’m sure glitter was something people tried yonks ago, early on when sealant wasnt very good or they were trying to make their own. Just get some Stans, Mavic or Juice Lubes sealant -all works really well. Just don’t start off with Schwalbe Tubeless Easy tyres! 🤪

Just do it!

Today, for the first time in 14 years I road a trail center with a tubed rear wheel due to circumstances conspiring against me – dicky freewheel – and had a nightmare. The stats speak for themselves, too numerous to count visits tubeless, zero deflations. One day at CyB with a tube and went through 4 of them.

Yep valves is all you need- I’ve stopped buying them as cutting ones out of old inner tubes work just as well. The lock ring needs to be done up tight though, which can be a pain in the arse if you need to put an inner tube in on the trail side and you have no pliers…

make sure you get the flange tape, otherwise your nuggets will stick.

sometimes it’s hard to get it under the rim but lube up your finger and stick it up, if in doubt get a mate to finger it while you hold it open.

There is at least one question a day on here that, that answer applies to. 😂

“The lock ring needs to be done up tight though, which can be a pain in the arse if you need to put an inner tube in on the trail side and you have no pliers…”

I was worried about that as my experience is lock rings can loosen off and didn’t want to tighten the ring up so tight against the rim, so I used a second as a lock nut. Should work fine.

The lockring doesn’t really need to be that tight, not if the tape’s cut neatly and your valves don’t suck. Now that’s quite a big disclaimer, because there’s different ways recommended to cut your tape and they’re not all equally good, and quite a lot of valves suck.

I use these cheap valves: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2PCS-35mm-Tubeless-Presta-Valve-Stem-Core-Bicycle-Mountain-Bike-Universal-Alloy/312078262508?hash=item48a95060ec:g:gOkAAOSwARtamGre. The massive conical bung seals pretty effortlessly, basically just because it’s the right shape. So many square pegs out there for this round hole, Mavic’s valves frinstance are purely designed to deal with their oldest UST rims which required a narrow valve and are really pretty awful- if you’re tubelessing a 2007 Crossmax Enduro accept no substitute, but otherwise no. Stans are alright, but the bung is too small.

And to cut the tape, I ignore all the Stans advice and just, er, cut the tape. Sharp scalpel blade chased round the outside of the valve hole, perfect circle every time, no fuss no flap no leaks. It’s just cutting a circular hole in plastic so why you’d want to cut an X, or use a file, or not cut out all of the plastic, I have no clue.

I can help sort you out. I’ve run tubeless successfully for years, and I have an airshot.

everyone waffles on so much about tubeless I thought I’d give it a go

Make sure you lower your pressures appropriately  to get benefit.

I’ve literally just done my first tubeless conversion. Used stans sealant but other than that went full ghetto with gorilla tape on the rim and cut down presta valves from no name old inner tubes.

The rims were the standard ones that came on my Voodoo Bokor so was chancing it a bit. But after taping the front and managing to get it seated and pretty much holding pressure using a Lidl track pump I was on the home straight. Just broke the bead, bunged some sealent in the tyre and it pumped up straight away with no problem. Quick spin around the block and we’ll see what they’re like tomorrow.

Hints for tubeless – lots of warm soapy water to help it seat on initial inflation, stan’s has always been fine for me. Get a tubeless repair kit – weldtite do one from Evans or your LBS for about £6 – do preload one for your first puncture though! Personally I use a syringe to top up through the valve from time to time – only go for a 30-40 ml syringe cos otherwise the cassette/rotors get in the way. Unsure about glitter thing!

Hi long term tubeless user here

sealer I only use 60ml per tyre 2.3 27.5 and some glitter (not sure if it does much) have tried a few different valve types but definitely get the type with the removable core to aid with inflation.

You wont miss tubes but the hardest part is usually seating the tyres. I have fought on with a track pump a lot with this and have seen the expensive air shot things that are available, but for me the best £7 i spent was on the garden sprayer inflator hack as seen on you tube

“Make sure you lower your pressures appropriately  to get benefit.”

I’ll be taking them lower a bit at a time as I gain confidence. We’ll see, its an experiment so looking forward to having a play.

“And to cut the tape, I ignore all the Stans advice and just, er, cut the tape. Sharp scalpel blade chased round the outside of the valve hole”

I used an Awl, poked a hole in the middle and waggled it around to widen the hole. I didn’t trust my scalpel/craft knife skills. I wanted a nice tight fit around the valve and conical rubber seal. Seemed to have worked.