Tubeless, with a track pump ?

Assuming i have tubeless tyres and tubeless rims, what’s the odds of getting them sealed with a track pump ? Just your average track pump bought from CRC a while back. But i don’t have a compressor etc.

Wouldn’t mind running the new Whyte as tubeless, normally i wouldn’t bother as i swap tyres often, wet, dry, fast burly, etc… But the Whyte rubber is staying on so may as well give it a whirl if it’s likely to work?

what’s the odds of getting them sealed with a track pump ?

Pretty good I’d have thought.

Ive done them with a track pump up till recently. Be prepared for some “rapid pumping”. 😉

I’ve only ever used a track pump – no compressor.

Set them up with a tube first to iron out any folds in the tyres. Leave them overnight. Then crack open one bead, remove the tube, fill with sealant and start pumping. Usually takes a few repeats of the Stans shuffle to get them to seal.

The Stans shuffle ? lol… i’m intrigued.

Its do-able and I’ve had plenty of successes but id recommend making up a ghetto inflator as a cheap ‘last resort’

‘fill’ how much fluid is ‘fill’ ?

Nuke…. go on… fill me in please ? I’ve heard of these… but i have no idea on them yet.

Took me 20 minutes to do 4 this afternoon.
Couldn’t be bothered to get the compressor out from the corner of the garage…….

Depends on the size of tyre. I use a bit more in my B+ ones than in my 26″ 2.1s

A small co2 inflator with the valve core removed is often enough to seat the tyre on the bead if track pump fails, if not then as stated inflate with an inner tube then remove ensuring the bead stays on one side.

Easy with the tyre lever method 😀

I always just brush some water and washing up liquid onto the rims and tyre edges first. Some are easier than others, but they have all gone up with a track pump.
Having used a compressor in a shop recently, and seeing as my track pump is on it’s way out and they aren’t that much more expensive (actually cheaper than a pump/airshot combo), I’ll be buying one ASAP.

I’ve found that proper tubeless ready tyres on proper tubeless ready wheels are actually quite easy to do. It’s the bodges that are a pain in the backside.

I did the Schwalbe G ones (so a smaller air volume than an mtb tyre, admittedly) on my ‘gnarmac’ bike a few weeks ago and they both went up on the first stroke of the pump. Normally you need to pump quickly* for a few seconds before it ‘takes’.

It helps to leave them inflated with a tube at quite high pressure for a bit to get the tyre the right shape for the rim.

*Swiss Tony, beautiful woman, etc etc.

95% if you follow the proper instructions and don’t cut corners. Don’t scrimp on washing up liquid solution and give it some welly.

with proper tubeless wheels it’s easier than doing it with tubes. The section of the wheel is flat, not V, and so the seal as soon as they are on. I did a new Maxxis Ardent that came folded, in about 5 minutes. Longest bit was measuring out the sealant!

Daft QN maybe..

Are we talking a compressor like this ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Michelin-12259-Digital-Display-12v-Car-Bike-Tyre-Air-Compressor-Inflator-Pump-/200929272004?hash=item2ec85160c4:g:GqkAAOSwAL9UfJ8u

Or something more like this needed ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-24973-230-Volt-1-1KW-Oil-Free-Air-Compressor-DA0-162-/291324441844?hash=item43d44a34f4:g:nMYAAOSw4shX8nve

This one maybe ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-PORTABLE-12V-ELECTRIC-CAR-TYRE-INFLATOR-150PSI-AIR-COMPRESSOR-PUMP-/272232658960?hash=item3f6254b810:g:5o8AAOSw9ZdXKdNW

The other week I did my wtb plus sized tyres and rims with gorilla repair tape and a mini trail pump. Took minutes

Try your local Aldi for one of theirs that they were selling of at £25 a couple of weeks ago, comes with all the fittings needed and does the job in seconds.

I’ll send Mrs Weeksy tomorrow

I got a set of tyres (onza ibex) that wouldn’t seat tubeless on DT rims even with a 6 bar airline.

The maxxis forekasters I just put on my transition 29r wheels went up with a couple of leisurely stroke of a track pump and are still holding air 48hrs later without any sealant.

Weeksy i am very new to tubeless, just set up my first wheels a couple of months back. Tubeless wheels (stans crest) and new spec purgatory tyres and i used a ghetto solution in one and stans sealant in another and they went up easily with my old edinburgh coop track pump which cost me £7! I feared it after hearing some horror stories but it was actually ridiculously easy. One thing i learnt is dont try it with old or second hand tyres as they are a lot of hassle or certainly my nobby nics were. Try it with a track pump first before buying a compressor

Track pumps are usually fine, but often you need to bead one side first with a tube, and other such faff. Get an airshot or other air bomb thing, and then the whole task is quick and easy.

Fit the tyre with tube to the rim first – inflate and leave overnight indoors to let the tyre find its shape. Let the air out the tube and check the bead-fit. If the tyre bead and needs a bit of pressure to move it, it should inflate / seal tubeless OK. If the tyre bead can be removed with finger pressure, you’re going to have to address that before attempting to inflate tubeless i.e. rim tape / packing / split tube. Done all my tubeless tyres with a track pump, including 5″ fatbike tyres – a webbing strap around the outside of the tyre holds the beads in place better too.

Wait until you have a tyre thats a bugger to inflate.

Airshot is £45 from Tredz.
You then have a portable, reliable tubeless tyre inflator.
Also makes you more more likely to swap tyres knowing how easy it will be rather than arsing around trying to pump up a rapidly deflating tyre like a demented badger

That tyre lever method above is amazing!

If you bounce the wheel as you pump it usually seats really easily. Honestly!!

Only a track pump here. The odd time I’ve struggled I’ve stuck a tube in to get the beads seated, carefully undone one side to remove the tube, refitted that side, then put the wheel, unseated side down, on top of a bucket and pumped. Gravity keeps the tyre close to the rim enabling it to go up. Then peel away a few inches of bead to add Stans.

Always pump up outdoors, as if it unseats inside your garage you lose your hearing for an hour or so.

One thing is, it definitely depends on the pump- people think they’ve got a good pump and it’ll do tubeless, but “good” for tubeless means “shifts a lot of air fast” not “is well made and looks nice and has a good gauge”. So my old Joe Blow Whateveritwas, that’d go to 120psi and was a really nice bit of kit, was bad at tubeless because it was low volume. My rubbish airtower, which had the build quality of an on one, was a bad pump but it pushed a lot more air so it was better at tubeless.

There’s still tyres that put up a fight- I have a compressor and even then, sometimes it’s hard.

bails – Member

‘gnarmac’

You are dead to me.

Just bought an airshot – generally have been okay with a track pump but now pretty much painless. I don’t even bother with the soap-y water thing anymore.

Some CO2 as plan B (I’ve used to sort a few awkward beads or leaky sidewalls when I’m being impatient) but I’ve survived for a decade of tubeless on track pumps on ghetto,ust and taped rovals.

Edit: airshot has always looked a good tool to me.

The pics above are just electric pumps, for tubeless issues you want to be delivering air quickly. Good rims and tyres, track pump with maybe some washing up liquid as a bonus.
Don’t use CO2 with Stans etc as it isn’t good for it (extremely cold gas)

Airshot is the quick answer though.

I do tubeless with a track pump no problem. It’s a small diameter pump that can also do road tyres. I don’t even use fluid anymore. I run UST rims and tyres though, that might make a difference.
CO2 is a last resort only, it diffuses through butyl rubber 11 times faster than air so your tyres deflate after a while, it’s solubility in latex might mess up the stans sealant a bit too. If you keep topping up your tyres with air without taking them off then over a period of weeks/month the volume inside your tyres becomes a nitrogen rich gas 🙂

The fluid should only make a difference when you get a hole in the tyre or of the bead/rim isn’t in a good gondition. If you get a hole in the tyre with no sealant then your finished and looking for a tube. Are the UST tyres down to a sensible weight yet? Everything has been closer to dual ply weight when I last looked.

The fluid should only make a difference when you get a hole in the tyre or of the bead/rim isn’t in a good gondition. If you get a hole in the tyre with no sealant then your finished and looking for a tube. Are the UST tyres down to a sensible weight yet? Everything has been closer to dual ply weight when I last looked.

I figured that I was puncturing with such low frequency on my MTB that I couldn’t be arsed with the mess of fluid. Putting tyres on dry does make a difference because it be a bit harder getting the bead seated in fully, somtimes I use a little water to lube it, I do not use washing up liquid as I don’t like the idea of surfactants and salts sitting on the inside of my alloy rims. I figured the sealant might also make it a bit easier to slow down air escaping when getting the first bit of air in to make a seal.
I am yet to puncture a UST tyre [1] but I carry a spare tube with me anyway, even when I had sealant I carried a spare tube just in-case I gashed a sidewall or something.
I haven’t been counting the grams, the lighter non ust tyres I assume won’t have a butyl inner coating so air will pass pretty quickly through the sidewalls unless used in conjunction with sealing milk to act as an air barrier.

[1]Now I’ve put that in writing I am doomed to puncture multiple times on my next ride.

Thanks to all for the advice. I’ve now just bought an Airshot from Charlie The BikeMonger 🙂

Airshot is good. Mine lives in the boot. Not infallible though – tried an x-king right out of the box and it didn’t go due to too many bead kinks. @Scotroutes offers good advice in this situation.

The airshot coming down in price a bit makes it pretty tempting doesn’t it…

BOth of the tyres are currently fitted tubed to the bike, so shouldn’t really be an issue there.

After faffing about (albeit successfully) with a track pump and numerous CO2 cannisters on Saturday have now bought an Airshot to make the process easier in future.