Singletrack Unscripted - Talking About Tubeless

Hello, welcome to single-track worlds. I'm Hannah. This is Benji

And we are going to talk today about tubeless and living with tubeless and some of the things that you might need for tubeless and some of the things that you might need for tubeless and some of the things

Benji thinks you don't need. Or things that have been proven to be useful over many years of being without inner tubes

Okay. Which is what tubeless means. That's the tube we're getting rid of. So you're not a fan of spending money generally, are you

So this is going to be quite frugal advice, I think. It's a, you can look at it as frugal, or you can look at it as ecological

Oh, okay. And we're using what we have. Right. And also sealant is quite expensive. Well, it feels expensive because it's not very interesting to buy, is it

So it's not like you get a big retail buzz off behind sealant. So it's good to just buy it once a year

If you sniff it, maybe. And you use it. Because if you're able to reuse it, the best stuff, I mean, some of the poor stuff goes off and you can't use it when you come to open your time

You're jumping ahead. People out there are still using inner tubes. I don't know what you're talking about

The point is, it might be cheaper than inner tubes. Oh, okay. Right

That's the long way to get around. Eventually. Right. So there is one reason to use tubeless is it might be cheaper than inner tubes

That's fairly tenuous. So can we think of some more, less tenuous reasons to go to tubeless

Why would you want to? Why I went tubeless when it finally became a bit more user-friendly and reliable

which is not massively that long ago really, was to do with warning off

pinch flats which is where you hit something really hard and your tyre hits the rim

and pinches the inner tube between the two things and then all your air comes out and

you have to keep repairing them yeah and with getting rid of the inner tubes it

doesn't totally get rid of pinch flats because you can pinch your tire if you're very unfortunate but you don't you can run your tyres a lot lower pressure

What more grip, lot more comfort, what more control for not really any extra rolling resistance

And if you ride somewhere thorny as well, you can fix on the go

The tubels will kind of fix it for you if you're lucky, weren't it? I think anything like that, I mean, I don't live anywhere that has kind of a garden of England hedgerows

But I imagine I ride over a lot of stuff on the roads. Yeah

Like little bits of barbed wire. Bits of, yeah, bits of spiky, like, tile remnants on rather unpleasant bridalway repairs is the thing that I get

Yeah, and you don't notice some of the time, but when you can take your tyre, change tyres or something

you can have a look inside your tyre and you look at all the things it has repaired to close look

So it does do things that you don't even realise it does, which is that kind of stabby puncture

But for most of all, it was to stop pinch flats, I think, is the best argument to do it

Now when I bought my first mountain bike, tubeless ready rims were like they were at the upgrade end of things

If you bought the factory spec bike or whatever, you got tubeless ready rims and then the lower spec weren't tubeless ready

These days pretty much all half decent mountain bikes are going to have tubeless ready rims, aren't they

Very unusual to find them without. Yeah, I mean the only thing that your bike might not come with, even if it's come to taped or come

comes with where the holes are covered up inside via either they've welded the thing over the top

or they've taped it over in this instance. They might not come with tubeless valves

Yeah. Yeah, quite often they don't come set up tubeless, do they? Because they can't ship them or whatever with the sealant

Because the sealant does degrade over time and dry out. So if they, like, put it all in in the factory, then the bike sit in the shop, whatever

I think a couple of brands attempted it, in the end, I think because the ties can go down on the

the long boat from wherever. Oh, then so you get, oh, your bike all covered in ooze

Oh dear. Not great. It's really on there. This brakes and things. So yeah, as we said, this, this rim here has been taped. So you might

need some tubeless tape. Yeah. And the tape is there to stop the air. If the tape wasn't there

you'd be able to see the spoke holes. Yeah. The air would just rush out through the

spoke nipples. So it's not going to work. So you can get proper, um, you can convert non-tubeless wheels

to tubeless. You see that a lot with tubeless kits. You have to make sure you've got the right

width tape, void or width of rim. And it's not much more complicated than just putting cellar

tape round. That's kind of what you're doing really. Yeah. So you've got your tubeless rim

your tubeless tape or your nipple holes all sealed up and then you're going to have to

have a tubeless ready tyre. Yes. Again, most of them these days

I can't imagine what wouldn't be a tubeless really cheap one. A really cheap tire that there's been sitting around for ages and then one's bought it

That's good. Well yeah. Have a look on the tire. It will say tubeless ready on it or TL or TR is it, things like that

But that's just so that the tire will interface with the rim and create tight seal, isn't it

That's what that's that's a bit to do with a bead to rim kind of interface

Some of it will just be making sure that it's been sealed inside by an airtight layer of

presumably but I'm not entirely sure but that's when you used to get certain

tyres that you tried to make tubeless you'd find them weeping little white sealant out

the sidewall because they weren't actually pop a tub with tires. So then we're on to the

sealant finally we have a big tub of sealant here. You get lots of different sorts of

sealant. This one is a bit unusual. This cafe latex from feta myposa. This one

actually foams while it's inside. So instead of like centrifugal force, just holding it around the edge of the tire as you spin

It makes it foam inside. The idea being that if you do get a little hole

it's going to find it wherever it is because it's foaming away. I think the big USP of that would be when setting them up

Because when you've got, if you put certainly like stiff downhill or chunky tyres

onto a rim that are just sitting obstinately in the rim bed and not wanting to move or go up and meet the rim to form that seal It can be a real hard work to try to get the system to seal up

So this is a bit like the old school technique of getting fairy liquid bubbles

covering the whole wheel in fairy liquid, just to put a tiny bit of airproofing around the whole system

and it helps to stop the air come out. So if you're having trouble with, or I don't want to have trouble with

setting up your tyres, that's a very good sealant to get. And then..

And it looks a bit like coffee crammer, doesn't it as well? Because it's a slightly pale brown

I think that's one of the... They still call it cafe later? Cafe later, yeah. Yeah

So don't drink it. No. And then they all tend to have some kind of little particley thing

in there, don't they? Now, this one has, I think... Is it micro or macro particles that it has

Which one's smaller? Which one is smaller? Whichever is smaller is what this one has

Right. Macro, the scientist behind the camera is speaking. Macro small. So this one has macro particles

We can probably assume that these ones that are still stuck to this rim tape

micro particles. There's like, a bit of glitter on there, yeah. That's probably from some old, is it peaties that have that

There might be peaties that have glitter in it. There's a few that had glitter in. And so the thing with the micro particles is that they can

potentially clog your valves a bit. Whereas this is supposed to not do that because the holes, the platelety things are

small enough that they shouldn't do that. I think we've kind of generally moved towards these smaller little particle

platelet things that scab up and form the seal whenever you're setting up a towel

get a gash in it. Because we think if anything is bigger than like a thorn hole, I think people are

resigned themselves to the fact that rather than having really fat plate

that mess up your valves, I'll just have a way of repairing my tubeless tyre. Uh-huh

It sounds like the back to go on. We'll come to that in a moment. We'll come to that in the moment. It's not a perfect system, but it's certainly a more perfect system than the

energy used to be. So some other factors then with sealants to bear in mind

We've got the size of the holes that it reports to fix

They all have a temperature range as well, don't they? Yes, but I wouldn't know what that would be

would be. Well, I think it's probably not too relevant unless you live somewhere really, really hot

or you do a lot of like fat bike riding in the snow in Finland or something

I did a bike. Yeah. So temperature range. And then they also have, they have a shelf life in the bottle once you've opened them

But they have a shelf life in the tire as well, don't they? And some of them are like, you should refresh it every three months

Yeah, I mean, I should refresh every six. I think that's what I've noticed when I've gambled with getting

cheaper ones is they're going to your tyres to either because they're losing air all of a sudden

or you want to change tyres and you want to reuse the sealant it's kind of the sealant in there is split

right it's a kind of like a thinny yeah so there's some horrible curds and some nasty looking way

and it's like oily clear liquid stuff and it can't be used again yeah whereas i've had

good results with cafe latex and the classic stands where you can use it, I wouldn't say forever, because you lose them every time we do a changeover

but I've never had to willingly tip some decent seasons away. And so Stans is known for eventually becoming a Stans monster as well, isn't it

It kind of eventually it'll kind of turn into like a dried out glob

Some do, yeah. I mean, it's more, I think if you've got a tire that's got a persistent leak in it

It likes to permanently reseal that hole and jumbles into one like coral kind of thing

Yeah. I've not seen one for a while, but that might just be my good fortune or misfortune

because it's always quite a fascinating to look at. Yeah. Yeah, send us your pictures of your stand's month

So we'd like that. Tudeless, probably the most thing that puts people off

and people who will remember it from tubeless version 1.0, which was like 10 years ago

was it was such a pain to set up and if it went wrong on a ride

A, you were ridiculed by everyone else you were setting it up

Some just wouldn't form a seal. So you put the tyre totally on the rim

there's some sealant in there and you're trying to blow up with a track pump

and the air doesn't just as fast as you're putting it in

it's just going out of the gap. Or it seals and then it explodes

and then covers you and the room. room and everything with sealant and then you wish that you'd videoed it. Yeah

And you can't hear. I thought that. I think we'll get less of an issue with that

Now we're going to wider rims as well. Right. I think it's something about just the room and the way that tyres aren't so forced out of shape on a wider rim

I think it's easier to counterintuitively maybe. It seems to be easy to sell to use on wider rims than the narrow ones. Okay

So before we do that, We'll come back to the pumping up and setting up

How you get sealing in them is a different way of... Oh, okay. Because there's people who will put the tire on apart from a tiny bit

pour some in and then put the rest of the tire on. Uh huh

That's all right way of doing it. I generally put the tire completely on

I would take my valves. Oh, you go for the injection version. Yeah

And I would always take the valve out. It just feels like I've had so many years of, oh, I'll be ready

I'll just do it with a track pump and I'll leave the core and then you end up spending an hour of your life

and just doing what you should have in the first place. So do it properly

Not like it's that hard, is it? But it's quite tempting to not take the core out

and put it in via the tyre. So usually that's in the rim like that

That would have that 100 mil of sealants in it. That is this particular

There's one on there as well. You see that? Yeah. The good systems come with the correct size tube

You can just squirt it in, nice and clean. You know how much you've put in because you can see it and then let go and then you put that down

So you sealants in your tire now and then you put your track pump. Doesn't have to be a tubeless specific one

I mean a lot of the time once you get to know your system you might just be able to do it with a normal track pump So you don have to go from these hundred quid or something like that They not cheap are they Um they are good If

you start from scratch, get one. But if you've got a track pump already. Um, so that's on your

rim. That goes on there. And what removing that core just gives you a much bigger hole. So the

air is going to fly in as fast as it can and push the tire

side walls to the edges of the inside of the rim and that will seal up the system

And then if you're worrying about when that comes off, all comes out

So when you take it off, just put your finger over it. And then get that

Don't leave that out of arm's reach. That's very annoying if you do that. So leave it within arm's reach

And then if you just say, right, it's going to be okay

don't panic, just screw it in, do it casually. Stop. So don't do anything in a rush with tubeless

because it will just go wrong. Take your time and then that's in there

Zend tubeless, okay. Nice. Well, see now I prefer the put the sealant in

before you've put the tire completely on. Pop the tire on and then I like to use the charge of

version of the pump for added mild peril. So you charge it up and then you pump it up and then

you sort of do that and then step back a little bit and run away and then you hope that it doesn't

explode. And it goes pop pop pop, pop, isn't it? Like five times. Pop-pop-pop-pop. I mean for the sake of undoing

that, how hard is it to pump up one of these to 160? It's much more hard than just taking that out

So do that. Okay. Save your efforts. pumping these up as well as just feeling it's all right getting it's like 100 and they're getting it's like that 160 is like it just feels like something is going to explode isn't it does yeah but you can use them need a bit of excitement in my life though yeah I used to have one of these still do these I can a big shout out for these people because they were unsung miniature heroes in UK mountain biking airshot people

it's not a fire extinguisher this has the added benefit of really feeling like something that you shouldn't be doing as well this is an eye

really so that is I don't know how much they are now these this cost me

59 pounds 99 apparently and it's paid itself back loads of times so you

pump that up using a track pump up to the 160 you don't have to do this is just

you've got a real problem tire or rim that's not happening often with new tires that are just a bit don't like to behave themselves

pull up to 160 again use the converter for this set the core out

These are great. You get those in, whenever a good set of tubeless valves will come with them

Go to a bike shop, they'll probably give you one because it won't be... A little valve removal

I wouldn't say it probably will do because everyone says it about bike shops. Oh, just go in with some biscuits

No, you're checking the mix. Go and buy something and see if you..

Oh, by the way, have you got one of those. I need one and that's all right. Or you can have your house keys on a multi-tool that has players

Anyway, so that's got the valve out again. That goes in there. And that fires in, 160 PSI of whatever liturage of air that is. And that always works. Yeah

So that's the thing that's why I like the big blasters. That's pretty much that though, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But I don't use that very often these days

Since I've learnt the true way of removing valve cores, I just do with the track. Okay

And then once you, I'll put them up to beyond the pressure that you actually want to ride your tyres at

So put them up to 40. Yeah, give them a bit of a spin. Go for a ride around your road and bang, ding, ding, ding

shake them in the air if you want or stuff like that. And then go and check them later on when you're back in the..

Make sure that they're evenly sealed all the way around as well. Yes, there's a little..

It's like a little line on your tire. Yeah, a little tide mark isn't there? There's a little... Yeah

A millimeter above the rim, you'll see a little line. Also, you can spin them as well and obviously doing that

probably because it's not seated properly. So, we've got set up. Good

We've put our valves in, we've gone for a ride, and then we've got a puncture

And one that hasn't been solved by sealant. Yeah, hasn't just... So sometimes you'll get a puncture and you pull the thorny thing out or whatever

and you just need to turn your tyre upside down and give it a bit of a shape, don't you? and the seal it will find its way to the hole and seal up and that's great

If it's a bit of a bigger hole, you might need to use something like one of these

which is a little tubeless stabby tool. Oh, managed to get the bacon. The bacon's have got hot in the sun, I think

So like this one, you keep in your handlebars. Sidewall cut, isn't it? I've had it when I've gone over either really sharp rock or

I don't know what I've gone over. It's a piece of farm detritus, whatever it's called

then that's left quite a big hole really in it like five mil maybe a bit more and that sealant is just not going to have it

this this is like a sticky rubbery string uh with a fork and a reamer so if you need to ream the hole a

i don't usually bother i just stick the fork in as quickly as possible with a with a

bacon on it and uh and that will plug the hole hopefully and if it and it will certainly fill the

hole to the size that's then small enough that the seal it can fill it. And usually that means you can be rolling again in no time at all

you pump it up a little bit and on you go. Touch wood. It's such a rare occurrence

that I'm quite happy to leave inner tubes and mini-punch back in the minorities

So well inner tubes though. Not everyone. You still need an inner tube. You still need to

carry one with you because if you tubeless, if you come repair it on the trail, it's a long walk home

Yeah, that's true. So, and if you're prepared to walk home, then fine, walk home

But if you're in the mountains or somewhere cold and wet, you should have a tube with you

Because sometimes you're going to get covered in the glitter or the ceiling or whatever else

It is a messy job. But sometimes it more important that you just get rolling again and get home and get out of the cold and wet Yeah So I think you should always have a tube So then you get home

You've got your tyre that's ruined and you can't fix it. You've managed to put a hole in a sidewall or whatever

Yep. Is the sealant done for? Do we have to start all over again

Is that what this is for? Oh, this grim piece of... Yeah, I think there's a mum's net thread about that actually

Well, we shall see. That is some people use, you know, with that top of aerosol cans, like those top of a thing

It's just for that is a great, it's the same as the inside of a tyre

When the tyre's off, we're trying to get that last bit out, go inside, put that inside the tire, then it goes up, gets it all in

That will get a lot more than using the syringe will. And then you can pour that in

this thing or put it back in. I have usually have one that's brand new

and I have one of these manky ones that you put that back in there. Right

And then it's good, keep it in there for a bit. Good make believe, good acting there, Benji

So that, you can use an aerosolid, which is like a famed YouTube hack

but just a bit flimsy and a bit rubbish. I get my hands around that and as I've got loads of these flipping things around

because of kids and things. There we go. That's what that's for

Hot tip. So scoop it out. So because I find this problem with tyres, like sometimes I want to change tyres

Like maybe it's winter and summer or something. Should I hose the tire out afterwards

Or should I let it all dry out the remains of the ceiling

Getting it out of the syringe or just trying to tip it out of the bead, which is just disaster for all your footwear and anything

Carpet, yeah. That gets a lot of stuff out. You'd be supposed to be able to. how little there is left in and inside of a tyre if you use one of these and then I would always

if you've got a hose pipe or any kind of flowing things outside just rinse the inside of the tire because if you leave

sealant inside a tire at the edge of it it will get like um um it just won't form a seal again it gets all kind of like sealanty stubbly stuff doesn't it

yeah and then you can either spend just spend ages kind of taking the old sealant or

off the bead for it to get to work again. And that's kind of satisfying, but not when you've got to go for a ride in one hour's time. Yeah

And you're in a rush. So, okay, some things that you need, sealing

These things kind of nice to have, definitely makes you get the best out of having tubeless, doesn't it

You've got some tools. This is in your, you don't need it at all

You need a trap pump. Yeah. But you don't have to have a fancy air shock type thing

Certainly, yeah, you could go and see how you get on with just your normal track pump

And if you do find that you can't get that track pump to behave, even with the removing of the valve core, you're going to need an additional thing. Yeah

So if you're a lot out there, right, let's imagine you're a new mountain biker, you have a little bit

you haven't got a pump at the moment. Should you be going out and buying one with one of these built in anyway

or should you just go for the cheapy trap pump and hope the best? In the real..

There'll be one on sales somewhere, aren't they? One with a... Yeah, there'll be a tubeless in place

There's always... You can always dig around and find it. Well, probably not these days actually

but I certainly have a look around for one in the sales if you can find one

Okay. And I'm not sure if I could recommend one. over any others. They've all seem pretty good

Yeah. To peak, to peak, top peak. They're pretty good. Have you say it? And sealant, you think that's worth spending money on a reliable one

Yeah, because whenever I've gone for some bargain basement stuff, it hasn't been

it's either stopped working after, I don't know, I'd say a few months, a few weeks

And it certainly isn't usable when you're going to prep open the town. It's some kind of experiment

No, but back in the day I didn't know someone who probably still does

Shout out to Dr John who used to grate his own UPVC particles

You know, like drain type stuff. Yeah. Used to shave that in two. That made sense to me

It doesn't make any sense to me. Okay, that's another video. For the future, the cook your own sealant

Let's not do that. Let's not do that. Let's just buy this stuff. Yeah. Okay

Thanks for listening to Benji's views on tubeless. And... Have you got any questions or have any particular problem

Drop them in the comments. That's what they say, isn't it? And clicks the bell. Slide into... No, I don't know

No, I don't know. No. I don't notice them. Okay. Thanks for being with us today

See you again soon. Bye. Bye. I nearly called it the Dippy Cup

The Dippy Cup That was the Muppie Cup That was the mum's net

That's basically a moon cup No no no no no no Oh that's

Do you know which thread There was a famed Mumsnet thread About the Dippy Cup that they had

Besides their bed So are you still recording this? Yes Yeah you shouldn't be recording this

for the husband to wash his cuck in afterwards that was what the dip-y cup

was for and there was some I'm not sure whether one of them

drank out of it by mistake afterwards but there was this whole thing

of like why have you got a dipy cup and she just thought

that everyone had a dipy cup oh okay why was she bringing it up

I think it might have been something like oh you'll never believe what happened last night, we drank the water out of the Dippy Cup

Something like that, I don't know. Or we went away, you know, someone else slept in the house and they used the Dippy Cup

for drinking water. There was something like that. I don't recall how it started, but it ended up like the pickle acts when

It was famed, yeah. I think you may have crossed over onto the forum, yeah

We'll find it. That's the Diffie