Tubeless for Dummies

[rafletcher]

That's exactly as I did in the past, with no issues. But sometimes I had a tyre that, despite "seating" with CO2, when deflated for sealant injection, would pop off the rim and require CO2 again to reinflate, hence a tyre with latex sealant and majority CO2. It never seemed to be a problem though, and when I took those tyres off there was still plenty of liquid sealant in there.

[citoyen]

I have a pump that can be 'charged' - pump it up to about 200psi then release the air in one blast.

In my (admittedly limited) experience, tyres fitted this way seal very easily and don't pop off when deflated.

[rafletcher]

The tyres in question were admittedly fitted without the aid of any lubricant around the bead, so may not have seated terribly well the first time. Added to which I'm not sure I'd want to put 200psi into my tyres, with a marked max of 7barg, or around 105psi. I'm aware of safety factors etc etc but even so I'd not want to go much beyond 130psi. Still I see there are now several pumps that can do the "air blast" thing so may give in to temptation for yet another tool 

[Ben T]

There is a mavic video on youtube where an engineer deliberately explodes a tyre in a special metal 'cupboard' and monitors what PSI it gets to before it explodes, I think it got to about 170-odd psi.

However 200psi in the compressor would only translate to 200psi in the tyre if the volume was the same. If it was half the volume of the tyre for instance it would inflate it to 100 psi.

[citoyen]

I'm not sure I'd want to put 200psi into my tyres, with a marked max of 7barg, or around 105psi.

As Ben T correctly says, 200psi in the pump barrel does not translate to 200psi in the tyre when you release the air. IIRC, with my 28mm tyres, it shows around 70psi on the gauge after you open the switch on the pump head.

I used lubricant the first time I fitted the tyres, but didn't use lubricant when I had to refit the rear tyre recently and it didn't seem to make any difference.

[rafletcher]

Doh - of course the pressure is less in the (greater volume) of the tyre  . 

[jiberjaber]

I find soapy water is excellent when first fitting the tyre, after that the sealant seems to form a skirt on the tyre rim bit which means that in all but the odd occasion I can re-seat the tyre with a hand pump. (odd occasion is usually when the tyre has been removed from rim and refitted.)

I also use an air-shot type device to initially seat (at about 140psi, leaves about 40-50 in the 30/35c tyre)

[citoyen]

Doh - of course the pressure is less in the (greater volume) of the tyre  .

Plus some of the air remains in the pump barrel and hose.

[Chris N]

Boyle's Law, innit.

[citoyen]

Boyle's Law, innit.

Starring Michael Kitchen?

[Andrew Br]

Boyle's Law, innit.

Beat me to it chris.

[Bobby]

Talk to me about UST... (for a friend I'm happy with my Schwalbe one pros - even if I struggle to get them to seat).

A mate has been evangelizing about UST tubeless tyres - he got them to fit without levers, and seated them with a hand pump! (Mavic YKSION PRO UST)

However after ~200km they have started to de-laminate.. literally the tread is bubbling up and coming off!  I'll try to post a photo...


He needs 25mm, and would like something that fits nice and simply.  Any other experience of these tyres or recommendations to try next?

Cheers.

[rafletcher]

Seating a 25 is usually pretty easy with a floor pump, much more so than 28’s. He could try Hutchinson Fusion 5’s, they come in several flavours.

[Hot Flatus]

Fusion 5 have been the hardest to set up of all the tyres I have used, but this is in part because I'm using them on narrow non-TL rims. They needed pre-stretching on the wheel with a tube, then pretty easy albeit quite tight in the rim (akin to Vitt Corsa on Kysrium rims ie. bloody tight)

[rafletcher]

I fitted my Fusion 5 All Seasons (28’s)  to Velocity Ailerons (tubeless rims) with my hands. I’m pre-stretching with a tube but they seated to the beads straight away.

[Hot Flatus]

How are you finding them?

I'm finding mine ( 25mm Galaktik) to be as joyous to ride as decent tubulars. They feel much more surefooted than the One non-tubeless they replaced. I really wasn't expecting them to be so good. I bought one set of Galaktiks and one set of All Seasons ages ago when I found a cheap source. I wish I'd bought more.

[rafletcher]

I've not ridden the Fusions yet.  I have ridden the Sector 28's that replaced tubeless Ones on my general use bike. The Sectors have a higher minimum pressure of 6 bar (which I've adhered to so far - the Fusions are 5bar)) so the ride is a bit firmer than I had it on the Ones, which I ran nearer to 5.  Now the sealing has settled down (unlike the latex sealant, the Finish Line took a while to fully seal and needed riding to do so), I'll try dropping the pressures to those I used before, around 5 front, 5.5 rear.  Grip seems good.

I'd like the Galaktics, as they're more supple but will wait until I find a reasonable price and save them for the summer bike and fit 25's to that

[Hot Flatus]

I found them for £17, and punted on a pair thinking they might be a failed product. I had zero expectations.

The ride quality is tangibly better than tubed Ones, and I find I can wang them through corners much faster and with much more derring-do. Puts a big grin on the face.

[fd3]

On the flame war thread about going tubless (or not) there was mention of some replaceable valves being better than others.  Which ones to use and which to avoid?

[Hot Flatus]

(click to show/hide)

Ask Brucey 

Some people really like the Orangeseal ones. I have found the DT Swiss valves to be good.

[jiberjaber]

Avoid Milkit - great idea, poorly executed and quite expensive.  The long pokey bit which pushes through the rubber valve bit falls off over time ( < 1 year!!) making the thing a bit redundant and harder to put air in.
 
Some sealant is designed to be pumped through the valve without removal - Cafelatex is one.

My other reference is Schwalbe which sometimes comes with clear smoked valve caps - these obviously make you go faster!

[chrisbainbridge]

Avoid Milkit - great idea, poorly executed and quite expensive.  The long pokey bit which pushes through the rubber valve bit falls off over time ( < 1 year!!) making the thing a bit redundant and harder to put air in.

I bought the Millkit on kickstarter or some other early bird version.  I really like it and have not run into problems with the plastic bit falling off although my experience may be limited as it has generally just worked.

[jiberjaber]

It was ace till then... 3 out of 4 valves effected

[vorsprung]

One of my tubeless valves got bent (in the mechanism that is the actual valve) and had to be replaced but I assumed that was due to my clumsy fumblings

I've just used random brands of tubeless valves, I don't remember what types I've used

[Dave_C]

I got a Hawthorn spike in my front tyre this morning. Maybe I should rear this thread and try the slimy gloop which seals the holes?