An update for those interested on the previous buggeration of getting a tyre seated on a non-tubeless rim - in-keeping with an earlier post, it's actually a Velocity Dyad rim so there's a link way back on this thread with rim profile for a Dyad and comparison with (the 'tubeless ready') Velocity A23's which I have for all my 700c 'roadie' wheels bar this one.
I completely failed to install a Hutchinson Intensive on the Dyad previously using about 6 layers of stans tape to fill in the deep centre well and then using a stans CX rim strip. I think the problem that I had was the rim strip has a marked centre well all around except for around the valve where it's a very thick rubber across the full width of the strip - the tyre was quite tight and as a result it was both difficult to get the bead either side of the valve hole to ensure the air was actually going IN to the tyre, and to get the bead to sit either side of this thicker rubber without there being a big (relatively!) space under the bead 20-30mm either side of the valve where the tyre transitioned from the thick rubber at the valve to the centre well. Much swearing occurred with track pump and I gave up.
Then I went for a ride this morning, punctured twice, had three spare inner tubes (one failed) and didn't pack a repair kit - this is on the rear wheel of my fixed just to exacerbate things. I've been on tubeless (either Intensives or Schalbe ultremo zx) for the last two years and haven't had to stop to insert a tube or even top up pressure whilst out on a ride in that whole time, so needless to say the punctures annoyed the living piss out of me. Arrived home determined to get the tubeless tyre seated, with the help of one of these Airshot things that I bought to avoid sweariness should I have any problems in future -
http://www.airshotltd.com/airshot/ - and this time I made sure that I soaped up the tyre bead too. Put the airshot on to 160psi/11bar, popped it on the valve and.... bosh! It did it! And after I'd put sealeant in, it did it again! So glad I got this. I know it's aimed at MTB tubeless which are a bit more difficult to seat, but for peace of mind and sweaty track-pump-induced-lightheadedness avoidance, I'd heartily recommend it. There is also a Bontrager trackpump with a similar thing built in
http://www.bontrager.com/model/11881 but I've got three track pumps and wanted to avoid buying any more so decided the Airshot would save me £40.
Points of learning for a refresh:
Rims not intended to be run with tubeless tyres need the gap filling around spokes - lots of tape required. In fact, all my 'tubeless ready' A23 rims needed four layers of tape anyway, buy the one fat massive roll of stans tape if you're planning on setting up tubeless on more than one set of wheels rather than the just enough size.
Soapy liquid - I got a little bottle/applicator with spongy tipe in the Ultremo ZX tubeless pack, and thought it was all about slipping the bead over the rim easily to avoid having to use levers etc and risk damaging the tyre bead. In fact, with hindsight and input from this thread, I think it would have been better to apply it directly to the tape inside the rim seeing as it's to help the beads slide over the tape and seat easily.
Compressed air is entirely optional, and plenty of others have done without - including me using Velocity A23's on every other wheel - but it's much easier. Don't bother spending money on anything especially if you've got something like a Campag/fulcrum 2 way-fit wheelset where you don't even need tape, but if you are converter non-tubeless rims and can borrow one for first install (or just to have as back up), pinch one from work, it may reduce swearing or at least sweat volumes if you have trouble seating the tyre with a track pump.
*EDIT to add - I'm in Bristol, so if anyone local wants to borrow said Airshot contraption, just give me a shout.
