Sealing Tubeless Tires

[bighit8]

I don't know if anybody has ever tired this, but in the Automotive industry they use a black tar like rim sealer for rims that are nicked or just hard to set the bead.It might work for bikes also.

Or the old off road trick to re seat a broken bead, some lighter fluid and a match.

[BoingBoing]

Off-topic, but...

I really like your sig, Bighit!

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". - African Proverb

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by Red Hot Sloth

I can't believe I'm the first one to notice..or is it just normal to speak in inuendo's around here...
Hey whats an Italian call a supository?

An in you endo! ba da ba!
Thanks folks I'm here all week, try the veal, its the best in the city

"Hey whats an Italian"

Leave my people alone!

OT I agree that 20psi is way to much air. Maybe take the tire off and have a look at it. Some'thin is not right

[jschwart73]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

I'm using UST tires and I'm running DT Swiss rims and used their tubeless kit. I used a CO2 cartridge to seat the tire and it seemed fine. Pumped it up to 50 PSI. I did everything I was supposed to. I'll check the nipples and see if I can find the problem. The back tire is a Specialized S-Works (The Captain). Is it normal for some tires not seal for a couple days?

I'm running The Captains on Mavic Crossmax wheels and I had an issue with one of them sealing up when I first put them on. I just had to re-inflate a couple times and do the horizontal tire shake dance to get the sealant in there. Now it holds air like a champ!

[dstepper]

I read this from MTBR years ago and I know it is over kill but I trust Mikesee and this is his fool proof way of tubeless conversions. I doubt if anyone has done more..he is a wheel builder. Take what you need leave the rest.


If you decide to try, following the steps below can really cut down on hassle:

1) It's necessary to stick a tube inside the tire on the Flow rims for ~one ride to make sure the tape gets pressed in place and stuck really good.

2) Also *very* important (can't overstress this) is to keep the valve hole as-small-as-possible through the rim tape for the Stans valve. If you do both of the above right, the tire *should* inflate with a floor pump and hold air immediately.

3) Never inflate the tires to more than 35psi when tubeless, and never more than 45psi tubed.

-Not mandatory, but very, very helpful for long term tubeless use, is to:
4) Go to your local hardware and get a tub of rubber cement. Take it home, and, in a well ventilated area, slather the inside of each tire with a medium-thickness coat. Hit every part of the inside of the tire—all the way from bead to bead. Let dry in the sun until no longer tacky inside before installing on rim. Should take less than an hour (on a warm day) for it to dry and be ready. Don't install it until the cement is dry! This not only helps the tire to hold air tubeless, but it really, really helps the tire to seal punctures from goatheads, thorns, nails, staples, etc…

5) Lay a bead of RTV (or silicone) around the valve hole on the inside of the rim, let dry, then push the valve through the hole and make sure the silicone seals all the way around it. With these rims, if you're going to have an air leak, 99% of the time it's at the valve. This step seals the valve hole yet is still removable down the road if you have to stick in a tube. Once the RTV is dry, install your tire, add a little sealant, then pump that sucker up and go ride.

6) To make all of the above even easier, get a Bontrager TLR tire to begin with. Using a non-tubeless tire in rocky stuff at low pressures is asking (begging?) for sidewall cuts that no goop can fix. The TLR tires have thicker sidewalls and they are the ONLY tires that hold up for me when run tubeless.

Mike C

[Lefty Kev]

Stan's will definitely sort out any slow leaks you might be having. You should also use an air compressor to inflate your tubeless tires and save the Co2 for emergencies on the trail. The Co2 will compromise the Stan's tire sealant to some degree and you will need to replace it/top it off after your ride

Weight weenies might disagree but I can't imagine riding without Stan's in my tires. The more the better if you ask me

[schleppp]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

The back tire is a Specialized S-Works (The Captain). Is it normal for some tires not seal for a couple days?

I have run many different tubeless tires and they have all worked very well... EXCEPT those S-works captains!! I never got them to hold air long enough for one ride!! I hate those tires!!! just my opinion.

[ThinkFast]

Thanks for all the excellent advice!

Tire seemed better this AM and had only lost about 5-10 PSI. Finally got it on the trail for it's first test ride and all was good until I got a hole in the side wall . I had the DT Swiss sealant in the tire but it didn't seal the leak. It wasn't as messy as I thought it would be getting a tube in there. Oh well, hopefully I can get it sealed up again with the Stans now that it has a small hole in the side. If not then looks like I'll be keeping the back as a tubed tire for a while.

[Lefty Kev]

quote: ThinkFast; Tire seemed better this AM and had only lost about 5-10 PSI. Finally got it on the trail for it's first test ride and all was good until I got a hole in the side wall . I had the DT Swiss sealant in the tire but it didn't seal the leak. It wasn't as messy as I thought it would be getting a tube in there. Oh well, hopefully I can get it sealed up again with the Stans now that it has a small hole in the side. If not then looks like I'll be keeping the back as a tubed tire for a while...

You probably already know this but if you ever tear a larger hole in a tubeless tire and need to use a tube, you can place a crisp dollar bill or an adhesive boot on the inside of the tire to cover the hole. While this won't prevent air loss by itself, it will keep the tube from ballooning out of the hole and enable you to complete the ride

[ThinkFast]

Thanks Lefty. I was aware of that. Luckily the hole wasn't very big. Actually, I was disappointed the sealant didn't do it's job and close it up. Hopefully the Stan's sealant will. I think the tubeless gods are messing with me. First I couldn't get it to seal right and then I get my first flat in months on my first ride going tubeless.

[project_d]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

Thanks Lefty. I was aware of that. Luckily the hole wasn't very big. Actually, I was disappointed the sealant didn't do it's job and close it up. Hopefully the Stan's sealant will. I think the tubeless gods are messing with me. First I couldn't get it to seal right and then I get my first flat in months on my first ride going tubeless.

That's just the luck of the draw. Sometimes, it works flawlessly and pumps up with a floor pump; sometimes you need three pairs of hands and an air compressor just to get the bead to seat, and it still won't hold air.

For instance, I built a new UST rim last night, put on a brand spanking new Kenda tire on it, put in two scoops of Stan's (which, by the way, says it will seal 1/4" holes), and I still have many super small leaks that won't seal. Even after I went riding at Aliso today, it's still slowly leaking. I will likely loose 15psi by the morning.

Point being, sometimes it'll work, and sometimes it'll be a biz-natch!

[Lefty Kev]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

Thanks Lefty. I was aware of that. Luckily the hole wasn't very big. Actually, I was disappointed the sealant didn't do it's job and close it up. Hopefully the Stan's sealant will. I think the tubeless gods are messing with me. First I couldn't get it to seal right and then I get my first flat in months on my first ride going tubeless.

Yeah, it sucks when you try something new and it doesn't go exactly as planned. Stick with it though; ultimately, you're likely to have a lot fewer flats going tubeless with Stan's than you will with a tubed tire setup

Last year I put Hutchinson Barracuda Tubeless Light tires on my rig having used Hutchinson successfully before. The Barracuda has the same tread profile as the Octopus which I had used to great success. As the tire name suggests, the big advantage (or so I thought) with the Barracuda UST Light is that they are about half the weight of the Octopus tires I had previously been running...

Well, I had a hell of time getting them to hold air even with Stan's. They didn't just lose air slowly during a ride, they would burp air while climbing as well as on small drops. It got to the point where it was affecting my confidence on any gnarly trail section when a sudden loss of air could obviously have dire consequences

It turns out that one of the tires was defective. The other one I'm guessing just wasn't seated right. I ended up replacing the tires but eventually gave the one Barracuda that I kept a second chance. While it did wear very quickly, it didn't burp or lose air volume again!

Stick with it, bro. Opinion will differ on this but I believe the benefits of tubeless by far outweigh the pitfuls

[ThinkFast]

Well, I patched the small hole in the sidewall with an old school tube patch using contact cement. I bought some Stan's sealant, added 3 ounces, and everything seems to have sealed back up great. Thanks again for all the hints and tips.

[Cableguy]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

The back tire is a Specialized S-Works (The Captain). Is it normal for some tires not seal for a couple days?

Specialized tires including 2Bliss aren't UST (the older ones are). UST tires should have the UST logo on the sidewall. Specialized says that you need to use a sealant to keep it from leaking.

[ThinkFast]

Originally Posted by Cableguy

Specialized tires including 2Bliss aren't UST (the older ones are). UST tires should have the UST logo on the sidewall. Specialized says that you need to use a sealant to keep it from leaking.

I should have clarified I was using sealant. I can't imagine going tubeless and not running the sealant. It seems you would lose some of the benefits of going tubeless if you didn't.

I forgot that some tubeless tires are UST and some aren't, thanks for pointing that out. That might have been part of my problem getting it to seal initially.

[kanga]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

I should have clarified I was using sealant. I can't imagine going tubeless and not running the sealant. It seems you would lose some of the benefits of going tubeless if you didn't.

I forgot that some tubeless tires are UST and some aren't, thanks for pointing that out. That might have been part of my problem getting it to seal initially.

Definitely makes a difference.... on my XC bike (that gets ridden once a year or less) I run UST tires and rims without sealant, and have seated them as I mentioned previously, with just a floor pump and a lot of hands. Did that the night before a race, with four friends (8 hands) holding the bead against the center of the rim while I pumped with the floor pump.

With sealant (I've always done Stan's and stan's rim strips) It's a little different. I've generally found that if tires are able to be easily removed from a set of rims without levers (bare hands rolling the bead) I'll need a compressor to seat them with Stan's and rim strips. If the tires are a tighter fit such that I'll need levers to remove them from the rims I can often get it to seat with just a floor pump.

Cheers