Easy Tubeless

[dlovett]

I know it can be a pain to go tubeless , but I never realised how easy it could be.

Schwalbe Racing Ralph tyres (bought 2nd half but look brand new from here) on DT Swiss Rims. I have used all DT Swiss bits nipples, spokes and rim tape, along with their special shaped valves designed for the rims. I fitted the tyres using fingers, I didn't even need levers. Pumped the bontrager pump up to 100psi and inflated. The tyres gentle popped on to the rims immediately with no drama or scary noises, just a few gentle pops. Deflated them, added 100ml of Stan's Race and re-inflated, this time without even removing the valve core. I gave them a really good flip and roll about to get the sealant everywhere and they are holding pressure nicely. Sadly I cannot ride them due to the free hub not being free whenever you tightening the axel up.

I've never had a set of tyres go tubeless so effortlessly, hopefully it's a good omen for their long and happy life!!

[Lazarus]

its very variable.I have had plus tyres just pop on and spent days setting others up[ to be fair a non tubeless tyre on a non tubeless rim but i got there eventually

Oh and some combinations just wont work - Continental race kings ?? Not sure which are a massive massive pain and almost never set up IME [ tubeless trye to tubeless rim [ i tried three different ones ]

RE the free hub - something is wrong internally -my old HOPE XC i had put the spacers the wrong way round so the free hub was squeezed on to the hub , when the QR was
under tension, and then it was binding

[dlovett]

its very variable.I have had plus tyres just pop on and spent days setting others up[ to be fair a non tubeless tyre on a non tubeless rim but i got there eventually

Oh and some combinations just wont work - Continental race kings ?? Not sure which are a massive massive pain and almost never set up IME [ tubeless trye to tubeless rim [ i tried three different ones ]

RE the free hub - something is wrong internally -my old HOPE XC i had put the spacers the wrong way round so the free hub was squeezed on to the hub , when the QR was
under tension, and then it was binding

Yep my other Scwalbe's on different DT Swiss rims ar so baggy they are a night mare. Another pair on Stan's rims are impossibly tight. There seem to be Just right!!

Thanks for the hub suggestions, I spent an age on the phone with Neil Sutton at Alpkit and even he was foxed by it. They have sent me a new hub asap to try all of the parts and hope it's not the hub body as I don't want to have to rebuild the brand newly built wheel.

[Lazarus]

cant see hows it the body as i assume the tightening squashes the free wheel against the hub[ so its essentially fixed] so some spacer or some such is missing/poorly fitted

That was what happened with mine and i assume the freewheel spins when not in the frame

[dlovett]

cant see hows it the body as i assume the tightening squashes the free wheel against the hub[ so its essentially fixed] so some spacer or some such is missing/poorly fitted

That was what happened with mine and i assume the freewheel spins when not in the frame

Everything in the (band new) Old hub was where it should be.

The newly received (also brand new) hub was fine, the old hub (also brand new) with everything replaced apart from the body was still buggered. At Neil's suggestion before de-lacing the wheel, I carefully bashed out the two hub body bearings and had the local bike shop press them back in. Hey Presto, it works perfectly. The original bearings hadn't been fitted properly, and must have only been a tiny amount out. You couldn't see anything was wrong with them.

Still I now have an upgraded free hub with 6 rather than 4 pawls.

[Alpinum]

Good to hear.

In 'all the years' I've been running tubeless now, I never came across a tyre/rim combo that sucked, except for Vee Snowshoe XL on KHS carbon rims (basically sold als Lightbicycle usually).
From DT to Stans to Easton/RacFace to Lightbicycle to WTB and from Racing Ralph/Ray to Magic Mary, Nobby Nic, Ardents, Ikon, Forekaster, Mezcal, Barzo, X-King, Mountain King... and likely others - not one single time I had to swear. I have a low threshold in the cellar - but nope. All just good and smooth.

I put the tyre on and leave only a small gap open at the valve, pour in 60 - 80 mL, turn the wheel, close the tyre, pump it (I've a compressor) and shake it a little. Done. Takes me less than 10 min to change a pair of tyres, including giving the used one a rough wipe inside if they're still okay.
After some time, a few weeks, I add another 20 - 40 mL of sealant.
It works so well, I even run tubeless on my everyday bike.

tightening the axel up.

As a kid/teenager I started to dislike load bearing hubs and have stayed clear from them and never looked back.

It's the same with inner tubes.

[Lazarus]

Someoen always says this on a tubeless thread - some even say they only ever use a track pump to pump them


You are very very very lucky

Dont get me wrong almost all happen as you describe but when it does not it can be a massivre time consuming pain

[whitestone]

Someoen always says this on a tubeless thread - some even say they only ever use a track pump to pump them


You are very very very lucky

Dont get me wrong almost all happen as you describe but when it does not it can be a massivre time consuming pain

Track pump sometimes works for me but now we've an Airshot there's simply no point in not using that.

I think we all figure out a way that works for us and then stick to it.

[dlovett]

Someoen always says this on a tubeless thread - some even say they only ever use a track pump to pump them


You are very very very lucky

Dont get me wrong almost all happen as you describe but when it does not it can be a massivre time consuming pain

Its a fancy bontrager pump I think it's called the Bontrager Flash charger. It has an air cylinder that you charge up before releasing the lever and blasting the tyre full of air. Make life a bit easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rWuCR75XxY

[ScotRoutes]

Someoen always says this on a tubeless thread - some even say they only ever use a track pump to pump them


You are very very very lucky

Dont get me wrong almost all happen as you describe but when it does not it can be a massivre time consuming pain

Aye, me.

Just hit my first ever stumbling block setting up tubeless on my fatbike. The big pump thing I bought a couple of years ago and have never needed will be brought out of storage this afternoon.

[dlovett]

Someoen always says this on a tubeless thread - some even say they only ever use a track pump to pump them


You are very very very lucky

Dont get me wrong almost all happen as you describe but when it does not it can be a massivre time consuming pain

Aye, me.

Just hit my first ever stumbling block setting up tubeless on my fatbike. The big pump thing I bought a couple of years ago and have never needed will be brought out of storage this afternoon.

With the fatty, JJ4.0 and DT Swiss Rims, I have to add sealant and a tube to seat the tyre, leave for a few hours and then carefully break the seal on one side to get the tube out and valve in. Normally I can then just pop the open side back on with the bonty pump. Even compressors struggle with this combo as the tyres are so loose on the rims.

[Alpinum]

I've not had any fuss, but those I know who had use straps to hold the tyre/bead in place.

Apparently this helps much.

You are very very very lucky

Hmmm... perhaps, since about 2012 rims have been improved to facilitate tubeless/UST setups, 'cause nowadays I can't recall any issues with quite some combos.
For a while Conti ProTection or lighter casings were tricky to rubbish, but even they seem to have sorted it last year.
Oh... and I forgot to mention that I also mounted two different Specialized tyres with ease.

Yeah, I use a compressor, but an airshot/pseudo compressor can be made from PET bottles if you like.

I wonder with what combos you've gone tubeless to make that statement.

[Lazarus]

I have a compressor so we can ignore that as a possible issue

as I said it just depends some are easy some are a pain

I failed to seat a continetal tubeless tyre on three different , and different makes, tubeless rims * even using an inner tube first and straps. I have managed to seat my non tubeless road tyre on a non tubeless road rim
1) it took about 6 wraps of the rim
2) It took a number of hours per wheel
3) It leaked for weeks- even now i think its every 2-4 weeks i have to top them up with air [ about 120 ish miles use per week] and that is 9 months in - the tyre will be worn before it does not need this.

I just find it incredibly variable with time ranging from minutes to days to do.
Its a joy when you just press the compressor and hear a pop though and just walk off after a gentle sloshing and my 650 b + tyres are by far and away the easiest to do.



* technically i eventually did get it tubeless if you wanted to pump it up every two days