Tubeless question

[Cpl nobby nobbs]

Hi all, got my lad a bike last year its a Boardman MHT 8.9.

It comes with Boardman MT29" tubeless ready rims and Vittoria Barzo tubeless ready tyres but it supplied with inner tubes fitted.
Was fine over summer no punctures but him and his mate are going bigger distances out into the sticks and have discovered the joys of thorns in the tyre.

He knows how to patch a tube and has done it before so always has my set of tyre leavers and some adhesive patches.

He calls me up and says help I can't fix my tyre. He is 14 and pretty fit so more than capable, after taking the piss out of him for a while I drove out to meet them on a road they could walk to.

I sets about repairing the tyre,

fk me how do you get the tyre off?

OK I eventually did but I would say it took close to 1 hour to do it. The tyre bead is so tight it bends my trusty park tools leavers.

Then once you have it off its just as hard to get it back on, bloody mental or I'm a huge pussy, I'm willing to accept that but st it was hard.

So to the question

With these wheels and tyres what do I need to make them tubeless?

I'm thinking a tubeless valve and some of the slime to go in it.

Is this right or do I need fancy rim tape as well?

[breamster]

Others will be along shortly to give better answers but it is a case of taping the rims, adding the gloop and either a tubeless valve or chop one out of an old tube.

I persevered with tubeless for ages and when it was working it was good. However trying to get the tyres to seat and hold when first inflated was a real pain in the arse - my compressor helped. Google the various techniques people use.

I also found they did naturally leak a bit over time so regular pumping up was required. In the end I had enough and I now have 5 bikes on good old fashioned slime tubes and no punctures in many months. Fit and forget.

There will now be numerous people telling me I'm wrong.

[MB140]

I have tubeless on my Giant. I absolutely bloody hate it. Tyres are near impossible to get on and off. They never seal properly. I can’t get them to seat properly without having to use a co2 cartridge that fires them on at a super inflated pressure.

Once on they always leak slowly and need pumping up every week. I bloody hate them.

I’m so tempted to go to the slime inner tube but have no experience of them. I will admit though they do work when you can get the bd things to deal in the first place.

[Cpl nobby nobbs]

Thanks for the replies,

I am currently pricing up a couple of slime inner tubes on Amazon think this may be a better way to go.

Still got to take these bloody tyres off again to do it.

[breamster]

Cpl nobby nobbs said:

Thanks for the replies,

I am currently pricing up a couple of slime inner tubes on Amazon think this may be a better way to go.

Still got to take these bloody tyres off again to do it.

The only thing to remember with slime tubes is to rotate the wheel so the valve is at the top of the wheel when you pump them up otherwise you risk a face full of slime.

[breamster]

MB140 said:

I have tubeless on my Giant. I absolutely bloody hate it. Tyres are near impossible to get on and off. They never seal properly. I can’t get them to seat properly without having to use a co2 cartridge that fires them on at a super inflated pressure.

Once on they always leak slowly and need pumping up every week. I bloody hate them.

I’m so tempted to go to the slime inner tube but have no experience of them. I will admit though they do work when you can get the bd things to deal in the first place.

Bimey - I wasn't expecting other people to agree with me!!

[Bill]

I founds stans fluid meant I had to pump up the tyres a little each weak, but I've now gone over to mucoff and its much better.

[MB140]

Bill said:

I founds stans fluid meant I had to pump up the tyres a little each weak, but I've now gone over to mucoff and its much better.

Strangely enough I have stand fluid in mine. I never really considered changing the fluid manufacturer. I assumed they would all be pretty much the same. It’s something I may consider the next time I have to take the tyres off (Hopefully not any time soon).

Although maybe I need to invest in some better tyre leavers.

[Bill]

Also, while I don't have issues, this looks handy: https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Airshot-Tubeless-Tyre-Inf...

[8.4L 154]

They came fitted to my giant, never had a puncture (doh that will have done it). Getting them on and off I find is pretty easy and rarely have to use levers, the trick is to unseat both beads to the centre of the rim and into the well which gives you more room to unseat it over the opposite rim. That bit can be tough but just pulling the tyre sideways should do it. But once the bead is off, the rim almost falls out. Maybe its my wheels and tires combo and i've been lucky and if you haven't got a well in the middle of the wheel because of design or its full of tape i can see it would be harder.

What you need, rim tape but if they are tubless ready it should already be there. tubeless valve and sealant. Be generous (but not silly) with the sealant and keep an eye on the amount in the tyre, its not fit and forget. Only time I had a slow deflation problem was when i was pretty much out of sealant.

When it works its great.

[Simes205]

Tubeless on mine.
Love it, no issues.
Tyres can be tricky but I’m on a mtb 2.6 so lots to grab onto.
Use compressed air to get them to snap into the bead or use a decent track pump.

[GOATever]

breamster said:

Others will be along shortly to give better answers but it is a case of taping the rims, adding the gloop and either a tubeless valve or chop one out of an old tube.

I persevered with tubeless for ages and when it was working it was good. However trying to get the tyres to seat and hold when first inflated was a real pain in the arse - my compressor helped. Google the various techniques people use.

I also found they did naturally leak a bit over time so regular pumping up was required. In the end I had enough and I now have 5 bikes on good old fashioned slime tubes and no punctures in many months. Fit and forget.

There will now be numerous people telling me I'm wrong.

Nope, you’re spot on. Tubeless works well on MTBs, it really doesn’t translate to road bikes well.

[lufbramatt]

Tubeless tyres have a bead that will lock into a groove in the sides of the rim. To make it easier to get them off, pinch the sides of the tyre together all the way round the wheel so that the bead comes away from the sides of the rim and drops into the groove in the middle of the rim. Like they do on car tyres. Then it should be easier to get the bead over the rthere m with tyre levers.

I love it on my MTb, tyres hold air fine for months on end and not had any punctures in over 2 years. Using stans fluid.

My preferred way to mount them is to put hem on first with an inner tube, pump up to 50-60psi and wait for the pop as the beads lock in place. Then unseat one side and take the tube out, remove the valve core and add sealant and usually you can get the tyre to re-seat using a track pump. Screw the valve back in and inflate to desired pressure.

Edited by lufbramatt on Saturday 14th March 14:17

[Cpl nobby nobbs]

Thanks for the replies.

Have to do something as I have just gone into the shed and his bloody back tyre is flat again, I guess my patch on the tube must have failed, I removed the two thorns he had in the tyre.

With tubeless ready rims and tyres I might just get a valve and some sealent and give it a go.

Be a bit of a pain to get sealent in to a presta valve though.

[Brads67]

Okey dokey.

First, tubeless on an mtb is brilliant. Absolutely the way to go.
You will need tape, a specific valve and some sealant. I use stans, and bontrager, mixed usually lol.

Regards tyres being difficult, the secret is very little at a time, and try using just your hands / thumbs, you'll likely find it easier.

Track pump is essential but most will go up without needing to be blasted with a compressor or suchlike. CO2 will do it if you really need to.

Don't put the sealant through the valve, just get most of the tyre on and pour it directly in, much much easier.

Once it's fitted rotate the tyre for a bit to seal it all up (tip, use more sealant than you think you need, don't be shy with it)

Then buy a tubless repair kit. Basically sticky thread type things with a large needle for ramming them through the hole.

Hth

[Bill]

It's a piece of piss. Just remove the valve and squirt it in.

[wobert]

breamster said:

Others will be along shortly to give better answers but it is a case of taping the rims, adding the gloop and either a tubeless valve or chop one out of an old tube.

I persevered with tubeless for ages and when it was working it was good. However trying to get the tyres to seat and hold when first inflated was a real pain in the arse - my compressor helped. Google the various techniques people use.

I also found they did naturally leak a bit over time so regular pumping up was required. In the end I had enough and I now have 5 bikes on good old fashioned slime tubes and no punctures in many months. Fit and forget.

There will now be numerous people telling me I'm wrong.

This sounds like me.

Converted my Whyte MTB to tubeless, good initially, but tyres kept going down.

Converted my gravel bike too, hit a pothole off road and sprung a leak which didn’t seal. Fitted a tube to get me home.

I removed the tube, then on the next ride suffered another puncture that again didn’t seal, tube in again!

Both tubeless conversions have suffered leaks during the week which require pumping up to maintain the rim seal.

It’s all too much effort for negligible gain.

Both gravel and MTB have been converted back to normal tubes with no issues since.

QED

[GravelBen]

My last couple of MTBs came as tubeless from new, I like it. Never had a flattie with tubeless or any trouble seating tyres (just use a floor pump with decent volume) but they do gradually lose pressure. I tend to check pressures before a ride anyway so no big deal to top them up at the same time.

Next time I refresh sealant I might try a different brand, there are a few spots on my rock-abused rear tyre where Stans is ever so slowly bubbling out out of invisibly small holes instead of plugging them properly. Local bike shop said they don't recommend the basic Stans stuff now as other options are better.

On the flipside, with wider rims being common on MTBs now I imagine the risk of snakebite punctures to tubes is reduced as well.

[Steamer]

Do any of you have a tubeless maintenance regime?

Reason I ask / My findings:


They do need an occasional bit of air adding - but never a problem as you should be checking the pressures every ride anyway.

I now use Orange Seal - as advised by LBS - they found it sealed bigger leaks better and stayed 'fluid' longer.

When tubeless has let me down its usually about 12 months down the line, so I try to keep a note to top them up with sealant every 6 months or so.


27.5 tubes will fit 26 & 29 rims well enough to get you home (handy if you have a various bikes or ride with people that dont always carry a tube!)



Downside:

When they do fail I spend half an hour picking out 30+ thorns before being able to put a tube back in.

A Schrader valve spare inner tube wont always fit in tubeless ready rim - resulting in a long walk home.. found that out the hard way and hadn't given it a second thought.

ETA: Aldi do excellent cheap air compressors!

[Maracus]

Bill said:

It's a piece of piss. Just remove the valve and squirt it in.

This ^^^

I've had tubeless on my Giant Defy for 8000 miles, no punctures. I changed the rear tyre after about 5000 miles and it came off as easy, if not easier than any other tyre I've used.