Tag Archives: tubeless tires

Tips and tricks for setting up your tubeless tires on your bike

By John Brown, HaveFunBiking.com

Tubeless tires are one of the best upgrades you can make to your bike. They are more resistant to flats, ride better, and are lighter. With all their benefits, the fear of setting them up keeps many riders from enjoying the tubeless world. If you are still refusing to take the leap for fear of having to care for them, read on. This is the HaveFunBiking guide to tubeless tire setup and troubleshooting.

Are tubeless tires compatible for your bike wheels?

First step in setting up your tubeless wheels is to verify you have all the right parts. First, verify with the manufacturer that your bike rim and tire are tubeless ready. Review the rim and tire for a tubeless ready designation. Common terms for Tubeless are “Tubeless ready”, “TLR”, “TCS”, “Tubeless Easy”, “TNT”, and “TR”. Once you assure that the rim and tire are tubeless ready, you can move on to getting your wheels and tires ready.

Vittoria’s TNT tubeless logo

Schwalbe’s Tubeless easy logo

Prep

First, take the wheels off your bike. Once they are off remove the existing tires and tubes off the wheels. For the next step, you need to verify what type of rim tape you have. Rim tape is the barrier in the center of the rim that holds the innertube’s pressure from pressing into the spoke holes. If you have cloth tape or a nylon belt, you need to remove it. If there is an adhesive plastic tape applied to the rim (frequently yellow or blue), leave it in place. Next, clean the rim thoroughly with soap and water. Also clean the beads of you tire with soap and water.

Yelow Tubeless rim tape is well applied here

Tubeless tire bike tape

If you had to remove a nylon belt or cloth tape, you will need to replace it with a tubeless rim tape. There are many different brands and they all work well, the only thing you want to make sure of is that the rim tape matches your rim width. I like to pick a tape that will cover the inside of the rim from edge to edge. That means, if the rim has a 23mm inner width a tape with a 23mm width fits perfectly ensuring an airtight fit between tire and rim. When you install the tape, start opposite to the valve hole, Stretch the tape slightly as you go, and overlap the end by at least four inches. Once the tape is in place, use your fingers to burnish it down into the rim.

Installing tape on a clean bike rim.

Installing the valve

Now that the bike rim is taped and ready for a tire, you need to install the tubeless valve. A tubeless valve looks just like a standard presta valve except instead of being attached to an innertube, it has a small seal at the end of it. To install the valve, first locate the valve hole in the rim and pierce the rim tape. I like to use an awe that has a diameter just a bit smaller than the tubeless valve. Once you pierce the tape, push the tubeless valve through it and tighten it into place with a valve nut. You can also dip the valve’s seal in a little tire sealant before you install it to maximize the airtight seal.

Valve installation process

Seating the tire

Installing a tubeless tire is almost an identical process to installing a standard tire, except there is no tube. Start by installing one side of the tire bead onto the rim, before installing the second bead, you can add sealant (more about this in the next section) or just put the tire all the way onto the rim dry. I urge you not to use a tire lever to install the tire. Quite often, tire levers can damage the tire or tape, limiting their ability to hold an airtight seal.

Sealant

The tire sealant I mentioned in the last section is the fluid that goes into your tire, that helps everything stay airtight. There are heaps of sealants on the market, but for the most part they all get installed one of two ways. You can either pour the desired amount into the tire before it is completely installed, or you can inject the sealant through the valve. Sealant can dry out within the tire over time, so you should plan to add more sealant to the tires on a quarterly basis. To add sealant through the valve, you will need to remove the valve core from the tubeless valve, and use an injector to force fluid into the tire

Sealant in the tire. You can see the dried sealant on the tire

Airing it up

One of the most difficult parts to installing a tubeless setup can be getting it to hold air. I know this sounds strange, but with all the different rim and tire manufacturers out there, getting consistent tolerances between the two is difficult. This variation in tolerance is what can lead to some difficulty airing the tires up for the first time. Thankfully, as an industry, tolerances are getting closer every year.

There are two schools of thought on airing up the tire initially: with sealant or without. While there are benefits to both ways it breaks down to this. With sealant in the tire, you stand a better chance of having the system seal initially. Without sealant, if there is any issue with the tire seating, you don’t need to fool with the mess of sealant correcting the issue. Overall, I like to be careful with my prep, tape application, and valve installation so I can air up the tire with sealant.

With Sealant

To air up the tires with sealant in the system, ensure the tire is seated on the rim well. Inspect that the tubeless valve is sitting inside the cavity of the tire (it I possible for the tire to be sitting completely off to one side of the valve on wider rims). Then, with a good floor pump, start adding air as quickly as you can. It is ok if the system leaks a bit of air and fluid at first, but after 30 seconds of pumping you should have a tire that is beginning to hold air well. I like to bring the tire up to max pressure initially to guarantee it’s seated completely, then I lower the pressure down to my desired PSI.

Flatstopper sealant poured directly into a tire

Without Sealant

Airing the tire up dry follows the same procedure, but after the tire is seated, you must release the air pressure, remove the valve core, inject sealant, then re-inflate.

Sealant being added through the valve.

Common issues and fixes

Wont air up – It is totally possible that regardless of how much you pump, the tire won’t take air. There are a few things you can do to help. First thing is to hang the wheel by the rim, rather than having it sit on the ground. Often time, taking pressure off the tire completely will let it seat. Also, you can use more air. I find a compressor or floor pump with a reservoir works exceptionally well. If both these things don’t work, you can remove the valve core from the tubeless valve and try again (it allows slightly more air to get into the tire).

Leaking fluid – Depending on the tire you use it’s common to see some fluid weeping from the area where the tire and rim meet, or from the actual sidewall of the tire. In both cases, I find it helps to lower the air pressure and allow the sealant to dry. Pressures that are too high will often time keep fluid weeping faster than it can dry and seal. If you see fluid leaking through the base of the valve, or through the spoke holes, chances are you have a valve that isn’t airtight or rim tape that isn’t sealing. Like the sidewall, lower the pressure and see if it seals. If it continues to leak, you may need to tighten the valve, or worse yet, replace the rim tape.

I think with these tips and a little practice you will find that installing tubeless tires is a breeze. Also, you will find that the ride quality and flat prevention benefits are well worth the slight learning curve.

“The Flat Stopper” could be your future tire sealant!

By John Brown, HaveFunBiking.com

I first saw the this tire sealant at Interbike. “The Flat Stopper” booth had a tubeless wheel affixed to a stand that had a jagged spike that would puncture the tire if you pressed a lever. I have seen this type of fixture before and it always works just about the same. Puncture the tire, watch sealant squeak out, then in a few seconds it dries. What made the Flat Stopper different, there was no delay, no squeak, only an immediate tire repair. Based on this display, I needed to try this sealant myself.

Out of the box tire sealant

The Flat Stopper comes in a few different quantities. The most consumer friendly are the 3.5oz and 7oz flask. For shops, The Flat Stopper has just released a 3-litre box. The Solution is red in color and has a low enough viscosity where injecting it through the valve is easy. Surprisingly, I learned that the sealant is functional down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit and will not dry out like many latex based sealants. In other words, “The Flat Stopper” seems to be the product that could make tubeless perfect for the masses.

Flat Stopper in a 3.5oz package.

Into the tire

My first impression using this sealant in a tubelesss tire was how it seemed to be thicker than the latex solutions I had used in the past. Even though it has a consistency similar to gel, it flows surprisingly easily around the tire. When I aired up the tire I was surprised to see nothing happening! By that I mean, I didn’t see any sealant weeping out of the tire’s sidewall or where it meets the rim. This is a stark contrast to latex sealants who frequently leak out of a new tire until everything seals up.

Flatstopper sealant poured directly into a tire

What happens during a puncture

Where flat stopper overachieves is in how it seals. Most tire sealants work through a process of adhesion. As an example, an adhesive sealant is suspended in a liquid carrier. That carrier evaporates quickly is the sealant exposed to air (like in the case of a puncture) and the remaining latex adhesive seals the hole. The Flat Stopper works through a process of compaction. It has particles suspended in a liquid carrier. When the tire is punctured, the particles compact in the hole and seal it immediately. Considering the liquid doesn’t need to dry for The Flat Stopper to work, the sealant last longer in your tire.

How it works

I have to say, I am really impressed with this sealant. It was installed it on our Demo Marin B17 about 4 months ago. Additionally, I recently checked on that bike to find the tires are nearly completely full of air. This is amazing news considering it was hanging in my garage through our winter freeze. The sealant I installed in a test wheel seals any and all punctures I put (purposely) in the tire.

Ongoing

Considering the sealant has been holding well for the past four months, I am excited to see if it actually does ever dry out. If I don’t see any drying In the net few months, that will be impressive. Another thing I like about this sealant is the ecological responsibility the company has shown. The consumer packaging is small, recyclable and reusable. They also produce a large shop volume that is shipped dry, and mixed by the user. This lowers the carbon footprint in shipping and cuts down on unnecessary packaging.

Revolutionary products the Carlito bike lock and Flat Stoppers tire sealant

By John Brown, HaveFunBiking.com

It’s been about two months since the Interbike show and there are a couple of new products I am excited to share. Each year I go to the show to find the most technologically impressive products there. This year was no exception and there were two new products that I have spoken with friends about that were created by inventors who looked at a certain problem in a new way. The first is the Rocky Mounts Carlito bicycle lock and the second is the Flat Stopper Tire Sealant kit. Read on for more details.

Rocky Mounts Carlito Bike Lock is one of two revolutionary products

Rocky Mounts is best known for their car racks, but recently they have moved into bike locks as well. Their line of bike locks covers all the basic options and introduces an all new concept. That Concept, is the Carlito lock. The bike lock looks like a standard mini U-lock but incorporates some really cool features. First, Rocky Mounts chose silicon for the cover material. Therefore, the Carlito lock is softer on paint while being more durable than a vinyl covered lock. More importantly, what makes the Carlito so cool is the material they use for the lock itself. Rather than using hardened steel for the construction, they employ aluminum alloy. While aluminum is not as durable as steel, it’s half the weight. So for anyone looking for the visual security of a U-lock at half the weight, the Carlito is an amazing option.

(left) Carlito lock and Key (top right) and U (bottom right) detail.

Flat Stopper tire sealant is also impressive

Tubeless tires are now a standard feature on every category of bike. Almost all tubeless systems use the same type of Latex based sealant to seal punctures and keep the tires airtight. Where The Flat Stopper differs is that it is not Latex based. In fact, rather than latex they use completely inert ingredients that contain no ozone depleting chemicals and aren’t carcinogenic or flammable. Moreover, it’s actually a water based system. While their exact recipe is a secret, I did get some inside info on how their sealant works. Apparently, rather than relying on latex to dry out and seal like most systems, Flat Stopper works through pressure. Therefore, once the sealant gets forced into a puncture (by the tire’s internal air pressure) it immediately seals the hole permanently.

Flat Stopper’s clean packaging (left) is perfect for quickly filling your tires with sealant. On the right is a close up of what Flat Stopper looks like up close.

Connecting Thread

The thing I like most about both these two products, they are a totally new approach to existing solutions and the problems they are suppose to solve. The Carlito bicycle lock offers moderate physical security as well as a high level of visual security all while weighing practically nothing, making this new approach to security exciting to see.

Similarly, some of the biggest issues with sealants today are related to their caustic ingredients, slow response and generally messy setup. Flat stopper has eliminated all those issues with almost no downside. Stay tuned for more in depth reviews of the Carlito and Flat Stopper in the near future.