- Road tubeless tires and wheels are becoming
increasingly popular, but a number of people
have had and continue to have problems with them.
And it's no surprise, really, is it?
Because they look so similar, but yet significantly
different enough from normal tires and tubes
that it can actually then trip us up.
So. Let's try and simplify things, shall we?
Coming up are our tubeless dos and don'ts.
(relaxed techno music)
Now firstly, let's have a little recap
as to what it actually is.
A tubeless system is one that, surprise, surprise,
has no inner tube in it.
So in order for it to work, the bed of the rim
needs to be airtight, so often that can be
as simple as putting special tape around to seal it,
like you can see on this DT Swiss one, here.
And then, some tubeless tires are also impermeable as well.
So, in order to set them up, you literally
have to put nothing inside, whatsoever,
and it will be airtight.
Most, though, will have a requirement
of some kind of liquid sealant
that will then coat the inside of the tire,
and fill all these tiny little holes, make it airtight.
But then, as an added bonus, that sealant will also
seal most punctures as you're riding along.
Now, without the sealant, you still get the benefit
of no impact punctures, but you would then
still be susceptible to sharp objects.
The most critical part of a road tubeless system
is actually the interface between
the bead of the tire and the wall of the rim.
Both components need to be tubeless specific,
in order to be safe.
Which leads me neatly on to our first don't.
Don't try to make a normal road tire tubeless.
It is actually really dangerous,
because a tubeless specific tire will have a much
stiffer bead on it that won't stretch.
The reason it needs that is because
there's obviously no inner tube inside
that would otherwise be holding it onto the rim.
You can bodge it with higher-volume, lower-pressure tires,
so, like, mountain bike tires or cyclocross tires,
but the higher pressure needed for skinny road tires
means that it's just super, super sketchy.
Do consider running a little bit less pressure
in your tubeless tires anyway, in comparison
to what you might run in your standard tubed tires.
Basically, on anything other than super smooth tarmac,
it's actually gonna help you roll more efficiently
because the softer tire is gonna be able
to absorb that road buzz.
And you don't have to worry about pinch flats, anyway.
And yeah, I would genuinely consider running 46 PSI in a 28.
Now, I mentioned sealant a little bit earlier on.
I always run sealant inside my tubeless tires.
That way, I get that puncture protection
from sharp objects, as well as pinch flats.
But, you have to remember, the sealant has a life-span.
It will dry out inside the tire.
So, from time to time, maybe every three or four months,
you need to re-top up those sealant levels.
Very simple to do.
Just let the pressure out your tires, remove the valve core,
inject some more sealant,
(pop)
and away you go.
Do make sure that when you are actually putting
the tire on in the first place,
that you push the bead of the tire
into the central well in the rim.
'Cause that effectively decreases the diameter of the wheel,
and therefore gives you more slack in the tire,
in order to actually then get it over the rim side wall.
(bike pump)
(sighs)
Don't spend hours and hours trying to pump
a stubbornly deflated tubeless tire.
There are loads of little tips that could well
make life a lot easier.
So with your sealant inside the tire,
you want to roll it quite firmly
along the ground or your work top.
And what that'll do, is it'll coat the bead
of the tire with a nice layer of sealant.
And that should mean that it inflates much more easily.
If that doesn't work, the next step is to get
some soapy water, and then just brush it
on the sidewall of the tire.
And that can really help to get things to seal.
Now there are other tips, but if I'm honest,
by this point, if it still isn't seated,
then I tend to run out of patience.
And so I instead bring out the big guns.
(boxing bell)
(punch)
If you run tubeless across a number of different bikes,
then something like this to Topeak Booster
could well be a worthwhile investment.
So, it works like a normal track pump.
But then it also has this air canister
that you charge up to 160 PSI.
And then, at the flick of a switch,
it releases all that air,
super high-volume, exactly like a compressor would work.
Now, if inflating tubeless tires
isn't a regular occurrence for you,
then perhaps instead of investing,
you should just search out your local air compressor.
Now, strictly speaking, all the garages and petrol stations
near me say that you're not allowed
to inflate bike tires with their air compressors.
But you might be able to find a friendly one.
And be really, really careful.
Do wait for the tell-tale pop as the bead seats.
And then you're done!
(bike pump)
(pop)
Whatever you do though, don't just go nuts,
keep pumpin' all the way up to 120 PSI,
and then blow the tire clean off the rim.
It's loud, and it's really messy.
Don't just throw a tubeless tire in the bin
Ii you do happen to get unlucky enough
to actually suffer a puncture that won't seal,
because you can, in some cases, repair the tires.
I've done it just with a normal puncture repair kit,
but you can get proper tubeless tire repair kits as well.
Now, sometimes manufacturers don't recommend this practice,
so you probably wanna check first.
Well there are your dos and your don'ts, then.
Tubeless, as a system, is not for everyone.
Most riders still don't really feel the need
to convert at the moment.
And that's absolutely fine.
But just bear in mind that it is becoming
an increasingly competitive option.
And the further away from tarmac that you do stray,
the stronger the case for tubeless becomes.
Yeah, I'll leave that with you.
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And if you wanna watch a couple more videos
that are relevant to this topic,
how about "Clinches Vs Tubeless Vs Tubular Tires"
Oh yeah. That one is just down there.
Or, to see a video where we have a little look
at wide rims and wide tires, click just down there.