[Samwise the Brave]

So I'm putting together a 29er and just had my tubeless wheel set built up. Really reputable place. Nobody does wheels better I've heard. But I got the tires last night, went to work today, and came home to really soft tires, obviously not holding air.

This is my first time of going tubeless. I've got Stan's Arch rims with Maxxis Ignitor rear and Ardent front. The guy at the front desk had to seat my tires and inflate while I waited... and had to do them over because he couldn't get the tire to seat well.

I haven't taken them on a ride yet because the bike is still in process. And I've heard you have to ride them to get the sealant to coat the inside of the tire. But it seems really bad if they are going soft this fast. Like a rim tape issue or bad seating of the tire in the groove.

Thoughts??? Do tubeless tires go flat this fast??

 

[Trent R.]

spin the wheel well get the sealant spread around and inflate again. do this process 3-5 times and if it keeps losing air like that take it back. it may just have a little spot that needs some sealant

 

[@dam]

This is normal if they're converted tires rather than UST. To fix it, make sure to move the tire around to really distribute the sealant (you do have sealant, right?). This will seal the micro-holes. You may also want to get a sponge of soapy water and wipe down the sides. Leaks will be visible as bubbles, and you can then tilt it to put sealant in that area.

 

[tribug]

Watch the very first video:

http://www.notubes.com/Movies_Kit_Installation.aspx

Around 11:10, Stan says tires must be sealed BEFORE riding.

 

[3fast3furious]

Watch the very first video:

http://www.notubes.com/Movies_Kit_Installation.aspx

Around 11:10, Stan says tires must be sealed BEFORE riding.

Well, I was gonna post this but it seems someone is on it. Basically, like everyone said, it is normal to lose air if you didn't get all of the nooks and crannies sealed inside. Also make sure your valve is on the rim really tight. That is a common place to lose air.

 

[funnyjr]

important things:

- soap and water side of tires

- turn the wheel with sealant inside to spread around before inflating

- inflate with compressor to approx 40 psi max and you should hear the "pop" meaning the bead has engaged the rim

- hold the wheel in front of you and do the turn and shake demonstrated in video and lay on side and let sit for hours and then repeat for other side. this will get the sealant properly where it needs to be to seal the leaks. Riding the wheel WILL NOT help according to Stans himself as it does not do the same as the shake process. Many error in this step.

GoodLuck

 

[boomn]

This is normal if they're converted tires rather than UST. To fix it, make sure to move the tire around to really distribute the sealant (you do have sealant, right?). This will seal the micro-holes. You may also want to get a sponge of soapy water and wipe down the sides. Leaks will be visible as bubbles, and you can then tilt it to put sealant in that area.

exactly. To explain the reasoning further: true tubeless tires (UST) have a casing that is supposed to be airtight on its own and a bead design that is supposed to do the same. In contrast regular tires are usually permeable to air through the sidewall until the sealant has blocked all the little holes through the rubber, plus the bead isn't designed to seal air which is why you need special special Stan's rims that at least help seal and hold the bead

 

[BruceBrown]

- hold the wheel in front of you and do the turn and shake demonstrated in video and lay on side and let sit for hours and then repeat for other side. this will get the sealant properly where it needs to be to seal the leaks.

Instructions can be found here: https://www.notubes.com/detailed_kit_instruction.aspx

There is no mention of laying a tire on its side for "hours" and then repeating on the other side. Rather, it says....

• -Pay close attention to the sidewalls. There are small holes in most tires around this area causing slow leaks. Re-apply the soap & water solution as needed; it will bubble showing any holes or leaks your tire may have.

• -To successfully seal these holes, hold the tire and rim vertically in front of you and pause for 10-15 seconds. This will allow the sealant to puddle to the bottom of the tire. Now shake the tire toward and away from you with quick short strokes. This will cause the sealant to slosh onto the side walls and seal any small holes you may have. Now, rotate the tire 4 inches to one side and repeat until you have gone all the way around the tire. This should only take 30-40 seconds (see photo 9).

• -To complete the sealing process lay the tire flat on an open cardboard box for 5 minutes; the tire should be parallel to the ground allowing the sealant to seal any small leaks on the bead area. Next, re-shake, and flip tire to opposite side for an additional 5 minutes (photo 10). -Repeat the sealing process until all small leaks are sealed. This should take less than 30 minutes even with difficult tires! Spinning the tire will not seal small leaks on the sidewall; you must shake the wheel to slosh sealant onto the sidewalls.

I agree the shaking and baking steps are very important, but have never had a tire that required hours of laying flat to seal up. Stubborn tires may require quite a few flips from side to side with a good shake between each flip, but 30 minutes to an hour for the entire process from mounting to riding is all it takes.





One of the most stubborn conversions I've done - Karma 1.9's, Blunts with yellow tape and valves only. But they were ready to ride in 20-30 minutes





NoTubes rims and tubeless ready tires are much quicker and easier (as in takes less time to seal).

 

[auto]

With ZTR rims UST tires are not required.:thumbsup:

 

[Samwise the Brave]

Thanks everyone! You guys rock. That video is super helpful... wish the local shop explained this all to me.

There IS sealant inside (or supposed to be). Although, in one tire I can hear it sloshing around. And the other seems to have nothing. I'm going to redo this (or have them redo it since I paid for the first batch of sealant with my build). And then do the bucket/shake method.

 

[Godless Communist]

Hey - since the OP's question got answered, I'd like to (hopefully) briefly hijack the thread:

I'm considering going "converted tubeless," but all this makes it look like a huge PITA. In your view and experience, are the benefits worth it?

 

[Samwise the Brave]

Hey - since the OP's question got answered, I'd like to (hopefully) briefly hijack the thread:

I'm considering going "converted tubeless," but all this makes it look like a huge PITA. In your view and experience, are the benefits worth it?

Ditto... I want to ride my bike, not babysit my tires. Friends say the sealant dries out and they have to change it once a month. Does sealing the tires take this long every time? Is the pay off on the trail worth this trouble??

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Godless: Not a PITA at all, I'd go for it. Just check out that video from Stan's posted above, and it becomes less overwhelming. I'd say it's worth it just to be able to bomb a crazy rock garden at high speed and 25psi and not worry about a pinch flat. In addition to that, running lower pressures is fantastic especially on the downhill runs. Grip is also better on exposed rock and mud at low pressures. Not sure if it's really faster because I haven't timed it before and after, but it sure does feel better riding tubeless.

Stan's Simplified:

1. Rim strip
2. Put tire on
3. Soap it up and try to get it to seal
4. Unseat one section of tire and add a couple scoops of sealant
5. Air it up to 45-60psi
6. Rotate and shake, rotate and shake, do this a couple times
7. Lay flat and let it sit for a couple minutes.
8. Flip it over and repeat steps 6-7 until no leaks appear

Or, if you'd rather not hassle take it to the bike shop and have them do it. Or get UST rims and tires, that makes it REAL easy.

 

[boomn]

Ditto... I want to ride my bike, not babysit my tires. Friends say the sealant dries out and they have to change it once a month. Does sealing the tires take this long every time? Is the pay off on the trail worth this trouble??

Completely depends on why you want to go tubeless. Some people spend too much time babysitting their tubes with spares and patches without tubeless. Time to seal the tire varies from brand to brand and tire to tire as some are more porous than others. Some newer "tubeless ready" tires besides having a better bead for tubeless use also have beefed up sidewalls that seals and sometimes even hold air without sealant. If you don't want to worry about sealing, just get a UST tire and you'll never have to wait

Most sealants do dry up over time, but once a month sounds much quicker than normal even for hot, dry climates. However, unless you're doing split-tube ghetto tubeless, it is very easy and quick to pop the bead of the tire to get rid of dry sealant and even quicker to add fresh sealant through the valve core

 

[92gli]

With ZTR rims UST tires are not required.:thumbsup:

True, but they'll sure as hell seal a lot easier.

 

[rr]

Ditto... I want to ride my bike, not babysit my tires. Friends say the sealant dries out and they have to change it once a month. Does sealing the tires take this long every time? Is the pay off on the trail worth this trouble??

You don't need UST tires, not many options anyways in 29er format, standard will seal up with some sealant. They are harder to get sealed up but with compressed air and Stan's rims with tape they usually seat nicely.

I would try and air up the tires again and see if they hold air before redoing them, could be the tires lost air as they sealed up, that's happened to me before. You don't need to add more sealant every month, maybe once a season but usually mine will stay sealed up till the tire is dead. Riding them after install does help dist the sealant and seal them up but you may have to add air on the ride.

Tubeless is more difficult to get setup compared to slapping a tube in there but once sealed up right they are trouble free and much nicer than messing with tubes.

 

[Ronnie]

I'm not an expert with standard tires on Stan's rims. I'll never do it without a tube but I was under the impression that you need to use a Stan's rim strip when converting to tubeless, not just yellow tape.

All tubeless ready and UST tires are a cinch to mount on Stan's rims with only yellow tape, with a floor pump. Some TLR tires don't even need sealant but of course are meant to use it.

One thing no one has mentioned though is that Stan recommends, on a new rim, is first inflating the tire with a tube and leaving for a while to properly seat the yellow tape and obviate any air loss through the spoke holes.

Ronnie.

 

[rr]

Nope, tape and valve will work fine for any tire, obviously some work better than others tho depending on tire. I've only run 1 UST tire in over 3 years on my Flow rims w/tape.

Yeah good point on using a tube to seat the tape properly, could be why his lost air.

 

[cemeb4dk]

Being a tubeless newb myself, I just converted my wheels and tires to tubeless. Watch the video, take your time use the soap and water. It really is not that hard. The only issue I had was getting enough pressure into the tire to POP it on. It took me a while to realize there is an internal valve in the presta valve. Once I removed that it was a piece of cake, just had to spend some time rolling the tire over to get the bead straight. And I converted an older set of Alex TD17 rims with Ikon tires.

 

[1-bar]

Watch the very first video:

http://www.notubes.com/Movies_Kit_Installation.aspx

Around 11:10, Stan says tires must be sealed BEFORE riding.

+1:thumbsup: