Bicycle Mechanics - Tubeless tires..

Well, I'm sad to say that I got a flat with my new tires.. I ran over some glass on the highway. :rolleyes: When I went to fix the flat I realized that the tire is either sealed or fixed to the rim...


Hutchinson Tubeless “Python”

How do I go about patching the tire?

I'm going to be in a race on the 27th (This Sunday).. will the patch(s) hold up?

The valve stems are European, and the only adaptor I have for these are on my carry-along hand pump.

Will I be able to pump up the tire? (I hear there is a problem getting the tire to seat??) Should I just buy another tire? :crash:


-Joe :confused:

I've patched Hutchinson Pythons many times. Scrape the area for the patch very well. There is some kind of coating they put on the tubeless tires which causes the patch not to stick. If you scrape it well, just patch like you would a tube. They should hold up for the race. I've ran them for months without problems. The old tubeless Pythons had problems, but the newer Tech+ Tubeless have held up pretty well.
I've also pumped them up with a hand pump. Might be a little harder to get started seating, but can be done.
You racing at Castlewood? I plan on being there too.

LOL..... Yeah.
I didn't think anyone else from the St. Louis area was on this site..
Have you ever checked out www.stlbiking.com they have a message board there too... and a lot of other informative Cycling issues.

Well I'm still having trouble with the tire sticking to the rim... should I just pull it off... I don't want to break a seal or something...

And what does seat mean?

-Joe

Seat just means when the tire fits itself into the rim.
Just squeeze the tire hard with both hands, pulling the far side of the tire towards you. Once you break the seat, the rest will come easily. I've changed Pythons several times without any tools at all. They are pretty soft tires compared to some.

Yeah, I eventually just went out there and decided to bite the bullet. I don't know what I was concerned about... they are bike tires for gosh sakes. It's just that I've spent a lot of $$$$ on this bike and I don't want to rune anything.

Thx for your help.

-Joe

I just posted this on another "tubeless thread" yesterday...

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Do NOT use a tube! Do NOT use a tube! You've got tubeless...it's lighter, faster rolling, resists pinch flats (and ANY flats with the right tire choice)...

Do NOT use slime!

Stan's is the best.

I've been running Mavic UST Tubeless on my Giant NRS-1 for three years now - it is the absolute best system PERIOD!

But - as you indicated - there are some "care and feeding" tips that should adhered to.

First is tire choice
I've gone through sets of the following (with comments).

1 - Hutchinson Pythons...by far the best (I think I went through 3 sets). Leak very little, FAST rollers, amazing grip for the type of tread. Strong sidewalls. I ride tough technical terrain and never tore a sidewall.

2 - Michelin Wildgripper UST - SUCK! Tread sucks. Sidewalls are weak. I ripped through the frong sidewall on the first ride and ended up riding them with tubes until I wore the tread out. Too skinny (1.9's)

3 - Panaracer Fire XC UST - Great tread. Weak sidewall. Ripped through the sidewall on about the 5th ride!

4 - Kenda Kharisma UST - Good tread. Good sidewalls. Nothing spectacular though.

The tire is "sealed" to the rim. The bead locking process is kind of shocking when you first start using it. Indeed, it almost feels glued to the rim. It takes a bit of finger muscling to break it free. Once you break it free, just work it around the rim.

I was coming down Porcupine rim in Moab once...veered a little off the trail and ran RIGHT over a cactus. I had a whole mess of those fine little spines poking out of the tire. I was like "dang! I guess I'll have to break out the tube". The tire did not go down - so I decided to keep riding until it went down.

I rode that same tire until I wore out the TREAD...at least another 400 miles. And I NEVER had to do anything with it...no patches, nothing.

They do leak SLOWLY...if you lose more than a few pounds a week, then you should take them off and remount them using the following process:

Tubeless tires rely on a good...no a GREAT bead seal...

1 - Take the tire off.

2 - CLEAN the rim and dry it.

3 - Using a clean rag and denatured alcohol (available at the pharmacy)...CLEAN the daylights out of the rim, focusing intently on the bead seal surface.

4 - Using the same rag...clean the daylights out of the bead on the tire itself.

** You want CLEAN metal and CLEAN rubber to mate and create that seal!

5 - Load up a water spray bottle with water and about a tablespoon of dish soap (you want a SLIGHTLY slick soapy feel to the spray).

6 - Take the nipple assembly out and clean it the same way.

7 - Put the nipple back in place, make sure that any rubber sealing rings or whatever are not dirty too. I put a bit of silicon sealant on it too.

8 - Put the tire on the rim and get both sides of the bead down in the center channel.

9 - This part works best with a compressor OR a CO2 cartridge inflator.

10 - Spray BOTH sides of the tire bead and the rim surface with the water/soap mixture.

11 - As quickly as possible, inflate the tire to 60lbs of pressure. This part is crazy...as the bead snaps into place in the rim surface - it sounds like it's exploding. BANG! BANG!. Rotate the tire as you bounce it on the ground and look for bubbles around the rim (leaks)...more bead surface may pop into place.

12 - Let the tire sit for about an hour and drop the pressure to your desired riding pressure.

Once you've done this process a few times, it becomes instinct and doesn't take much more time than mounting a regular tire. If you check your pressure once a week...keep the pressure reasonable - you'll ride through the entire tread without a single flat.

AND THAT'S WORTH EVERY MINUTE YOU PUT INTO mounting them.

I still always carried a superlight tube just in case...but NEVER needed them with the Hutchinson Pythons.
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Great reply!
I'm riding with the Hutchinson Pythons... they sure don't like glass. You should have seen how small it was (the glass that is)... oh well.

-Joe