Got a new used bike. Got my first flat. What is tubeless?
Hey everyone. Newbie here, in the sense that:
1) my first post
2) my first bike in THIRTY YEARS
3) my first mountain bike, period
4) my first flat. Yep... I did ride bikes when I was younger, and not once had to deal with a flat (bikes always got stolen first).
So please forgive the stupid questions.
About a week ago, I bought a 2021 Giant Trance-E from some guy. He mentioned that the rear tire had been converted to tubeless, and the front was ready to be converted. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I nodded my head like it made sense, paid the man his $4000 (calm down, it was just Canadian dollars) and rode away like a wobbly drunk.
Since then, I've been shredding the trails like a mad man way out of his element but having a blast!
Today... I'm not sure what happened. Tire seemed fine the whole ride and I even gave it a squeeze as I parked it because I wondered how it survived all those rocks. Still seemed fine. I literally walked into the other room, realized I meant to grab the battery to charge it, turned around and back into the bike room and... completely flat. So what? It managed to survive all the rocks and then poked a hole from the carpet?
Anyway, no matter... I've got a flat. It has a tube and it is tubeless ready. Should I get a new tube, or convert it to tubeless at this point? Is this a DIY for a total noob, or should I just take it to a shop?
The bike came with a small plastic bag of "stuff": a couple of small bottles of what I'm guessing is sealant for use in the tubeless tires; a couple of valves that I'm guessing are for the conversion; a variety of spacers, a metal washer and a screw (no idea).
Cheers.