Sito

Hi guys, I'finally made the move to tubeless on my CX-bike but have run into some trouble. I've got myself a pair of Hutchinson Black Mamba 34mm CX tires and the correspondent Hutchinson sealant. My front wheel (Easton EA90 SL, no spoke holes) was no trouble at all. The tire fit easily, poured some sealant in, rubbed the rim/tire with soapy water and got it inflated first time with some frantic pumping on my track pump. Tire holds the air and sits straight on the rim, no problem at all.

The rear wheel is a different story though. It's a wheel with a TL-ready Alex rim with spoke holes. I sealed it with Stan's NoTubes rim tape (1 layer, is that enough?). But the tire went on really easily, almost too easily I would say. Put the sealant in but there was no way to inflate it with the track pump. Also tried the soapy water. Some sealant seems to leak out at the bead when I try ton inflate but virtually no pressure is building up.

Do you think it's worth finding myself a compressor to get that initial seal or is there anything fundamentally wrong with my setup? I am just worried the tire went onto the rim so easily, not any more difficult than a tubed tire.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

DrIsotope

If you're running above ~45psi, you'll want two layers of tape. A compressor, or at least the DIY boost-bottle trick will go a long way to helping seat that rear tire.

gsa103

A compressor or second layer of tape may help.

bogydave

I used 2 layers of Stan’s tape.
Sealed ok
Schwalbe marthon supreme.

Compressor will definitely help

Tire shop , garage nearby?
They may help

Sito

Ok, thanks guys, I'll try and find myself a garage then I guess. One more question: If the tire with sealant in it has been sitting around for a while (few days) without being inflated, would I need to refill sealant or is that ok for a while?

pesty

You’ll probably need to take the tire off and clean it out at this point. My guess is, after a few days, you’ll have a lump of dried latex in the bottom of your tire.

In my opinion, best thing to do is to get the bead seated first. Then remove the valve core and inject the sealant, then replace the valve core and inflate the tire to max pressure and shake it arround to make sure sealant gets into all the nooks and crannies. Let it sit overnight, then check the pressure the next day. If it’s showing significant loss, like more than 10psi, you might have a spot that’s not sealed properly. Personally, I’ve found arround the base of the valve can occasionally be problematic on high volume tires.

As for getting it initially seated, make sure the bead of the tire isn’t sitting on top of the base of the valve. IF it is, all you’re air will escape through there and you’ll never get it seated. Both sides of the bead need to be up on the shelf near the valve core.

Sito

wow, just played around a bit with the bead around the valve and tried again...to my surprise it inflated with the track pump. Let's see how it holds up. I must have lost quite a bit of the sealant yesterday when it was squeezing out during my unsuccessful pumping trials...fingers crossed, though! Thanks!

gsa103

Best method to help get a good seal.
Slosh the sealant around, then set the rim on a wastebasket for an hour. Then slosh again and flip it to the other side. That way the sealant is up around the beads rather than running into the bottom.

Sito

thanks, all, so far the tires appears to hold air, I'll go for a test ride tomorrow morning and let you know how it went

bogydave

Sito

Went on a 40km hilly ride on mixed surfaces today, a few km of tarmac to get to the dirt and some dry hardpack and more sandy sections in our local "wilderness area".Tires did fine and did not appear to lose any pressure. They are superlight compared to my previous setup which is quite noticeable...thanks for all the advice, great to have learned about another "Bike thing"

pesty

Good to hear you got everything working

fietsbob

Burping all the air out in a corner, will ruin your race.. just saying..

jarazmek

Use the compressor, then add sealant, from here get a 5 gallon bucket or similar and sent the rim on the bucket, let it sit for 12 hours or more and flip it over and do it with the other side. I had a similar issue and doing this allowed the sealant to settle in the bead and valve stem holes and create a good bond. Now I only add air once a week and it seems very strong.

Sito

Not racing, so not too concerned about this and have not experienced any burp yet...so is this basically the bead coming lose from the rim and air getting out? Is this a common phenomenon?

Sito

thanks, will try this method next time

fietsbob

CX Racers use sew-ups to not have that issue..

they also can run lower pressures that way.. better traction in sketchy grip.





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