NoWhammies

I do not own an air compressor and would rather not have to purchase one for the couple times a year I need to seat a tubeless tyre. Recently I used a CO2 cartridge and that worked well, but it seems kind of wasteful. If there's an affordable alternative out there, maybe one better for the environment, please let me know.

Then again, maybe for the couple times a year I might need to seat a tyre, CO2 is the way to go. Thanks.

bluehills3149

Try an old coke bottle..

Clem von Jones

You can buy a tank and inflate it at a gas station or using a bicycle pump
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...ank-65594.html

WhyFi

You can either get a separate canister to charge with your existing pump or you can buy a new pump with one already integrated. (I have the separate canister from Specialized and don't recommend it, btw - it works about 50% which just isn't good enough. I hear that the Bontrager pump/charger works really well, though)

Jack Tone 

Never tried this with a bicycle tire, so no idea if it might work. When I worked in a tire shop many years ago we would wrap a band around the center of the tread and cinch it up to force the beads out to the rim. Worked for car tubeless.

deepakvrao

The compressor is worth it. I paid less for a compressor than I would have for one of those special pumps with a tank.

WhyFi

The pumps aren't without their advantages, though - they take up less space (they take up no space if you have a combined unit - you need a track pump, regardless), don't require electricity and they're far more portable. That portability is nice even if you're working on your bike around the house, but the ability to throw it in the car for remote rides is nice, too.

mantis

I haven’t had to replace a tubeless tire yet but I have been thinking about this. Would a wrap or two of masking tape around the circumference of the tire work to expand the bead out enough to seal and inflate the tire with a floor pump? Has anyone tried anything like this?

WhyFi

You'd have to try it, but if it works one time, there's no guarantee that it'll work the next. Fit can vary from tire to tire, rim to rim, so your best bet to overcome small air gaps (even something like spoke hole rim tape depressions are enough to ruin the party) along the bead is a lot of air delivered very quickly.

The other factor with a home brew method is the pain-in-the-ass quotient. Jiggering something a time or two is one thing, but you'll soon want a smoother, easier, more reliable workflow.

Zaskar

I have a 33 gallon compressor and several attachments - the tire chuck, etc. The blow gun works the best - especially with a bit of tape a the tip to better seal in the valve. But - from my experience seating road, gravel and MTB tires - the tubeless inflaters/pumps work better. The key isn't volume and/or pressure. It's speed. You don't need those 33 gallons or the 160 psi. You need just need a fast hit. Those pumps do that better.

https://enduro-mtb.com/en/the-best-t...flator-system/

MoAlpha

I have a Topeak reservoir pump, which works beautifully with a good tire-rim combination. Without that it's a real pain in the triceps and I have had to resort to various means of squashing the tire down, but always got it mounted eventually. A compressor with a small tank would have the same problem, I guess.

bruce19

Mavic USTs. Pumps up with your floor pump.

DrIsotope

While I am a 100% advocate for compressors, and don't understand how people go through life without owning one, the "soda bottle hack" linked by @bluehills3149 is certainly the cheapest, 100% works, and is the best answer to the OP's question.

WhyFi

Until there's more selection, UST isn't very compelling to me.

Marcus_Ti

Pull the presta valve core out. The valve core is the bottleneck in airflow, not the compressor itself. Any decent workshop compressor can put one of those floor-pump jobbies to shame WRT flow rate, nevermind sustained flow-rate.

Zaskar

Definitely - valve core out. That allows the use of the blow gun - more air faster.

Don't get me wrong, the compressor does work. I just think the inflator pumps do a better job.

DrIsotope

I cannot under any circumstances see a reservoir pump outperform a shop compressor at seating a tire. A brass Presta adapter threads right into the tip of a typical blowgun-- I seat my tires in about a second, with just the pressure of one thumb. I haven't pushed a pump handle down in years (when I travel somewhere, there's a Ryobi 18V Cordless Inflator in the car.)

Noctilux.95

If you have the space, buy a compressor. It cheap and works every time.

NoWhammies

Awesome source of information folks. Thank you!

redlude97

This is the cheapest easiest solution out there. I use it to seat all my tubeless tires

bruce19

Why is that? Just curious since I have yet to encounter a downside.

noodle soup

The lack of tire options is a downside.

WhyFi

As is the lack of wheel options.

noodle soup

+1

I definitely don't want to use Mavic wheels.

WhyFi

I'll have to give this a whirl - I already have one of those (a two gallon) that I use to spray down my bike after messy rides.