Road Tubeless Help for Newbie

[luv2bike]

Hi,

I have embarked on my first road tubeless venture.

Mounted a set of Schwalbe Pro One's on a pair of Giant SLR1 (tubeless compatible) wheels. I used one layer of Gorilla tape and the Giant tubeless valves.
Got the tires on and inflated OK.
My question is, should the tires hold air without sealant?
I was able to mount the tires and inflate with just a hand pump but was thinking that they should hold air without sealant. Any pressure I have in the tire bleeds off within a few minutes.

Thanks for the help!

[pcxmbfj]

The tubless tire is best run with sealant, that's what gives you puncture protection.
But before adding make sure you have a good tire to rim interface.
Thinking tire should hold pressure for a time and I would submerge the tire in water to see where the leakage come from.
If from the bead or stem you need to remount or inflate till bead sets.

[oldpotatoe]

Hi,

I have embarked on my first road tubeless venture.

Mounted a set of Schwalbe Pro One's on a pair of Giant SLR1 (tubeless compatible) wheels. I used one layer of Gorilla tape and the Giant tubeless valves.
Got the tires on and inflated OK.
My question is, should the tires hold air without sealant?
I was able to mount the tires and inflate with just a hand pump but was thinking that they should hold air without sealant. Any pressure I have in the tire bleeds off within a few minutes.

Thanks for the help!

Tub of water to see where it's leaking?

[tombtfslpk]

Hi,

I have embarked on my first road tubeless venture.

Mounted a set of Schwalbe Pro One's on a pair of Giant SLR1 (tubeless compatible) wheels. I used one layer of Gorilla tape and the Giant tubeless valves.
Got the tires on and inflated OK.
My question is, should the tires hold air without sealant?
I was able to mount the tires and inflate with just a hand pump but was thinking that they should hold air without sealant. Any pressure I have in the tire bleeds off within a few minutes.

Thanks for the help!

I agree, you need to determine where your pressure loss originates.
On MTB tires it it usually the sidewalls....not so much on road tubeless.

I have used one layer of Gorilla tape on a mountain bike in a pinch, temporarily, and that barely seals consistently at MTB pressures.
I'm going to recommend that you put two wraps of tubeless rim tape on your road rims first.

But....back to your real question. Yes, I have two sets of tubeless road that seal and hold air without sealant. One set I9 and one set Stan's, both with Hutchinson tires. I don't have any experience with Schwalbe Pro One.

One more thought. I know that the Bontrager Tubeless compatible rims require a specific rim strip to function tubeless. Do the Giant rims have a tubeless rim bed? Or do they require some other parts?

[ColonelJLloyd]

I've setup a fair number of tubeless tires, but the narrowest are 35mm. Some tire and rim combos seal "dry" better than others, but I don't see why someone would want to have a tubeless setup that doesn't use sealant. I've used tubeless tape from Stan's, Orange Seal, Pacenti and Velocity and use two passes.

The Bon Jon Pass EL tires I setup last week lost air without sealant in a few minutes and one faster than the other. I added 1.5-2 fluid ounces of Orange Seal, replaced valve core and inflated to 70psi. I distributed the sealant around the tire and noticed that it sealed up two or three spots in the sidewall and one spot at the bead/rim interface.

At least on the Compass EL tires it seems they need a thin coat of sealant or the sidewalls will slowly leak air.

Anyhow, not sure what your original plan was, but I would definitely recommend 1-2 ounces of Orange Seal Endurance for a road (<35mm) tire.

[dem]

A single layer of tape will bulge and eventually rupture at road (>85 PSI) pressures. You need 2 layers for safety.

I'd guess the bead is not properly seated, it should most certainly hold air for >1 hour even without sealant. The Pro One tires are "true tubeless" (sealed carcass) so should hold air for quite a lot longer.

I'd echo the "find where it is leaking from"

Also I strongly suggest carrying either DynaPlug or bacon strips (aka "Genuine Innovations Tubeless Tire Kit") - that'll avoid having to wrestle with a tube when you get a puncture that the goo can't seal.

[MaraudingWalrus]

I'd also echo the sentiment of not using gorilla tape for road tubeless.

I like the Silca tape, it's among the thinnest stuff I've used, so it helps make tires easier to mount just a smidge, than say the stan's stuff which seemed thick.

I have a personal anti-stans vendetta, but the tubeless tape is fine enough. Velocity/Pacenti stuff is good, too. I've also used orange seal to success.


On the wheels I've set up with actual tubeless tape and Schwalbe One tubeless, they held air for quite a while (many hours) without sealant.


Also some valves work better than others in some rims, I don't like the old orange seal ones very much. I like WTB ones that have the big rubber cone that gets pulled into the rim by the valve nut, or ones with a big square chunk. Some just have a floppy flat portion that I haven't been able to get as nice a seal with. Also useful to have a rubber ring between the valve nut and the rim, not all the valves come with those. It can help be a second seal.

[Hakkalugi]

With regard to road tubeless pressures, I run my IRC 25s at 80psi, and my Panaracer Gravle Kings between 37.5-45psi. I’ve been fine with 2layers of Stan’s tape and about an ounce of sealant. Don’t be afraid of experimenting with lower pressures.

[dem]

Nearly all the tubeless tapes are variations of 3M or Tesa "strapping tape" - it is anti-stretch and has removable adhesive, so you don't have a gooey mess on removal like Gorilla tape.

Medium:
Scotch® Strapping Tape 8898 (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/Scotch-Strapping-Tape-8898/?N=5002385+3293242202&rt=rud)
Tesa 4298
(https://www.tesa.com/industry/tesa-4298.html)
Thickest:
Tesa 4289 (https://www.tesa.com/industry/tesa-4289.html)

At road pressures I use 2 layers of 4289.. If all I had was the medium/thin stuff, I'd do 3 layers (assuming you have exposed spoke holes) I noticed some precarious bulging with the thinner varieties (alloy rim brakes on long descents getting super hot.)

Road tubeless is definitely a thing I have not figured out yet, learn from my mistakes.. :)

[luv2bike]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies to date.
To clarify, I do plan to use sealant and have some Orange Sealant ready. I just wanted to make sure that all is OK with the install prior to adding the sealant as it doesn't look like a fun thing to remove..
The rim does have exposed nipple holes.
Giant does market their own tape but did not think it was a specific requirement.
The tires were not an easy mount so wanted to stick with a single layer of tape but wondering if I should be installing another layer? Do I remove the layer there now or can I add one on top of the existing layer? I was careful to cut the Gorilla tape to cover the tire bed edge to edge.

George

[echappist]

best thing to do is start all over, though you could place another layer on top of the existing if you want

key takeaway though, should be the following:

-2 layers of tape
-sealant to seal up any small holes in the rim/tire interface
-apply soapy water (1 part soap 9 part water) on rim before mounting tire; it'll make life a lot easier

[pcxmbfj]

best thing to do is start all over, though you could place another layer on top of the existing if you want

key takeaway though, should be the following:

-2 layers of tape
-sealant to seal up any small holes in the rim/tire interface
-apply soapy water (1 part soap 9 part water) on rim before mounting tire; it'll make life a lot easier

You need to have a good rim/tire interface using only soapy water to avoid possible problems down the road.
My advice is don't add sealant until you do.

[luv2bike]

Hi,

I am resurrecting this thread to say thank you for the advice I received here.

I got some of the Tesa tape and it worked much better on the road tubeless than the Gorilla tape. (and doesn't have to be trimmed to size)
Additionally, the use of soapy water for mounting turns a struggle into a breeze.
Tires are now holding air (no sealant added yet) for a few days.

Again, thanks so much for the help!