Mounting tubeless gravel tires on hookless rims: OK, I give up.

[cequip]

With a compressor, since you have a large volume of air at your disposal due to the compressor tank, if you use something similar to a Park Tool Shop Inflator or a cheaper equivalent, you have a gauge and a handle to squeeze to keep your air pressure in check. The Airshot is pretty small and only has a limited volume of air going in at one time, it will keep the volume of air in a safe zone. I read these hard to seat stories all the time and believe me, I have been there, done that. I tried 3 other similar devices to the Airshot and they did not work too well for me. Your results may vary. Ultimately, these ideas give just enough air, very quickly, to get the beads seated enough to let the air hold the beads in place. As Mikey said, try it, you will like it.

[SlowPokePete]

It is the fast blast of air that seats the bead before it leaks out.

It won't instantly inflate to anywhere near 100psi.

BumbleBeeDave go get yourself a compressor and nozzle with the rubber tip and you'd be good to go.

You'd be surprised at how useful it is to have a compressor around...airing up vehicle tires, etc.

SPP

[HenryA]

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

It is the fast blast of air that seats the bead before it leaks out.

It won't instantly inflate to anywhere near 100psi.

BumbleBeeDave go get yourself a compressor and nozzle with the rubber tip and you'd be good to go.

You'd be surprised at how useful it is to have a compressor around...airing up vehicle tires, etc.

SPP

While I do wear safety glasses when doing this trick, I have never blown anything up. I set the compressor at 100-120 pounds, stick the nose of the blow gun in the empty valve stem and blast it. This nearly always seats the bead. For the few times it does not, a strap around the circumference of the mounted tire will help it get started. Once seated it will stay there if handled carefully. Sealant goes in empty valve stem. Then inflate and fully seat bead.

Its better to not have sealant in the tire at this point. If you do, be real sure to wear glasses and clothes you don't care about.

This works on tubeless and tubliss motorcycle tires too. The rasslin' match there is much, much more strenuous than any bicycle tire.

[MikeD]

Since the OP has hookless rims, I'd be careful about using too much pressure.

[Onno]

It obviously depends on big the tires are, but I've never felt any danger in over-inflating the tire with a compressor. Plus, you can adjust the tank in the pressure tank. Mine is set at 110 psi, but it takes about 3 or 4 seconds to get up to about 90 with my 30mm tires. It is a blast (!) having instantaneous inflation of new tubeless tires.

[HenryA]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Since the OP has hookless rims, I'd be careful about using too much pressure.

Yes, BUT, if you are holding a blow tip in the valve stem you can’t get enough pressure to do bad things before the blow tip leaks or is kicked out of the stem. As tight as you can hold it will leak a lot and often kick out of the stem. What it does do is put a large volume of air quickly into the tire which seats the bead.

[djg21]

I’d bet your rim tape is the problem. Maybe an additional layer?