New tubeless tire won't hold air

[C40_guy]

Just set up my new Reynolds 650b wheels..installed Campy roters, an N3W freehub, Ekar cassette and a pair of Pirelli H 45mm tires.

Installation was easy, took very little to seat the tires on the tubeless rims (no tape needed). Added 2 oz of sealant

(Edit...tape and valve already installed)

Rear tire took 60 lbs and has held for days.

Front tire lost all pressure within an hour or so. I don't hear any air loss; don't see any sealant leaking anywhere...

Thoughts?

Probably not relevant, but the rear rotor located perfectly. The front is off by just a hair. Very slight rub with no weight on the wheel. Not sure how to adjust or whether I should...

[ducati2]

How well is the valve stem seated? Is the valve core tight?

[marciero]

Regarding the brake rub- With new brake pads, I sometimes use the "ignore it and it will go away" approach. IME minor rubbing-the kind that is heard but does not noticeably slow down the wheel when spinning in the stand - goes away after a ride or two.

Regarding the tire sealing, I have nothing aside from the usual suspects. Try again but more vigorously circulate the sealant inside the tire.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by ducati2

How well is the valve stem seated? Is the valve core tight?

Thanks...the valve stem is well seated. I might swap out the valve core...are they interchangeable?

[prototoast]

Sometimes I have to go through a cycle of reinflating and spinning the wheel a few times to get all the sealant where it needs to be, then it will hold air fine.

[HenryA]

The best thing you can do for a new tubeless installation with sealant is to inflate and ride the bike immediately. This distributes the sealant flexes the tire and gives the whole thing a chance to seal up. If this doesn’t work, take the tire off and look for obvious problems like crud in the rim seat

[djg21]

Whenever I’ve had issues with tubeless with tires that aren’t Rene Herse’s overpriced garbage, the issue has been the tape. Maybe two laters would help.

[thermalattorney]

All this speculation is absurd. Just take some dish soap, get it really sudsy, and sponge it on all around wheel. Make sure to cover the spoke nipples, valve stem, and rim/tire area. You'll have your answer within seconds.

[trener1]

Originally Posted by thermalattorney

All this speculation is absurd. Just take some dish soap, get it really sudsy, and sponge it on all around wheel. Make sure to cover the spoke nipples, valve stem, and rim/tire area. You'll have your answer within seconds.

I had. this same problem recently, while I didn't do your soap trick, I did something very similar.
I filled up the sink, then spun the wheel with the tire around very slowly, only putting it as deep as where the tire and rim meet not dunking the while rim into the water, you will instantly see bubbles coming out where the leak is.

[.RJ]

Sometimes this forum needs a quick reading comprehension check before logging in

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Installation was easy, took very little to seat the tires on the tubeless rims (no tape needed). Added 2 oz of sealant

Originally Posted by djg21

Whenever I’ve had issues with tubeless with tires that aren’t Rene Herse’s overpriced garbage, the issue has been the tape. Maybe two laters would help.

[Likes2ridefar]

Reynolds wheels I’ve seen all require tape. If they don’t I’d love to know because maybe I’d be interested

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by HenryA

The best thing you can do for a new tubeless installation with sealant is to inflate and ride the bike immediately. This distributes the sealant flexes the tire and gives the whole thing a chance to seal up. If this doesn’t work, take the tire off and look for obvious problems like crud in the rim seat

This is the answer. Usually a spin around the neighborhood will do the trick, especially on a new setup.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by HenryA

The best thing you can do for a new tubeless installation with sealant is to inflate and ride the bike immediately. This distributes the sealant flexes the tire and gives the whole thing a chance to seal up. If this doesn’t work, take the tire off and look for obvious problems like crud in the rim seat

After adding the sealant, I gave each wheel a pretty vigorous couple of spins. Noted that it might take more than that...

Nicely, these tires seat really nicely and are probably easy to remove...

Originally Posted by ducati2

How well is the valve stem seated? Is the valve core tight?

I suspect the valve core on the front wheel...it's just slightly bent. I'm going to swap out valve cores. If that doesn't solve the problem, I'll do the bubble test.

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Reynolds wheels I’ve seen all require tape. If they don’t I’d love to know because maybe I’d be interested

Edit: You are correct...tape came pre-installed, which I had conveniently forgotten for my write up...

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Hmmm. Rear wheel holding air fine with no tape.

Are there spoke holes or not?

[EB]

Which Reynolds 650b wheels are these exactly? All of the ones I can find online, including those that support N3W, are advertised as coming with rim tape preinstalled, so presumably they need rim tape?

e.g.

https://hayesbicycle.com/products/g650-wheelset

https://hayesbicycle.com/collections...oducts/atr-650

https://hayesbicycle.com/collections...cts/atr-x-650b