How long after mounting tubeless do you ride them (road)

[makoti]

Is there an accepted safety window? 12 hours? 24? If I mounted them this afternoon, ride them tomorrow morning? I've been waiting 1-2 days, but in this case I won't have quite that long, if I want to ride them.

[cinema]

you can ride them immediately. the rim holds the bead, not the sealant. the sealant is not supposed to ‘dry’ anyway if thats what youre thinking. not saying you are but many people ive convinced to convert initially thought this

[makoti]

Originally Posted by cinema

you can ride them immediately. the rim holds the bead, not the sealant. the sealant is not supposed to ‘dry’ anyway if thats what youre thinking. not saying you are but many people ive convinced to convert initially thought this

Not really dry, but I had heard that you wanted to give it some time to work its way into whatever small leaks you might have and seal those. Not the case?

[cinema]

oh i figured you were mounting new tires not used. the sealant is supposed to seal the hole quickly while you ride anyway, so unless it's a big hole which would need a repair anyway, spinning it in the stand a couple times should be sufficient. if you are letting it sit the sealant is just pooling around the portion of the tire facing down. it is actually good to ride the tire immediately to distribute it before it pools in one place by sitting still.

oh and i learned the hard way NOT to pull larger things that puncture the tire out while you're riding. the sealant is doing it's job and sealing around the goathead or whatever it is. if it's big enough a good hole will never seal with sealant alone and you'll just have a flat unless you take it off to repair. did this on a bikepacking trip one time don't know what i was thinking it was a mess. unless it's like a nail or something that requires immediate plugging

[jkbrwn]

24 hours in my books. Just to make sure they’re all groovy and they’ve not somehow spontaneously deflated/unseated themselves.

[makoti]

Yeah, I'm not being clear. Sorry. It's late.
New tires, new mount. I'd heard that it helps to seal small gaps between tire & rim that might otherwise allow air to leak if you gave them 24 hours to sit before riding. They held air great without any sealant, so likely not an issue but better safe than stranded.

[cinema]

I think that is a myth. the bead pops and thats that. the sealant does not prevent the tire from losing air or staying on the rim in any significant way at all. it would make sense if you want to leave it for a few minutes to monitor if it's losing air at the spoke holes due to rim damage or due to poor fitment but it would be pretty apparent in just a little bit.

as you said the tires seat without sealant. one could ride them that way until something flats the tire. i mount a new tire with sealant then head out for a ride.

[makoti]

Thanks. That's what I'll do, then. Makes sense.

[cinema]

if it was really losing air from bad fitment the sealant could not control that. it will seal small punctures tho.

the time i was not thinking and ran thru a field of goatheads in carizzo plain, i pulled a couple out and tire immediately lost air. sealant could not seal the empty hole well enough but it sealed just fine with the goat head in there.

i ended up pulling the tire and taping the inside. with some gorilla tape i had with me. by the time i was ready to put the wheel back on most of the sealant was completely gone. i popped the tire back on the rim and rode it like that for hundreds of miles.

[bigbill]

I plan on riding right after I install the tires with sealant. Even if it's only 30 minutes. It spreads the sealant all around the inside of the tire and bead.

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by bigbill

I plan on riding right after I install the tires with sealant. Even if it's only 30 minutes. It spreads the sealant all around the inside of the tire and bead.

This! Sooner the better, right away if possible. Quickens the process of pushing the sealant into any gaps and keeps the sealant moving around. I can’t see any advantages to waiting any given amount of time. It’s only after I’ve ridden a tubeless set-up and have it remain inflated overnight that I consider it good to go.

[MikeD]

If you can put the tire under water to verify that no air bubbles are coming out, then immediately. Otherwise, I'd wait a day. I had problems with a new tire that was leaking through the sidewalls when I went out on a ride without verifying I had a good seal.

[daker13]

I wait a day.

[Robot870]

I mount and hit the streets asap - no worries

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

24 hours in my books. Just to make sure they’re all groovy and they’ve not somehow spontaneously deflated/unseated themselves.

I think that's a good idea, depending on how easy it is to get the tire to seal. I had some Maxxis tires that were horrible about sealing and I had to do it more than once before it held for good. OTOH, the gravelkings and mtb tires I have were obviously sealed as soon as the bead popped onto the rim, and riding them right away was no problem.