I'm in the midst of my first foray into the world of tubeless, road or otherwise. The rim/tire combo of HED Vanquish 6 and Conti 5000TL seems to be a good one so far. I can get the tires onto the rims by hand and without too much effort. The beads seat solidly with an air compressor. But I am having issues getting them to hold air.
Long story short, I re-taped them with two wraps of Stan's, and tried airing them up right away. The result was air leaking out the weep holes on the side of the rim and the time deflating from 90 PSI within 5-10 minutes. I decided to try re-taping them with one wrap of DT Swiss, and tried airing them up right away. This tape job seemed really good since I was now a veteran, but the result was the same. So I put tubes and a different set of tires on and rode on them for four days. I put the tubeless tire back on the front today and aired it up to 74.6PSI at 9AM this morning. I checked it at noon and it was at 73.2. At 3PM it was 72.6. And at 5PM, 72.2. Major progress compared to where I started.
Now for the questions: Dump sealant in it and see if it seals up completely? Or re-tape, put tubes in for a day or so, and try again? I wonder if airing them up right after re-taping them caused some small gaps between the tape and rim that I just can't see and that the tube couldn't seal.
ETA: I have more tape and am willing to try re-taping. I'm interested in getting this done right, not getting it done quickly.
Mike Sparks
I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Long story short, I re-taped them with two wraps of Stan's, and tried airing them up right away. The result was air leaking out the weep holes on the side of the rim and the time deflating from 90 PSI within 5-10 minutes. I decided to try re-taping them with one wrap of DT Swiss, and tried airing them up right away. This tape job seemed really good since I was now a veteran, but the result was the same. So I put tubes and a different set of tires on and rode on them for four days. I put the tubeless tire back on the front today and aired it up to 74.6PSI at 9AM this morning. I checked it at noon and it was at 73.2. At 3PM it was 72.6. And at 5PM, 72.2. Major progress compared to where I started.
Now for the questions: Dump sealant in it and see if it seals up completely? Or re-tape, put tubes in for a day or so, and try again? I wonder if airing them up right after re-taping them caused some small gaps between the tape and rim that I just can't see and that the tube couldn't seal.
ETA: I have more tape and am willing to try re-taping. I'm interested in getting this done right, not getting it done quickly.
Mike Sparks
I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.