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Best air compressor for tubeless tires
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I recently converted my mountain bike over to tubeless and am considering doing it with my road bike - but hate having to go to the bike shop to get them inflated as my pump and CO2 aren't powerful enough. I have looked at compressors at Home Depot but not sure what parameters I'm looking for for inflating tires as most of them are designed for use with pneumatic tools.

any advice or suggestions ?

"There may be men that can beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it." Steve Prefontane
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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No, but have you tried using a regular pump? That's what I use on my MTB and it always works. I just put some soapy water around the tire and pump like crazy.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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Slowman did a piece on just this topic six or so weeks ago. I haven't been able to find the article but if you peek around the front page you may be able to find it.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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powerbarjunkie wrote:
I recently converted my mountain bike over to tubeless and am considering doing it with my road bike - but hate having to go to the bike shop to get them inflated as my pump and CO2 aren't powerful enough. I have looked at compressors at Home Depot but not sure what parameters I'm looking for for inflating tires as most of them are designed for use with pneumatic tools.

any advice or suggestions ?

There are pumps that are made specifically for this, that make it rather easy to get the bead to set. You pump up the cannister and flip the lever and it dumps the air quickly which pops the bead in to place.

Bike Radar chronicled some of the best options last year

Otherwise, I think that most compressors will work, it's the chuck you need to be selective with. If it's only to inflate tires, I don't think you need a huge one.

jake

Get outside!
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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Regular floor pump has always worked for me for MTB wheels/tires. If you're having difficulty, you can try putting in a tube to seat one side of the bead, then remove the tube and use a lever to seat about 60% of the other side of the bead. If that still doesn't work, spray soapy water.

If not, you can always buy a cheap adapter to temporarily convert your presta valve to schrader if there is a gas station air pump closer than your LBS or you can try the DIY Home Depot garden sprayer can trick.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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Once the tire is ready to be inflated (soapy water, sealant installed, etc.) remove the valve stem and start pumping. Once the tire is seated on the rim stop pumping, remove the pump, and hold your finger over the valve. Then screw the valve stem back in and pump to desired pressure. Works for me every time. No need for an air compressor.

Andrew Inkpen
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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powerbarjunkie wrote:
I recently converted my mountain bike over to tubeless and am considering doing it with my road bike - but hate having to go to the bike shop to get them inflated as my pump and CO2 aren't powerful enough. I have looked at compressors at Home Depot but not sure what parameters I'm looking for for inflating tires as most of them are designed for use with pneumatic tools.

any advice or suggestions ?

I own this one. Works great for tubeless tires on my specialized epic. Plus I use it to blow out my sprinklers (last Saturday), fill the car tires, and some other random tasks. While some people can figure out how to use a regular pump for setting the bead, I never could. Ease of doing my own tubeless a few times a season plus the sprinklers, it easily pays for itself.

In the end, any 6gal or bigger will work fine. You will need a presta adapter for your air compressor. This one below works great too.

Air compressor - https://www.homedepot.com/...-OF60150HB/303379052

Presta adapter - https://www.amazon.com/...amp;s=sporting-goods

Jeff Abbott - @run1fast
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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I have the specialized air tool blast and it's excellent...provided you use some soapy water to help it seat, remove the valve core, get it seated and then add your sealant.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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If you are using a UST rim and tubeless ready tires you'll likely only need a standard air pump.

If you are using a Rim Conversion Kit, you'll probably need a 10 gallon compressor...and a friend...and a sound-proof room.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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If you are wanting an actual air compressor, abbottj123 gave the best advice. I have that exact same size and style of compressor and use it for lots of things. Air tools, cars, cleaning out the hose, cleaning out saws/tools, and plenty of tubeless setups. The presta adapter he showed works fine. I have also used the Prestaflator Mini quite a bit and like it. There's nothing wrong with getting a compressor designed for pneumatic tools. I think there's waaay more value in a compressor than any of the pumps mentioned above.

Keep in mind that compressors are stupidly loud (if you haven't owned one). You don't want to run that thing in the garage when others in your household (or neighborhood) are trying to sleep. They also fill themselves back up automatically if left 'on' and plugged in. All compressors leak a tiny bit, so there will be random times when you're nowhere near it that it will itself back up and scare the bajeezus out of anybody nearby if left on.
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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Compressors have 2 key measurements - max PSI and the cubic feet per minute of air they can deliver on a sustained basis. Since almost any compressor can exceed 100 psi, your looking for a compressor with a tank (the reference in "gallons" in the specs). Any size tank should work for tubeless since you're looking for a quick blast to seat the tires and even the smallest tanked compressor will do that as bike tires are low volume in the grand scheme of things. Many basic put in the car trunk type tire compressors will not necessarily work since while they can eventually get up to decent pressure, they do not deliver air at pressure quickly.

Tank size/cu ft per minute gets important when you are running air tools. Some (e.g. paint sprayers or air drills) require a ton of air per minute to run even if the required PSI is not that great. On the other hand, the little 6 gallon tank ones will run an air nailer just fine.

FWIW, a compressor, even a smallish one, is really nice to have around the house. You'll come up with other uses for it. That being said, they are loud and it is still way quicker to use a hand pump for basic bike tire topping off unless you leave the compressor on all the time and pressured up as they take a while to get up to bike tire pressure.
Last edited by: STP: Oct 10, 18 8:07
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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [STP] [ In reply to ]
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Will agree with most of what is said above.

The Pressurized pumps are great at uni-tasking.
An actual compressor with a tank is a great general tool. Really anything in this space will do well for mounting tires.
I recently upgraded from a 3 gallon to 6 gallon and it does have better sustained pressure.

General usages:
Filling Car tires
Using the Blower to dry my bike after washing (seriously awesome)
Blowing out sprinklers
Filling various inflatables: pool floats etc.
I paid under $100 for mine and it's been great.

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Re: Best air compressor for tubeless tires [powerbarjunkie] [ In reply to ]
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Any cheap compressor will work, I've got a 3-gal pancake unit I've had for years. Home Depot and Lowes have them for under $100. Smaller is lighter... so if your're going to store it in a closet or shelf, think about the weight to lug it around.

What I really enjoyed was picking up a prestaflate head a couple years back. That is a shop-quality gauge that helps you meter the pressure you're putting in. I get a little nervous pumping air into tires ( particularly on my CX rims) getting the pressure up enough to seat the bead, but not blow the tire off the rim.

(I'm gun shy of exploding tires. When I was about 8, my dad drove down to the gas station with me in the car to fill the tire of my recently repaired bike. He pulled the air hose inside the car and was inflating the tire in his lap when the tire exploded like a cartoon cigar! The ringing ears were terrible, but the particulates that came out had us gasping and retching was even more miserable. I'm assuming this was a lovely 60's era mix of asbestos and other industrial toxins...).

" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978
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