New wheels and new tires. Bontrager Aeolus 5 and 25mm GP5k’s. The tire is pinching really hard and not even close to seating. I’m using Silca tubeless rim tape. The tire is seated in some spots on one side or the other but I cannot get it to pop into the seat to save my life.
I have removed the valve cores. I have tried strapping the tire down to force the bead up. I am limited by a floor pump. I did try using a couple of CO2 carts and even they did not get me enough air in to seat it.
It is noticeably pinched. I can try to toss a tube in to get at least half of the tire seated, but not sure how effective that is and given how tight these tires are I dread having to pry them back off again.
So - anyone have any tips or tricks that help them get their tubeless tires seated?
if you are doing tubeless and don’t have a air compressor you are screwed. go buy a air compressor, and those wierd adapters in the bike store to adapt from presta to the “normal” valve
Have you moved both beads back into center channel completely and retried? Sometimes that’s it, and soapy water can help. But if you hear air rushing out it could be an issue with either tape or the valve not seating properly (often split tape)
Have you moved both beads back into center channel completely and retried? Sometimes that’s it, and soapy water can help. But if you hear air rushing out it could be an issue with either tape or the valve not seating properly (often split tape)
Another vote for the schwalbe tyre booster (or the original version ‘air shot’ - the schwlabe one is a copy under licence).
I’ve done mtb tyres easily where a track pump or CO2 cartridge was just pissing in the wind. You need the big sudden rush of air to get the tyres to seat.
As others? soapy water helps lube the tyre too to get it to move to seat.
New wheels and new tires. Bontrager Aeolus 5 and 25mm GP5k’s. The tire is pinching really hard and not even close to seating. I’m using Silca tubeless rim tape. The tire is seated in some spots on one side or the other but I cannot get it to pop into the seat to save my life.
I have removed the valve cores. I have tried strapping the tire down to force the bead up. I am limited by a floor pump. I did try using a couple of CO2 carts and even they did not get me enough air in to seat it.
It is noticeably pinched. I can try to toss a tube in to get at least half of the tire seated, but not sure how effective that is and given how tight these tires are I dread having to pry them back off again.
So - anyone have any tips or tricks that help them get their tubeless tires seated?
Many thanks.
Long term a booster pump, air compressor or boost bottle, as linked by Carl, is what u want. But there is no reason a CO2 shouldn’t work. I’ve used them in the field to replace sliced down tires.
Rim tape could be part of the issue. You could try putting on an old standard clincher with a tube to help fully seat the tape. The Silca is not very flexible stuff.
Your idea of fully seating ur TLR tire using a tube then breaking one bead can be the fix for stubborn tire/rim combos. Usually once u seat one of these tires the next time goes better.
Also I always use the soapy water mix mentioned above. Brushed on all the way around the beads.
And profanity. Not just garden variety working-in-the-shop stuff. But top shelf. E.g. that time with the tire’s mom and the donkey in TJ. That sort of thing.
And profanity. Not just garden variety working-in-the-shop stuff. But top shelf. E.g. that time with the tire’s mom and the donkey in TJ. That sort of thing.
Yeah! Lol. TLR has provided plenty of those moments. From fatty tires to road and everything in between. I am getting older and try to be more and more Zen about this shit. Still OCD shit like TLR mounted up with tread wrong direction ends up giving me more practice!
I do have hard time with the fact that TLR life ending cut downs in my household only occur with really new tires:( This gets a reaction:)
Latest TLR weirdness was mounting up a new Pro One 28c on Enve 4.5AR. Took extra effort. Finally got it seated and thought valve stem gasket was leaking. Nope. Clean razor edge cut through the tread?!? WTF? New one to me. Bought from UK. Thought I was sol but wrote Merlin, sent follow up photo and they sent me refund!
Using a floor pump on a tubeless tire is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Get yourself an air compressor and save the profanity for something more worthy.
Did you use 1 or 2 wraps of tape? I’ve found that using 2 wraps make it a lot easier to get the tires seated initially. That and using an air compressor. Although I have used a regular floor pump before. I do this for road bike tires. For mountain bikes and fatbikes, I use fattystrippers. They make life much easier.
Did you use 1 or 2 wraps of tape? I’ve found that using 2 wraps make it a lot easier to get the tires seated initially. That and using an air compressor. Although I have used a regular floor pump before. I do this for road bike tires. For mountain bikes and fatbikes, I use fattystrippers. They make life much easier.
Fattystrippers also make road sizes as well. I apply vasoline instead of soap.
Emailed the owner once on a delivery issue. His personality fits someone who would name his product fattystrippers.
As I read this, you get the tire inflated but the last couple of percent of the tire getting onto the bead shelf and fully engaging is troublesome, right?
If that’s the case, soap the bead, slowly inflate the tire up to about 15% more pressure than you plan to use, leave it for a while, and it will have seated. This is the method developed for getting Hutchinson CX tires onto Stan’s Grail rims, which is the tightest engagement we’ve ever seen. We broke several tire beads before getting this all straight.
If the tire inflates and is just reluctant to seat the last bit, a compressor might be counterproductive at that stage - it’s too much air and the bead can snap. A compressor is AWESOME for getting the initial inflation starting, but that doesn’t sound like your issue here. You need soapy beads and measured doses of air to get the tire locked into the rim.