So I’m thinking of converting my disc wheel to tubeless. Thing is though as discs are predominantly race day only what do people do from a tubeless maintenance perspective?
Do you have to take the disc out every few weeks and give it a spin to make sure the sealent doesn’t settle and harden in the bottom of the wheel etc? Do you still have to top up the sealent every few months? Anything else? I’ve never used tubeless before so all new to me.
I would replace the sealant before every race.
I would replace the sealant before every race.
What does this involve-do I have to take the tyre off and scrub out all the old sealant? Is there anything else or just leave the wheel sitting there until close to race day?
If you have regular races during the summer, you’re probably fine for the season (post season mop out the sealant before storing the wheel until next year). If not, going with a latex tube may be preferable (I run a vittoria latex tube in my disc that has been there for 10yrs. I test it a week before my first race just to make sure it’s still fine…never had an issue).
I would replace the sealant before every race.
^^THIS…because it is especially true if you live out west where it is drier. The sealant tends to even dry up quicker. You may get only a couple months out of your entire 2 oz you put in.
What does this involve-do I have to take the tyre off and scrub out all the old sealant? Is there anything else or just leave the wheel sitting there until close to race day?
It varies dramatically depending on where you live and the (related) conditions of your bike/wheel storage. If you live someplace warm, you’re going to want to drain the sealant completely from the wheel for storage after every event. The sealant you choose to use will determine if this just means sucking it out with a syringe or taking the tire completely off. The cooler the bike storage conditions, the longer the sealant will stay liquid, the less frequently you’ll need to do this.
Gee never realised tubeless was such a pain in the arse! Hardly seems worth the trouble when compared to just using latex tubes?
Next issue I’ve read is flying with tubeless when deflating your wheels it’s likely you will get sealent everywhere in your bike bag as they will leak during travel?
Someone convince to to go tubeless??
Gee never realised tubeless was such a pain in the arse! Hardly seems worth the trouble when compared to just using latex tubes?
Next issue I’ve read is flying with tubeless when deflating your wheels it’s likely you will get sealent everywhere in your bike bag as they will leak during travel?
Someone convince to to go tubeless??
Yup - same thoughts. Sticking with TPU now (I tried going tubeless and it rode amazing, but was a pain to look after)
If you are only using wheels sporadically throughout the year - tubeless (to me) is a right pain. The only way I can see doing it would be to fit / fill week before race, confirm no leaks. Race the wheels. Then drain, unseat tyres and clean and leave them empty until the next race.
I fly with my bike(s) a few times a year. Maybe half of it is with a tubeless setup. I never have issues with tubeless wheels - it’s not needed to deflate the tires, as the storage is generally pressurised like the cabin.
There is no need to deflate your tires when traveling in an airplane.
That said, I prefer clincher tires with latex tubes.
I’d just use orange seal. Buy an injector that allows you to pull sealant out of the tire. Before raceday, put sealant in your tires, after you race, just suck it out. It takes like 2 minutes to do that. Under no circumstances would I unseat the tire and scrub it out, that’s a massive waste of time to save like 2 grams.
Slightly reduce pressure in your tires before flying, don’t deflate them.
People make tubeless sound 1000000x more complicated than it needs to be.
If you’re running a 25mm tire or smaller, I wouldn’t bother because it’s much less likely to seal. If you’re running a 28mm tire, I really don’t see why you wouldn’t. 8 times out of 10, your punctures will self-seal. If you’re flying to a race, why not take that extra precaution to help prevent flats from happening?
Gee never realised tubeless was such a pain in the arse! Hardly seems worth the trouble when compared to just using latex tubes?
Next issue I’ve read is flying with tubeless when deflating your wheels it’s likely you will get sealent everywhere in your bike bag as they will leak during travel?
If you aren’t using your wheels frequently, I think tubeless is more of a PITA than it’s worth for most people (on the road that is, different story off road) unless you live/race in an area where the potential protection from certain types of flats is worth the tradeoff.
No need to deflate for flying. Maybe take a little bit of air out if you’re pushing up against the safe inflation pressure levels for the wheel/tire, but no reason to fully deflate.
I have tubeless race wheels including rear disc. I have sealant replaced beginning of the race season. I try to remember to spin the wheels every few weeks if no races are scheduled. Never had an issue.
Same here, been on tubeless since 2020. Throw in a bit of sealant before outdoor riding season. For traveling, I reduce the pressure of the tires to 20 psi just to be safe but this isn’t enough to leak any sealant. Most of the sealant (Stan) is water so even when gone you have a very little solid residual inside the tire, you can remove it after a couple of seasons if you really OCD about it but if you use the tires a bit, you can forget about it and simply get a new tire when needed. I spin the wheels a bit every now and then over the winter when riding indoors but I realize that it will evaporate over time anyways.
So far have been lucky not to have a puncture that the sealant hasn’t stopped, but I always carry a dynaplug in case something bigger damages the tire.
To be fair, if TPUs would have been available in 2020 maybe I would have never gone tubeless, but the slow leak behaviour of latex always annoyed me. I also had a few more punctures than compared to butyl with latex so it was worth testing the tubeless route.
I have tubeless race wheels including rear disc. I have sealant replaced beginning of the race season. I try to remember to spin the wheels every few weeks if no races are scheduled. Never had an issue.
Not saying this applies to you, but almost without exception every time I’ve seen tubeless wheels come through neutral support at one of the big tris, wheels that hadn’t been topped up prior to the event didn’t actually have any liquid sealant left in them. It became very clear that a large percentage of people (and again, maybe you’re an exception!) thought their sealant was fine just because the wheel was still holding air, when that absolutely wasn’t the case. I’ve also seen sealant dry up completely in less than a month in places like Arizona and SoCal, with similar “rider thought everything was fine” results.
Again, ymmv.