Gravel - going tubeless - where do I start?!!

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Hi, hoping for some advice from seasoned gravellers on going tubeless. I've only ever used tubes before. I've just taken delivery of a new gravel bike (Specialized Diverge) which is all 'tubeless ready' - tyres and wheels and some spare valves.

I've had a look and there's a bewildering amount of sealant and puncture repair products out there, pretty much all of them with mixed reviews with the same sealant sealing a 6 inch slice in half a second, and failing to seal a pinhole.

I think I need:

Sealant / rim tape kit - any suggestions on best kit here?
Puncture / plug kit - is Dynaplug the go to here?

Anything else I need? Valve cores? Specific tools?

Happy to spend a bit up-front to minimise the chances of getting stranded / roadside repairs.

I'm hoping to avoid having to use some kind of air chamber to seat the tyres (Specialized Pathfinder Pro 42mm on DT Swiss G540 rims), and just use a track pump. Not sure if this is dependent on tyre / rim combo?

I weigh about 90kg, so generally have to run higher than average tyre pressures if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance!

[addey]

If the wheels are tubeless ready then you won't need and kind of rim tape, that will already be in place. I've mainly used Peatys sealant and was happy with it, now trying out Orange Seal which seems to get lots of positive reviews (this is on road wheels/tyres). The orange seal is much runnier (like milk) compared to the Peatys so a bit messier to work with. I have got a small repair kit which are the bacon strip type things but I've never actually used it. I've fitted a tube at the roadside a couple of times and have called home for a lift a couple of times, but that is over 3.5yrs/40,000km so not too bad! A guy in my club punctured recently, his tyre had about 5 dynaplug darts in it so they would appear to work quite well. I've got a pump with a second chamber which means you can dump a load of air at once so have never tried it with just a pump. Would suggest that you try mounting without sealant first to check if it will work otherwise it will be a bit messy!

[mattvanders]

I come from a mountain biking side of riding and have set up my bikes tubeless for years now, the way I would do it if rim is already tapped:
- let out air from inner tube
- remove only one side of the tyre from the bead
- remove the tube and install new air valve
- refit tyre properly to the rim
- use a high volume / low pressure pump (a joe blow is my preferred pump) to get the tyre seated again.
- once happy there are no issues or big leaks let the air out of the valve
- remove the valve core (will need a valve core remover but you might have one in the kits) and put sealant into the tube (preferred sealant is stans normal)
- refit the core and pump up back to pressure
- spin the wheel to ensure any small whole are sealed

[BoRED S2upid]

Take bike to local mechanic job done and if it’s not done it goes back until it is done. They will know what works well. This is not a job you want to DIY.

[esuuv]

BoRED S2upid said:

Take bike to local mechanic job done and if it’s not done it goes back until it is done. They will know what works well. This is not a job you want to DIY.

As described in the post above yours - it's one of the easiest jobs you can do (with the exception of getting the tyre seated) - it's like changing a tube.

[Siao]

esuuv said:

BoRED S2upid said:

Take bike to local mechanic job done and if it’s not done it goes back until it is done. They will know what works well. This is not a job you want to DIY.

As described in the post above yours - it's one of the easiest jobs you can do (with the exception of getting the tyre seated) - it's like changing a tube.

If only it worked as seamlessly as that. Easy to perform, not to perfect. I just spent 30' and a lot of money in sealant and valve core remover (I'm at work so I don't have mine at hand) to do my rear tyre and it just won't inflate again... Money down the drain.

[BoRED S2upid]

Siao said:

esuuv said:

BoRED S2upid said:

Take bike to local mechanic job done and if it’s not done it goes back until it is done. They will know what works well. This is not a job you want to DIY.

As described in the post above yours - it's one of the easiest jobs you can do (with the exception of getting the tyre seated) - it's like changing a tube.

If only it worked as seamlessly as that. Easy to perform, not to perfect. I just spent 30' and a lot of money in sealant and valve core remover (I'm at work so I don't have mine at hand) to do my rear tyre and it just won't inflate again... Money down the drain.

Exactly. It’s not easy.

All my bikes are tubeless they work perfectly once sealed but I’ve had my mechanic doing them twice before now and it’s a messy job. Not worth the bother.

[Alicat]

It is easy depending on how you do it. I have run tubeless for years, and practice has got the technique perfected.

Remove tyre and valve.

Install tubeless valve.

Mount the tyre on the rim

Lift a short section of tyre off again and use this to put the sealant in.

Turn the wheel so the unhooked section of tyre is at the top and fit the tyre fully.

Apply soapy water to the tyre where it seats on the rim (all the way round)

NOW THE HARD BIT!

You can spend ages trying to get air in the tyre and getting it to seat.

The secret is having a proper inflator:

I use one of these - https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Control-Tank-Pump_9...

You pump the inflator up, connect it to the valve on the tyre and open the valve on the inflator - 10 seconds later after a bit of loud pop the tyre is on the rim.

I usually position the wheel with the valve at the top when I inflate it.

[Alicat]

Giant Control Tank in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFhzo7wAurY

[silversurfer1]

Ive been running tubeless for 5 years on my gravel bike, it's really easy with the right kit and a pain in the arse without it.

Remove the valve core use plenty of sealant (I use stans) and get it up quick, I use an air compressor and I probably wouldn't even bother if I didn't have one, a friend of mine I ride with just bought a small cheap compressor as he used to take his bike into the shop again he has no issues

ss

[CheesecakeRunner]

mattvanders said:

I come from a mountain biking side of riding and have set up my bikes tubeless for years now, the way I would do it if rim is already tapped:
- let out air from inner tube
- remove only one side of the tyre from the bead
- remove the tube and install new air valve

I do similar but when I get to the point above I…

- mount most of the tyre apart from a few inches.
- pour some sealant into the tyre
- rotate the tyre so sealant is in the bit of the tyre already mounted
- finish mounting tyre
- inflate

Avoids any risk of gumming up the valve with sealant.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I live in the middle of rural Scotland, a good hour's round trip to a bike shop, so I'm going to give it a try myself. Took the new bike out for a (tubed) test ride on the road today and loving it so far.

Sounds like the inflator is a must have, although I had in my head that they were well over £100, so looking at the Giant one I've saved £60 already

Does the brand of sealant really matter? Sound like there are varying 'service intervals' for different ones, and it's generally not a good idea to mix them in the same tyre? My bike lives in a cold but dry garage, and a lot (probably all, living in Scotland!) of my rides will be in reasonably cold weather, but I'm not sure if temperature or conditions make any difference to how much effort it will be to maintain.

[lufbramatt]

It’s not hard give it a go :-)

I like stand or Caffelatex sealant. Thought the muc off stuff was rubbish.

It’s one of those things that I think it’s best to have knowledge of how it works rather than relying on bike shops in case you need to fix something mid ride.

[Harpoon]

On my road bikes I'll top-up with fresh sealant about every three months. I just deflate, whip the valve core out and squirt new sealant in with a syringe and tube. Like one of these but this one can be screwed onto your valve which looks handy

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Stans-NoTubes/Tyr...

The lottery of all this is the tyre / rim combination. For my carbon rims / Hutchinson tyre combination, I can almost get the tyre on the rim with my thumbs. I can also get them to seat with a short burst of furious pumping (fnar!) with my ancient Decathlon track pump. I know of other riders who've given up with certain tyre / rim combo's as either un-mountable or un-seatable (no matter what they've tried).

[djone101]

Obviously everyone's experience will vary but mine was pretty painless.
Bought a Canyon Grizl which comes tubeless ready. Rode it on the supplied tubes for a while and then switched to tubeless.
Took out the old tubes, fitted new valves, poured the sealant in, refitted the tyre and pumped it up with a track pump, done.

I spent a lot longer watching YouTube videos about how to do it than it took to do.

[YorkshireStu]

So...

1. Ensure the rim tape and valve are fitted correctly. No tears, no air gaps, firmly set. If you have a new set of wheels tubeless-ready, this should be already done for you.

2. Place the tyre on the rim. Tyre centred in the channel.

3. ***Top Tip*** Using a plastic tyre lever, run it around halfway pulling the tyre bead to the edge of the rim. Do not go over the rim. Repeat this on the opposite side.

This is a simple step that is largely ignored by many but often used by those of us who do MTB races and need to change tyres quickly without compressors etc. It partially seats the tubeless tyre on the rim edge making it easier to 'pop' the rest of the way into a fully seated position with less air force.

4. Remove the valve core. Inject the sealant using an injector tool - such as the Park Tool version or similar. Forget the messy faff of pouring it in via the sidewall, just Google tubeless sealant injector and send it in via the valve - so much less fuss.

5. You can now pump up the tyre to seat it with the valve core removed for greater air volume but this shouldn't be necessary if step 3 was successful.

6. Valve core inserted, pump the tyre to preferred volume.

7. You can, of course, use a compressor such as an Airsoft to get more air into a stubborn tyre but the methods above do work without one but always nice to invest in one 'just in case'.

All the tools you need, even the Park Tools brand, will be cheaper than using your LBS!

If you still have issues it is generally due to air escaping from an incorrectly seated valve stem or rim tape but all done correctly, tubeless shouldn't be a daunting task. As I mentioned above, I and others have replaced tyres at race meets without compressors present by following Step 3 and avoided issues arising from tyres not seating correctly and therefore leaking.

Edited by YorkshireStu on Thursday 18th April 09:12

[Tim Cognito]

Don't forget to say a prayer to the bike gods before you start. Some tyre/rim combos are much easier than others, hope you've got an easy combo.

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

djone101 said:

Obviously everyone's experience will vary but mine was pretty painless.
Bought a Canyon Grizl which comes tubeless ready. Rode it on the supplied tubes for a while and then switched to tubeless.
Took out the old tubes, fitted new valves, poured the sealant in, refitted the tyre and pumped it up with a track pump, done.

I spent a lot longer watching YouTube videos about how to do it than it took to do.

This is more like it! Given that the bike is brand new and tubeless ready as standard, I'm hoping that the process will be fairly painless barring the standard swearing and frustration of fitting tyres.

[Dracoro]

Gin and Ultrasonic said:

djone101 said:

Obviously everyone's experience will vary but mine was pretty painless.
Bought a Canyon Grizl which comes tubeless ready. Rode it on the supplied tubes for a while and then switched to tubeless.
Took out the old tubes, fitted new valves, poured the sealant in, refitted the tyre and pumped it up with a track pump, done.

I spent a lot longer watching YouTube videos about how to do it than it took to do.

This is more like it! Given that the bike is brand new and tubeless ready as standard, I'm hoping that the process will be fairly painless barring the standard swearing and frustration of fitting tyres.

funny enough, same for me. Canyon Grizl with Schwalbe G-one bites.

Just took out supplied inner tube.
Put in tubeless values (some muc-off ones I think)
Pumped up (track pump) tyres and heard it seal on to rim.
Remove valve core and pour in 50/60ml (as I recall) of sealant I had (Schwalbe doc blue I think).
Pumped up again and jobs a good’un.

Done 150/200 miles (mostly off road) since with no issue.

[Tim Cognito]

My serious tip is to put the wheel on a bucket or something so none of the tyre is touching the floor, this seems to make it less leaky so it gets up to pressure easier.