I had my rear wheel replaced last month just before it ran out of warranty which they set up tubeless and it seemed to hold air fine. I changed tyre today and seated it without any sealant. I noticed it was having trouble holding air so sprayed some dish soap and air is leaking from where the wheel joins together where the bontreger sticker ends. 1. Is this dangerous to ride? 2. If not should I stick to tubes or will it possibly seal if I use some sealant? I checked the tape and I have not damaged it so not sure why it's now not holding air there.
Tubeless air leak through rim join dangerous?
byu/Cortyrion inbikewrench
by Cortyrion
4 Comments
why would you run tubeless without sealant in the first place?
The tape has to be leaking air as there’s no other way the rim joint would leak. I’d pull the tire and tape, inspect the joint, retape it if it looks okay and set it up with sealant. Or, as you suggested, just use a tube.
This is common for certain gravel or road wheels. I think the joint is sleeved or pinned, not welded, and sealant just doesn’t plug it. To get it to hold air I’ve had to make sure the rim tape is wide, and covers the entire rim, including going up the inside of the rim wall somewhat in that area, basically creating a complete seal with the tire bead with no rim exposed.
If you’re confident in your tape job, the sealant will take care of this.