Hello all, I am having a heck of a time setting up tubeless on my road bike. I did the first wheel without any issues but the second wheel is beyond causing problems.
Everytime I try to inflate using tire booster, it pops the bead into place but air leaks of of the drain hole in my rim (the air is very obviously and forcefully draining from this specific drain hole)
I understand this means air is getting into the rim which it shouldn’t and below are the things I’ve tried (by reading other similar posts):
– Tighten the valve. It is as tight as I can possibly get it with o-ring in between tightening nut and rim. I’ve placed the valve in nice and tight before screwing in and there is absolutely no play or wiggle in the valve.
– Reapply tape (3 times). I watched several videos on applying tape and the last time I felt I did a good job. I put the wheel into my bike so I could use as a stand, I pulled it very tight consistently and it feels sealed on each side. I do notice that the tape is not contacting the center of the rim because it is pulled tight and sealed on left and right side. I’ve even taken a tire lever and pressed each side while circling the rim several times to ensure tight adherence of the tape.
Does anyone have any other recommendations or things to check? Some people recommend just applying sealant to seal up whatever is currently causing issues as that’s its job, but others say they wouldn’t trust riding on something that doesn’t properly seal without sealant. I’d like to do a proper job from the beginning.
Ahland3r on
Does anyone have a good video guide on how to apply tape? I obviously am not getting the gist of it from people who say “apply it as tight as you can”.
ExpendableLimb on
try using two wraps of tubeless tape if you’re using just one. doesn’t have to be perfect. i do not like muck off tape which everyone seems to use now–i still use stans and never had issues. double wrap should fix the issue. you can also cheat a bit and do one wrap with electrical tape and then the second wrap with tubeless tape. if all else fails gorilla tape will do it as well but its heavy.
Milesandsmiles1 on
I’ve had similar problems, the best thing you can do is just retape the rim. Prep is very important, remove the old tape and get the rim squeaky clean (iso is best for carbon rims) then tape it again making sure to start a few inches before the valve hole and overlapping the valve again by a couple inches before finishing. To be extra sure it’s good you can install the tire with a tube and pressurize overnight to really press down on the tape, then you should be good to go.
5 Comments
Sounds like the tape isn’t sealed right.
Hello all, I am having a heck of a time setting up tubeless on my road bike. I did the first wheel without any issues but the second wheel is beyond causing problems.
Everytime I try to inflate using tire booster, it pops the bead into place but air leaks of of the drain hole in my rim (the air is very obviously and forcefully draining from this specific drain hole)
I understand this means air is getting into the rim which it shouldn’t and below are the things I’ve tried (by reading other similar posts):
– Tighten the valve. It is as tight as I can possibly get it with o-ring in between tightening nut and rim. I’ve placed the valve in nice and tight before screwing in and there is absolutely no play or wiggle in the valve.
– Reapply tape (3 times). I watched several videos on applying tape and the last time I felt I did a good job. I put the wheel into my bike so I could use as a stand, I pulled it very tight consistently and it feels sealed on each side. I do notice that the tape is not contacting the center of the rim because it is pulled tight and sealed on left and right side. I’ve even taken a tire lever and pressed each side while circling the rim several times to ensure tight adherence of the tape.
Does anyone have any other recommendations or things to check? Some people recommend just applying sealant to seal up whatever is currently causing issues as that’s its job, but others say they wouldn’t trust riding on something that doesn’t properly seal without sealant. I’d like to do a proper job from the beginning.
Does anyone have a good video guide on how to apply tape? I obviously am not getting the gist of it from people who say “apply it as tight as you can”.
try using two wraps of tubeless tape if you’re using just one. doesn’t have to be perfect. i do not like muck off tape which everyone seems to use now–i still use stans and never had issues. double wrap should fix the issue. you can also cheat a bit and do one wrap with electrical tape and then the second wrap with tubeless tape. if all else fails gorilla tape will do it as well but its heavy.
I’ve had similar problems, the best thing you can do is just retape the rim. Prep is very important, remove the old tape and get the rim squeaky clean (iso is best for carbon rims) then tape it again making sure to start a few inches before the valve hole and overlapping the valve again by a couple inches before finishing. To be extra sure it’s good you can install the tire with a tube and pressurize overnight to really press down on the tape, then you should be good to go.