Spent the better part of three hours trying to get my Conti tire to seat.
I’ll start off with saying that I have changed an seated dozens of tires over the years. This one was the most stubborn ever.
Existing tire but wanted to change out the valve stem because the one on it was all gummed up. I also decided to install clik valves which are amazing!
Started off with the old valve not wanting to budge. Had to use pliers to get the ring moving. Ripe for the bin.
Removed the tire and found that the tape was ripe for replacement. About 5 years old so that’s ok.
New tape installed. New valve installed. Cleaned out the tire of old sealant boogers. And then got it installed on the wheel. Then made the overconfident mistake of adding sealant.
Used my Topeak booster which always served me well on seating tires. Went through at least 12 boosts. Killed my hands and arms. Tried the old strap around the tire. Soapy water. Putting it on its side. Finally caved and installed an old tube. That got it seated. Had to pick it out with one side unseated. Finally got the valve installed again. On final boost and bang! Tire seated. The car was covered in sealant drips and tire an absolute mess.
Next on my list: compressor. 🤣
Edit: I obviously didn’t try to do this with the valve core installed. It was just installed on the 2nd pic which is the “after”.
by Pure_Activity_8197
22 Comments
Yeah compressor helps for sure! Sometimes I use co2 gas to make them pop. Which hubs are you running? I have the same rims. Quite happy with those .
A lesson was learned: always seat without sealant first.
I’ve never had issues from seating beads with a compressor.
Hahahahahhahahha been there man! Next time remove your valve core and use an air compressor. Press on the tire to “prevent” it from filling. The high volume of air mixed the the pressure of pushing on the tire will make it seat way faster with very little, if any, sealant casualties.
Next time, do this inside your car to contain the mess.
I can tell you that most of my garage is “flat-proof” over the years 😉
Just FYI if that’s MukOff tire sealant, you’re in for a bad time. Worst sealant I’ve ever used.
I just seal the bead, remove valve core and squeeze sealant in valve stem. easy
This is wild. This is literally why your valve stem is removable to avoid the likes of this. Lessons learned for sure.
I was recently told by a friend to seat the beads without the valve core in. I’ve never considered this once in my life but it’s helped several times with how much more volume of air you can get at once. Sharing this in case anyone else hasn’t thought of it.
Compressor for the win.
Slap a tube in and go ride. That shit is such a PITA. I’ll never go tubeless again.
If a tire doesn’t seat after a couple tries, I just use a tube. Then dismount one side, remove the tube, and the single unseated side usually seats easily.
On asymmetric rims like the RaceFace ARC30, that seems like the only way to seat a tire without a compressor, because the spoke holes are on the rim shoulder, and air pressure causes dimples in the rim tape.
I always use a compressor, no valve core, and no sealant to get the bead seated. Once the bead is seated, I use a syringe to fill the tire with sealant, add the valve cores (also Clik which are AWESOME!!!) and then fill tires to max pressure. I then spin the wheels to spread the sealant, than take the bike for a short ride.
If you are shopping for a compressor, a pancake compressor is a good size for seating tires. I am not sure they call it that outside the USA, but it typically has a 6 gallon capacity. That would be roughly 22 liters for our metric friends.
I’ve never had any of the tubeless issues I’ve seen here, and I’ve been running tubeless for 19 years. How does this stuff happen?
Applauding the effort. Personally never had an issue adding sealant before seating. Maybe a little seepage but nothing like this. I use Stan’s if that matters. New tires usually air up with a floor pump but for tough candidates I have a 10# CO2 tank. Highly recommend that over a huge compressor setup. 10# of CO2 last a long time because it compresses much more than air.
I can’t imagine being this clumsy lol.
Before I read the title I thought you had painted lightning.
I know the tires are sexy but did you really have to?
Cool design
Oof
Mine dh continentals seated like a breeze. The easiest tires ever didn’t even need tire levers