00:00I'll be honest, ever since tubeless tech made its way onto road bikes, I was never a fan. It felt
00:05like the same products that were being used in the mountain bike world were just being repackaged and
00:10marketed to road bike users. The issue being that the requirements of the two different disciplines
00:16are actually pretty different. During my time working as a mechanic, I also saw all the problems
00:21that the technology was causing people, from simply trying to get it set up in the first place
00:26to blowouts to then punctures that just wouldn't seal. In fairness, being a mechanic does mean
00:32you're always left to pick up the pieces and maybe not seeing all the times that the technology is
00:37actually working. So this may have pushed my bias further into the extreme. As reluctant as I was,
00:44I have now ridden a fair few bikes with tubeless setups. So I'm going to pair that experience with
00:49all the time that I spent setting up other people's tubeless systems to let you know everything that I
00:55wish I knew at the very start. I'm going to start at the very top because before anyone gets anywhere
01:05close to leaving their inner tubes at home, we need to make sure that we've sourced all of the
01:10correct components. We have actually made an entire video comparing some of the most popular sealants
01:15on the market, so you can go and give that a watch to work out which sealant you would want to use.
01:20In this instance though, I'm going to be using this, the Stan's sealant. I've also got some
01:25pretty standard valves and I'll be using these Paneracer Agilis TLR tyres. And then for the
01:32wheels, we have got the Hologram R45 wheels from Cannondale. Luckily, these wheels are actually
01:38tubeless ready because they have the tape pre-installed. Now one of the key things that you
01:44don't want to get wrong at the very start is actually your tyre selection. Even though you can
01:48set up tubeless with narrower tyres, I would always opt for something that's kind of 28c
01:54as a minimum. As we know from the gravel and mountain biking world, tubeless works best at
02:00lower pressures and I'm sure there's a whole bunch of you that have been running tubeless setups on
02:0425c tyres and you maybe haven't had any issues, but I would potentially put this down more to luck
02:11than anything else. If you want to make sure that you're giving your sealant the best chance possible
02:16at doing its job, then go wide on your tyres so that you can run a lower pressure.
02:26It's pretty well known that tubeless tyres can be a complete nightmare to get onto your rims.
02:32It can almost leave you feeling like you'll never be able to stretch them on. You can end up with
02:37blood blisters, sore hands and not to mention just feeling incredibly demoralised. But there are a
02:43few things that you can do to make life a little easier when it comes to getting them onto that rim
02:49for the very first time. Before you try and actually get them onto the rim, what I would say
02:53is place your new tyres somewhere warm overnight. Ideally maybe next to a radiator as that is going
03:01to help the rubber become more malleable. Then if you have an older set of wheels, try fitting the
03:06tyres to these first with an inner tube and stretch them out a bit. Now of course sometimes older
03:12wheels which aren't made for tubeless setups can be a little easier to mount tyres to, but this can
03:18be a little bit hit and miss, so don't worry if it doesn't work out. If however you can get the tyres
03:24on, again I would say leave them inflated with that inner tube, again in a warm place and it's just
03:30going to make those tyres a little bit easier to manage. Getting your tubeless wheels ready and
03:38prepared is absolutely crucial before you can even think about trying to get them set up. First,
03:44make sure that they're incredibly clean. You don't really want any gunk left from any previous
03:49tubeless setups. Also check the rims for any dents or dings which could hinder the ability
03:55for the tyre to seat properly. Make sure that the rim tape is tight and evenly covering the inside
04:01of the rim and make sure that your valve is inserted correctly and it's right in the bed of
04:06the rim and potentially in the correct direction if it needs to be. Also just make sure you utilise
04:14the little o-ring on the valve as well. You'd be amazed at how often these little o-rings can
04:18actually make a huge difference to getting your tyre seated first time. If you're reusing valves
04:24then pull the cores out and ensure that they're clean and they aren't gunked up on the inside.
04:29Once you've got your wheels prepped, then without getting any sealant involved,
04:34try and mount the tyres. As always, be sure to utilise the deepest part of the wheels
04:39to ensure that you get the maximum amount of leverage and just slowly work it all the way
04:44around. If you are able to get the tyres on from this point then great, get them inflated
04:50and see if you can get those tyres to pop into the bead.
05:00If you can't get the tyres onto the rim, then actually there are tools that can help you.
05:05Like one of these tyre grabbers. Now you can get these from places like Brand X,
05:10Lifeline or Challenge. They simultaneously hook onto the rim and grab the edge of the tyre and
05:16then as you squeeze it will then manoeuvre it into place. Now as you keep working it around
05:22you should be able to get it on, but don't be shy about putting a fair bit of force through
05:26one of these. They can absolutely save your hands so much pain and actually they are built
05:31to take a fair bit of strain. If you've successfully completed a dry fit on your wheels and if your
05:41sealant is fairly runny, then you can remove the valve core and inject the sealant directly
05:46into the wheel and then simply re-inflate. However, if your sealant is a bit too thick
05:52and would just coagulate inside the valve, then pop off a small section of the tyre,
05:56pour in the correct amount of sealant and then spin the wheels by 180 degrees
06:01and then work the tyre back into place. There's always one part of the tubeless setup process
06:09which always has my nerves on edge and that is when you start to introduce air for the first time
06:15to get the tyre to seat. Just remember that the pop
06:21is your friend and what I like to do to save myself from the dreaded tubeless explosion
06:27is to get the tyre to pop into place using a compressor or track pump with a recharge facility
06:33and then finish it off with a hand pump to fine-tune that pressure inside the tyre.
06:38This leads me really nicely on to my next point and that's to make sure that you monitor the
06:43pressure that is going into your tyres. You may be very used to the amount of air you've
06:48been filling your inner tubes with, however, tubeless tyres and hookless rims do have some
06:53pretty different requirements. A lot of tubeless tyres and hookless rims have a maximum pressure
06:58of around 70 PSI. Of course, be sure not to exceed any of these requirements,
07:05but more importantly, make sure the pressure is right for your combined bike and rider weight.
07:11This is how you can start to reap the benefits of running a more comfortable,
07:15fast-rolling tyre setup. Now, I like to use the SRAM calculator to help me work out what pressure
07:21I should be putting into my tyres. One of the things that I really started to hate about tubeless
07:30setups, especially during my time as a mechanic, was the issues caused when the system went wrong.
07:35And I must say that the time that my tubeless setup went wrong, well, it was a complete and
07:41utter nightmare. I had to fight with a tight-fitting sealant cover tyre to drain out the remaining
07:47sealant to then try and fit an inner tube, which in reality was like trying to wrestle a wet fish
07:53into a small hole. However, the mistake that I made was that I wasn't carrying any bacon strips
07:58or plugs to fill the hole that the sealant couldn't deal with. I think that if I had some of
08:03those, then I probably could have sorted out the tyre fairly easily. So, don't be like me. Make
08:10sure you're carrying the necessary tools to fix the basic problems. I won't lie to you, I'm still
08:17pretty sceptical about running tubeless on the road. For me, simply replacing or repairing an
08:22inner tube compared to wrestling with a tight-fitting sealant covered tyre when a puncture
08:28just won't seal is still my preferred option. However, I think if you ensure you carry the
08:33right tools with you, you fit tyres with a nice large volume and utilise quality sealant, and
08:39also run the right pressure for your bike and rider weight, well, you'll probably be able to
08:44do just fine. Is there anything though that you wish you knew before you went tubeless?
08:53Let me know down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like,
08:58subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you again very soon.
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