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
00:10and marketed to road bike users. The issue being that the requirements of the two different
00:15disciplines are actually pretty different. During my time working as a mechanic, I also saw all the
00:21problems that the technology was causing people, from simply trying to get it set up in the first
00:26place, to blowouts, to then punctures that just wouldn't seal. In fairness, being a mechanic does
00:32mean you're always left to pick up the pieces and maybe not seeing all the times that the technology
00:37is actually 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
01:25some pretty standard valves and I'll be using these Paneracer Agilist TLR tires. 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 tire selection. Even though you can
01:49set up tubeless with narrower tires, 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 25C
02:05tires 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 tires so that you can run a lower pressure.
02:26It's pretty well known that tubeless tires can be a complete nightmare to get onto your rims. It can
02:32almost leave you feeling like you'll never be able to stretch them on. You can end up with blood
02:37blisters, sore hands, and not to mention just feeling incredibly demoralized. But there are a few things
02:44that you can do to make life a little easier when it comes to getting them onto that rim for the very
02:49first time. Before you try and actually get them onto the rim, what I would say is place your new
02:55tires somewhere warm overnight. Ideally, maybe next to a radiator as that is going to help the rubber
03:02become more malleable. Then if you have an older set of wheels, try fitting the tires to these first with
03:08an inner tube and stretch them out a bit. Now, of course, sometimes older wheels, which aren't made
03:13for tubeless setups can be a little easier to mount tires to, but this can be a little bit hit and miss.
03:19So don't worry if it doesn't work out. If however, you can get the tires on again, I would say leave
03:25them inflated with that inner tube again in a warm place, and it's just going to make those tires a
03:31little bit easier to manage. Getting your tubeless wheels ready and prepared is absolutely crucial
03:40before you can even think about trying to get them set up. First, make sure that they're incredibly
03:46clean. You don't really want any gunk left from any previous tubeless setups. Also, check the rims for
03:52any dents or dings, which could hinder the ability for the tire to seat properly. Make sure that the rim
03:58tape is tight and evenly covering the inside of the rim and make sure that your valve is inserted
04:04correctly and it's right in the bed of the rim and potentially in the correct direction if it needs
04:11to be. Also, just make sure you utilize the little o-ring on the valve as well. You'd be amazed at how
04:17often these little o-rings can actually make a huge difference to getting your tire seated first time.
04:23If you're reusing valves, then pull the cores out and ensure that they're clean and they aren't gunked
04:28up on the inside. Once you've got your wheels prepped, then without getting any sealant involved,
04:38try and mount the tires. As always, be sure to utilize the deepest parts of the wheels to ensure
04:43that you get the maximum amount of leverage and just slowly work it all the way around. If you are
04:49able to get the tires on from this point, then great. Get them inflated and see if you can get those
04:55tires to pop into the bead. If you can't get the tires onto the rim, then actually there are tools
05:04that can help you, like one of these tire 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 tire and then as you
05:17squeeze, it will then maneuver it into place. Now, as you keep working it around, you should be able to get
05:23it on. But don't be shy about putting a fair bit of force through one of these. They can absolutely
05:28save your hands so much pain and actually they are built to take a fair bit of strain.
05:38If you've successfully completed a dry fit on your wheels and if your sealant is fairly runny,
05:43then you can remove the valve core and inject the sealant directly into the wheel and then simply
05:48re-inflate. However, if your sealant is a bit too thick and would just coagulate inside the valve,
05:54then pop off a small section of the tire, pour in the correct amount of sealant and then spin the
05:59wheels by 180 degrees and then work the tire back into place. There's always one part of the tubeless
06:08setup process which always has my nerves on edge and that is when you start to introduce air for the
06:14first time to get the tire to seat. Just remember that the pop is your friend and what I like to do
06:24to save myself from the dreaded tubeless explosion is to get the tire to pop into place using a compressor
06:30or track pump with a recharge facility and then finish it off with a hand pump to fine tune that
06:37pressure inside the tire. This leads me really nicely onto my next point and that's to make sure
06:46that you monitor the pressure that is going into your tires. You may be very used to the amount of
06:51air you've been filling your inner tubes with, however tubeless tires and hookless rims do have
06:57some pretty different requirements. A lot of tubeless tires and hookless rims have a maximum pressure
07:03of around 70 psi. Of course be sure not to exceed any maximum recommended pressure but more importantly
07:11make sure the pressure is right for your combined bike and rider weight. This is how you can start
07:16to reap the benefits of running a more comfortable fast rolling tire setup. Now I like to use the SRAM
07:22calculator to help me work out what pressure I should be putting into my tires.
07:27One of the things that I really started to hate about tubeless setups especially during my time
07:36as a mechanic was the issues caused when the system went wrong and I must say that the time
07:42that my tubeless setup went wrong well it was a complete and utter nightmare. I had to fight with
07:48a tight fitting sealant cover tire to drain out the remaining sealant to then try and fit an inner
07:54tube which in reality was like trying to wrestle a wet fish into a small hole. However the mistake
08:00that I made was that I wasn't carrying any bacon strips or plugs to fill the hole that the sealant
08:05couldn't deal with. I think that if I had some of those then I probably could have sorted out the tire
08:10fairly easily so don't be like me make sure you're carrying the necessary tools to fix the basic problems.
08:18I won't lie to you I'm still pretty skeptical about running tubeless on the road. For me simply
08:25replacing or repairing an inner tube compared to wrestling with a tight fitting sealant covered
08:31tire when a puncture just won't seal is still my preferred option. However I think if you ensure
08:37you carry the right tools with you you fit tires with a nice large volume and utilize quality sealant
08:43and also run the right pressure for your bike and ride on weight well you might just be okay.
08:49Is there anything though that you wish you knew before you went tubeless? Let me know down in the
08:54comments below. If you enjoyed the video then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for
08:59more content and I'll see you again very soon.
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