Setting tubeless up on road bikes can be a tricky process and there are a lot of mistakes that can be made. However, Sam Gupta has taken his years of experience as a mechanic to share all his knowledge on how to successfully set up a tubeless system on your road bike. Starting at the very beginning, all of these top tips for setting up tubeless will mean that hopefully you can get it done right first time round.
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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 setup. 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
01:44you don't want to get wrong at the very start is actually your tire selection. Even though you can set
01:49up tubeless with narrower tires, I would always opt for something that's kind of 28C as a minimum.
01:56As we know from the gravel and mountain biking world, tubeless works best at lower pressures.
02:01And I'm sure there's a whole bunch of you that have been running tubeless setups on 25C tires,
02:06and 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
02:44things that you can do to make life a little easier when it comes to getting them onto that rim for the
02:49very first 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
03:08with an 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 little
03:31bit easier to manage. Getting your tubeless wheels ready and prepared is absolutely crucial before
03:41you can even think about trying to get them set up. First, make sure that they're incredibly clean.
03:46You 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
04:10needs to be. Also, just make sure you utilise the little o-ring on the valve as well. You'd be amazed
04:16at how often these little o-rings can actually make a huge difference to getting your tire seated first
04:22time. If you're reusing valves, then pull the cores out and ensure that they're clean and they aren't
04:27gunked up 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 utilise 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 round. If you are able
04:50to get the tires on from this point, then great. Get them inflated and see if you can get those tires to
04:55pop into the bead.
05:01If you can't get the tires onto the rim, then, actually, there are tools that can help you,
05:05like one of these tire grabbers. Now, you can get these from places like Brand X, Lifeline or Challenge.
05:11They simultaneously hook onto the rim and grab the edge of the tire and then, as you squeeze,
05:17it will then manoeuvre it into place. Now, as you keep working it around, you should be able to get it on,
05:23but don't be shy about putting a fair bit of force through one of these. They can absolutely save your
05:28hands 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
05:47and then simply reinflate. However, if your sealant is a bit too thick and would just coagulate inside
05:53the valve, then pop off a small section of the tire, pour in the correct amount of sealant,
05:58and then spin the wheels by 180 degrees and then work the tire back into place.
06:07There's always one part of the tubeless setup process which always has my nerves on edge,
06:11and that is when you start to introduce air for the first time to get the tire to seat. Just remember
06:17that the pop is your friend and what I like to do to save myself from the dreaded tubeless explosion
06:27is to get the tire 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 tire.
06:43This leads me really nicely onto my next point, and that's to make sure that you monitor the
06:47pressure that is going into your tires. You may be very used to the amount of air you've been filling
06:52your inner tubes with, however, tubeless tires and hookless rims do have some pretty different
06:58requirements. A lot of tubeless tires and hookless rims have a maximum pressure of around 70 psi.
07:06Of 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
07:22SRAM calculator to help me work out what pressure I should be putting into my tires.
07:28One 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 covered 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
08:10tire fairly easily. So don't be like me. Make sure you're carrying the necessary tools to fix the basic
08:17problems. I won't lie to you. I'm still pretty skeptical about running tubeless on the road.
08:24For me, simply replacing or repairing an inner tube compared to wrestling with a tight fitting
08:30sealant covered tire when a puncture just won't seal is still my preferred option. However,
08:36I think if you ensure you carry the right tools with you, you fit tires with a nice large volume and
08:41utilize quality sealant and also run the right pressure for your bike and ride on weight,
08:47well, you might just be okay. Is there anything though that you wish you knew before you went
08:52tubeless? Let me know down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it
08:57a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you again very soon.