Originally Posted by redlude97

koolstop beadjack is where its at, that thing makes setting up tubeless easy

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

I used to say this all the time. Was that way for years. I actually had a debate once with a teammate who swore it was impossible to mount some sort of tire - guessing a gravel king sk - without getting blisters. I was dumbfounded. He then de-friended me and said I was lying when I said I never got any blisters ever.

I also have another teammate that swears it's impossible to change a flat on tubeless ready rims mid ride. That you have to call an uber and do it at home or in the shop.

...he also runs a shop.

Fact is people just aren't good at stuff or really only know what they know and refuse to believe anything else is different.

So - back to the point: Yes I used to say that I never needed a lever. I have run into a lot of situations where I have needed a lever though. That said I can still usually mount continentals on tubeless setups without a lever - a combo some swear is impossible. *meh* Also said I mount thousands of tires a year between service, the wheel business, and team/neutral support on all sorts of bikes from all walks of life.

There are more important things to hang my hat on than whether or not I occasionally use a tire lever. IMHO

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Hah - people are funny.

Yeah, I didn't mean to discount that there could be some combos that would be difficult/impossible, but rather I was relating that I haven't had any terribly challenging thus far.

You're in a position where you've just gotta deal with what you've gotta deal with, but the majority of us have quite a bit of free will in the matter. If experience tells me that most combos are easy peasy, but then I run in to a horrendously tight fitting that requires levers, why the hell would I even bother? There's enough good stuff out there right now that I can't imagine how price and/or performance would be compelling enough for me to wrestle with particular tire - I'd just move on to the next.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Hah - people are funny.

Yeah, I didn't mean to discount that there could be some combos that would be difficult/impossible, but rather I was relating that I haven't had any terribly challenging thus far.

You're in a position where you've just gotta deal with what you've gotta deal with, but the majority of us have quite a bit of free will in the matter. If experience tells me that most combos are easy peasy, but then I run in to a horrendously tight fitting that requires levers, why the hell would I even bother? There's enough good stuff out there right now that I can't imagine how price and/or performance would be compelling enough for me to wrestle with particular tire - I'd just move on to the next.

Originally Posted by masi61

When you try out new tires, like I do: they don’t come with a warning label about incompatibilities. It is hit and miss. If you have already spent your good money on a tire and you have attempted (unsuccessfully so far) to mount it, you’re stuck. You need to come up with a plan. Your first thought is “how do I get this to work?” I doubt that whoever sold you the tire is going to take it back once it has clearly been on a rim, ridden or not. Different mounting methods, rim tape, rim construction, details of tire construction, you inner tube choice, your inflation method, the tire levers you use, whether you wear gloves or not: all these things can make a difference.

Originally Posted by masi61

When you try out new tires, like I do: they don’t come with a warning label about incompatibilities. It is hit and miss. If you have already spent your good money on a tire and you have attempted (unsuccessfully so far) to mount it, you’re stuck. You need to come up with a plan. Your first thought is “how do I get this to work?

Originally Posted by noodle soup

Have you ever tried taking the wheel and tire to your LBS? People that have changed thousands of tires, might have a little better technique than the average cyclist.

Some tire/rim combos are more difficult than others, but I've never come across one that just couldn't be mounted. Once a tire has been installed, it's much easier to remove/reinstall, so a roadside repair is no big deal.

Originally Posted by masi61

BTW, on an evening club ride this fall I flatted on my wheel with the Challenge Criterium SC tire. When I removed my wheel in front of a farmhouse and began to try to dismount the tire, I struggled with the 2 tire levers that were in my Scicon seat bag. Another rider who said he was very experienced practically grabbed my wheel from me before I even gave him permission to do so. He started fussing with the 2 tire levers and made absolutely zero progress at removing the tire. I then insisted that he hand it back so that I could proceed to methodically removing the tight bead, removing the punctured latex tube, doing a full tire sweep for embedded glass or bits of wire, then mounting the spare butyl innertube and finally re-mounting the rim bead and verifying that there were no pinches. I was perfectly capable of completing this work, and quicker than my eager friend.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Bitten by tubes, eh?

Originally Posted by masi61

BTW, on an evening club ride this fall I flatted on my wheel with the Challenge Criterium SC tire. When I removed my wheel in front of a farmhouse and began to try to dismount the tire, I struggled with the 2 tire levers that were in my Scicon seat bag. Another rider who said he was very experienced practically grabbed my wheel from me before I even gave him permission to do so. He started fussing with the 2 tire levers and made absolutely zero progress at removing the tire. I then insisted that he hand it back so that I could proceed to methodically removing the tight bead, removing the punctured latex tube, doing a full tire sweep for embedded glass or bits of wire, then mounting the spare butyl innertube and finally re-mounting the rim bead and verifying that there were no pinches. I was perfectly capable of completing this work, and quicker than my eager friend.

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

I always ask first.... but yeah I can't watch someone seemingly fumble through or take long with a tire change. A lot of people I have ridden with refer to me like the IT support guy from SNL - "MOVE". To me it's kind of like coming up to a hill with a climber. You can't expect the climber not to try and climb it.

Originally Posted by masi61

I hear ya! If you were on my group ride and I flatted, I would be glad you were there. As it turns out - here in Dayton we have representatives of 5 different local bikeshops (owners, mechanics) who regularly participate in the rides. I have witnessed them getting folks out of tight spots and back up and running quickly during all kinds of mechanicals, not just tough flats.

In the instance I was referring to, the person eager to help meant well but I honestly feel that he was unaware of the specific mounting and dismounting considerations with my Challenge Criterium tire. Also, my Velocity A23 rims are the polished variety and scratch very easily. I must admit that I protected that wheel like a hawk out in the chip sealed back roads. I made sure not to drag a tire lever along the easily scratched rim or to lay the wheel down on the chip seal. Instead I held the wheel upright.

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

Nice. When we ride with a lot of other mechanics we usually make the least experienced step in and fix it so we can all watch.

On those A23's - yeah it's a pain. Someone on here has to know some way of touching up the polish/shine if it someday becomes unavoidable.

Originally Posted by masi61

Originally Posted by masi61

People on my group ride know me by my wheels. It is a bit of a novelty and occasionally folks will ask “why?”. I just thought it would be fun to combine my Dura Ace 7700 silver anodized rims with these for some retro bling:

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

Holy crap - I had that exact same bike and I paired it with the same fork. Knowing they were out of Dayton I won't accuse that of being my old bike but it looks identical. I sold the frame and fork off years ago though. It used to be my crit bike. The ride was ROUGH but it handled OK for crits.

Originally Posted by Bah Humbug

I'm not normally a fan of polished wheels, but that is beautiful.

Originally Posted by masi61

HaHa - yeah, my $99 Chinese made, Dayton area designed frameset was purchased when Flyte, formally known as Airborne liquidated everything at their Springboro warehouse and went out of business. Definitely a rough ride as you say, but I have ridden this steed nearly 16,000 miles so I guess you could say it is sorted. I like the compact geometry and kind of needed smooth riding 25mm tires run down on PSI in the mid 80 psi range to make it better riding. Having looseness in the headset or rattling accessories on a bike like this can make you crazy. I’m good at tracking down buzzing noises and quieting them. I like the silver Thomson stem and silver Thomson zero setback seatpost with some inexpensive alloy shallow drop handlebars.

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

Holy crap - I had that exact same bike and I paired it with the same fork. Knowing they were out of Dayton I won't accuse that of being my old bike but it looks identical. I sold the frame and fork off years ago though. It used to be my crit bike. The ride was ROUGH but it handled OK for crits.

Originally Posted by deacon mark

in my mind tubeless is crazy but I sure I have a lot to learn.

Originally Posted by Psimet2001

Yup that's when I bought mine. I think I found them through on here when they were clearing everything out. Was a good deal. I think the frame was $50 for me but the fork I had to find for like $150. I commuted on it for a while then turned it into a dedicated crit bike for about a year and then switched to a Salsa. I handed mine off to a friend who is now our country's poster boy for the US Paralympic team. He had it rattling around in his truck for a while using it for certain events, etc. but that was long before he ended up going to London IIRC. He eventually gave it back and I hocked it at a swap meet.

Was a solid frame.

Also I lived for a while up the road in St Marys OH just North of Dayton. Did some riding back then but not a ton and was only there for 2 years.

Originally Posted by DaveSSS

Depending on what brand of wheel is used, you my pay substantially more for tubeless wheels. That's slowly changing, as tubeless extends to lower levels, like the fulcrum racing 3.

Originally Posted by dim

I've been using tubeless for a while now on 2 bikes (a touring bike and a road bike) .... Let me run through a few steps (the way that I do it)

1. Use the proper tubeless rim tape .... and initially don't add too many layers of tape. On my latest wheels for my touring bike, (HED Belgium Plus) I have used a new rim tape especially made for the HED Belgium plus rims... Only 1 layer of tape is required ... on my other wheelset (also HED Belgium Plus), I used 2 layers of DT Swiss tape and find that it's a bit harder to mount tyres to the rims but still easy and I don't need to use tyre levers). Read the reviews on tubeless tyres on Wiggle, and read the forums .... many complain that they struggle to fit tyres to tubeless rims .... a lot of the problem is the rim tape (too many layers of rim tape or the incorrect rim tape).... hard to fit tyres are also hard to remove when you are on the road

If you are going to use tyre levers, get the IRC tubeless tyre levers (they are quality and can be used for normal clincher rims aswell)

2. Then, I remove the valve core and add 50ml of Orange Sealant (the regular version, and not the endurance version) .... re-install the valve core, spin the wheels a few times to spread the sealant and then pump the tyre with a track pump with the valve position at 12 O'clock so that the sealant lays on the opposite side of the valve. ...

That's it.... you are ready to ride. You don't need the sealant at first and the only reason we use sealant is for when you do get a puncture (you could ride thousands of miles before your first puncture) .... there is no need to use a compressor or airshot etc but you may find that your micro hand pump will not work and you will need to use the track pump. If the tyres struggle to inflate, you may need to use a CO2 cartidge

3. On the road: So ..... I'm riding along, and I get a puncture ... I stop, make sure that the puncture is on the bottom of the tyre and give the bike a few shakes (sealant is at the bottom where the hole is) .... If the sealant is squirting out, hold you finger over the hole until it seals (a few seconds) most times, the puncture will seal and you may need to add a bit more air to your tyre. If it does not seal, I use the Dynaplug Racer kit (takes 2 seconds to plug the hole)... sometimes you will get a puncture and not even realize that you had a puncture, as small holes seal almost immediately:



If all the air has been lost, and the tyre is completely flat and off the beads, you can add more sealant and pump the tyre with a CO2 cannister .... I use the Lezyne Control Drive with a 25 gram canister. (theres a lot more CO2 and I can control the amount) .You need to make sure that the valve is at the 12 O'clock position with the sealant pooled at the opposite side. There is no need to add more sealant as the sealant is only there in case of a puncture, and more sealant is only added for your next puncture
if the dynaplug and sealant don't plug the hole, you will need to add an inner tube .... then pump with the CO2

some sealants clog up with CO2 but many have said that the Orange sealant does not. If you use CO2, it is advisable to pump the tyre with the valve at the 12 O'clock position and the sealant at the opposite side as the initial temperature of the CO2 is very cold

There are a few types of Orange sealant .... I use the regular version as it plugs bigger holes (most bike shops here in Cambridge stock the endurance version, but I buy the regular off the internet):



here is a link showing the different Orange sealants:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1700/ ... 1823713349

there are many sealants on the market.... the Orange has worked well for me .... There is a new one by panaracer, and I will be watching reviews of it



top up sealant (30ml every 6-8 weeks) ... thats if you use the Orange regular sealant

It's that easy .... the orange sealant does not damage your frame, wipes off instanly with a damp rag. The sealant is only there for when you have a puncture .... A micro hand pump is useless for tubeless

all you need to carry on a long ride is a bit of Orange sealant, a spare innertube, a valve core remover, a Dynaplug Racer kit and CO2 (all of that fits in a small saddle bag or in one of your Jersey pockets).... that it .... easy!

I don't get many punctures (that I know of as many small punctures seal instantly without you knowing) .... in all the time that I have been using tubeless tyres, only once have I had to phone my wife to fetch me (I was using an IRC tubeless tyre and I rode over a broken beer bottle .... I had a big gash on the sidewall and never had a spare tyre)