Seating tires with a compressor
 

Was wondering what others use to seat tires with a compressor? The Park inflatator looks nice, but crazy expensive at almost $150.

Would the Arundel shop inflator be good for this? Only downside I can see with this is the Arundel is presta only, so I'm assuming you need a valve core in the tubeless valve to use this?

Dave

If I can not mount with just the floor pump, I have a small adapter that fits over the presta valve so I can use the standard car inflator chuck. I got it at the bike shop for less than a $1

Something like this... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091HM7711...58437daf2bddff

Technically you shouldn't need a compressor. If the tire and rim interface is ok, a track pump should be more than enough to seat the tire.

Some wider tires, such as 38 to 50mm for instance, can be an issue on wider internal rims width. I had issues mounting some 40's on a 25mm internal rim width, and had to use a compressor to get them to fully seat.

This sounds super sketchy, do you guys wear ear plugs when doing this, just in case?

I haven't had a single issue in years. I've mounted tires from 28mm with 25mm internal width to 122mm and 80mm internal width. My current "road" tires are 40mm with the 25mm internal width rims. For me widths haven't factored in any way.

Of course if the tire doesn't just instantly jump up and fill some positioning might be required. And also soapy water over the bead. If you miss the soapy water a compressor might be required to mount even a good rim/tire combo.

Funnily enough my only blowouts have been with a tube. And I am careful too making sure there were are pinches on the tube.

Never had a tubeless tire blow off the rim.

But these days I always wear ear protection when changing out tubed tires.

uhhhh, nope. Just turn the compressor on, check the airflow value so it not super high, pop the tire on, shut the compressor off, not a big deal. Just like the floor pumps with the chargers on them.

I use a compressor and it works great to seat tires. If you want an inexpensive one, check out Harbor Freights pancake compressor available online - or any pancake compressor. You will need to get a hose and chucks/connectors. I use a spray nozzle to inflate through the valve - with the stem removed.

Always use a compressor. I use it on MTB tires meaning 2.4"-2.6". Perhaps on skinny road tires it is doable with a pump.
I tried the standard Schrader-Presta adapters,
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ecc2e683f0.jpg

but got tired of threading and unthreading.

Then I picked up this, and found it more convenient.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b6d6675891.png
I also considered buying a regular Presta valve/hose and mounting it on a compressor hose,
Compressors are also great for blowing away debris from cassettes, disc brakes, etc

Yep the easiest way I've found to do it is just take out the core and shove a blow gun nozzle in to the valve and hit it. I have a presta to shrader valve adapter dohicky but it is more of a PITA to use than just hitting it with the blow gun. I keep thinking about buying a presta inflater but it always comes back to I don't do it often enough to bother.

And Larry incase the others didn't make it clear you can adjust how much air pressure comes out the hose so you don't slam a tire with 150psi. Think I normally go 50psi give or take.

I just use a track pump with a booster. No need for a compressor then.

https://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/t...iABEgL1Z_D_BwE

I have one of those too. Got a Schrader inflator that came with the compressor, but it won't work with the adapter. There's a center pin that needs to compress for the air to come out, and it won't work. Something like this:

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...ECAUQHQ&adurl=

Another option is the Prestacycle: https://prestacycle.com/collections/inflation-tools

The guy with the 26x4.8" / 559x120mm tubeless begs to differ. No way to get enough air in there fast enough with a pump, even with booster.

There are situations where a tire and rim interface is excellent and a standard pump or pump with booster might do the trick but others where a good compressor will help quite a bit. I do like the Park Inflator head, it's nice to be around some that don't get damaged from user incompetence now usually. They would get ruined and the people who owned the shop weren't keen on replacement because of the unskilled people working who didn't take care of it,

In terms of earplugs, no shouldn't need them, usually the deafening explosion happens with inner tubes and usually because someone was careless. They are the people I suggest stick with a pump but even then you can blow a tube. Be slow take your time, check to make sure your bead is properly seated before you take it all the way up to pressure. It is a slower process but works like a charm. I think the last time I blew out a tube was me being cheap and reusing an old tube on a high pressure tire. However when it is done in my presence usually I tell the person who did it to go buy the shop some soft drinks of some sort or if we are all adults then maybe something hard for after work.

On the occasions when I need to use a compressor, I turn down the pressure regulator to ~80psi.
Then I can connect and leave it connected while I manipulate the tire.

I’ll admit, now I own a super quiet compressor, I “need” it a lot more often. 🙂

Barry

When seating the tire, are you removing the valve core first? With it removed, you should be able to seat the tires using a good hand pump or, definitely, a compressor. Once seated, reinstall the core and inflate the now-seated tire.

I highly recommend jaxgtr's suggestion to use something that fits over the Presta valve (with its core removed, of course). I use these tips:

8PCS Black Rubber Air Tool For Air Nozzle Tip, Blow Gun Rubber Tip For Air Tool, Parts Air Nozzle For Air Blow Guns Tool For Air Tool Parts & Accessories Air Blow Guns Tool - Amazon.com

The tip has a male 1/8 NPT thread and so fit into any standard air tools, including a blowgun. The tip can stretch over and seal against the Presta valve body, but can be pulled off quickly too, unlike an adapter that threads onto the Presta valve body.

Which one do you have? Mine is quite loud so I would not mind an upgrade.

Are you spreading the tire at all? I've found fatbike tires to be some of the easiest to mount and seat. So far I've mounted hüsker du's, jumbo jims, bud, lou and al mighty's with a track pump. My rims are MOBD with a double layer of full wide tape and one layer of somewhat narrower tape to keep the main tape from peeling off so nothing special there. Also the bud was defective with a large hop and still mounted no problem.

I use one of these works really well.
https://www.topeak.com/us/en/product/1394-TUBIHEAD

SoSmellyAir ,
My compressor seems to be sold under many brand names and at various prices.
Unknown if the internals are all of the same quality!
I was drawn to the HF one by price, price, aluminum tank and lower noise.

Only complaint, The pressure switch doesn't fire up soon enough.
It allows the tank pressure to get too low. Some might like that it doesn't cycle on too often,
I guess it just depends on your usage.

Barry

That's pretty cool, not seen that before.

Amazon sells this, $32

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As note, I have a compressor, so declined buying a special pump to inflate a mt bike tubeless. Cheaper to get the Amazon compressor inflator.

I have only been 50/50 on inflating a 2.4” mt bike tire with a floor pump, always needed my air compressor. Never tried CO2, I’ve heard that can work.

Lots of good advice on this thread. But have you noticed that are a variety of answers, techniques, etc? That's because it all depends on the set up. I've tried just about everything and all the pro tips I could. In the end, it just depends on the set up. What I have found that works most of the time for a wide variety of tires and rims is a pancake compressor with valve removed from stem. Pop Pop!