Tubeless Tires on Road bike. Yuck!
Just bought a new(to me) 2020 Giant Defy Advanced 2. It’s my first foray into the world of tubeless tires. Yesterday my order of Muc-off sealant arrived so I figured I’d add some sealant (through the valve stem) before my ride. Well….that’s when everything went awry. I unintentionally broke the bead(on both tires)….and spent a crapload of time and effort getting the beads to seat.
Ended up going to the shop I work at and using the compressor. Took me an hour to get the damn beads to seat. I’d get them to seat and then couldn’t get the stem in without too much air leaking out…and one side of the bead breaking free again.
in hindsight….I probably should have pulled tires off the rim and thoroughly cleaned the beads of old sealant. I ordered an “air shot” booster last night….hopefully it will help me in the future. I don’t know if my technique sucked(I watched a bunch of YouTube vids)….or it was the OEM Fonda tires that were the culprit….but so far, tubeless tires have me a bit spooked. I’m def carrying a spare tube with me on rides, cause fixing a flat in the side of the road is obv impossible without a tube.
On a positive note….I rode my fastest time yet for 10 miles. 30.19 minutes @ 19.80mph. Considering that I first started riding a few months ago and only did 3 mile rides @ 16mph…I’m very happy with my progress.