so i decided i wanted to try tubeless on my Coker. i got one of those special 36" rimstrips from Stan’s, and a pint of sealant. i read the instructions on their website and watched the video. i have the tubeless rimstrip installed over the stock rimstrip (also tried it without the stock rimstrip), coated in soapy water and a Wheel TA tire installed over that, with a bit more soapy water for good measure. per Stan’s instructions, i haven’t added any sealant yet.
i can’t get it to inflate. i’m using a compressor, and the air just rushes out around the bead, which sits useless near the center of the rim. i’m about to try building up the center of the rim cavity with some cloth rim tape (of course it’ll take 2 rolls for a 36" rim) to see if a tighter fit makes the bead more willing to seat and hold air.
i just thought i’d ask, though: has anyone successfully converted the TA tire to tubeless on the Coker-branded aluminum rim? did it require anything special other than a rim strip and sealant?
Is there a shelf for the bead to sit on in the rim? it might be a bit tough to get it to seat if there is not.
One thing that a lot of people do when installing a tire ghetto-tubeless is have the tire inflated with a tube for a day or two to give it shape before trying to get it to seat tubeless.
I was reading up on this yesterday. Try painting some neat washing-up liquid on the bead instead if using soapy water and try to keep the bead as close to the rim hook as possible (although this is probably nearly impossible). This should give a better initial seal while you pump it up.
Let us know how it goes!
so i tried 4 layers of cotton rim tape. i found that a roll of Zefal brand cotton tape would cover all but 6-7" of a 36" rim, so i overlapped it in such a way that nearly all of the rim had four layers on it, except for the few inches around the valve hole, which had 2 layers. this certainly made for a tighter fit of the tire, but still not nearly impossible. it also seemed to make it closer to willing to inflate; air would go out as fast as it went in, but it seemed to be making it further from the valve hole.
unfortunately, there isn’t really, which i guess is what i’m trying to create with these layers of tape. i’ve never seen the inside of a Nimbus Stealth rim nor an Airfoil, so i don’t know what they’re shaped like, but the coker rim (which does seem to be a fine rim BTW) basically has a simple concave shape with just a slight bump (perhaps 2.5mm wide) at the base of either sidewall for the bead to sit on. the top of the sidewall also has a ‘hook’ of course to hold the bead in, too.
hmm…could you explain what you mean? if you mean just liquid soap without water mixed in, that might help, since the water kinda detracts from the lubrication of the soap. or do you mean something else? either way i’d like to try your idea, once i have a clearer idea of what it is.
anyways, i was getting frustrated last night, and i needed to get home. i was loath to simply put my old heavy Coker tube in there, so i tried a 29" tube. i found a couple rubber washers suitable to use the presta valve in the [very large] valve hole on the Coker rim, and the tube went in with a fair bit of effort, but no problems. it certainly was a noticeable improvement in ridability vs the stock tube, but i’m still determined to get a tubeless setup to work. another idea i have is to put a layer of foam weatherstrip tape, as Stan recomends with some MTB rims, instead of the multiple layers of cotton tape there now. i’ll probably ride with it for a week or so as it is before i try it again. as for the explosive method of getting tires to seat, i had considered that, but i’m a bit scared of damaging anything.
that’s it, undiluted and just put some on with a paint brush… I gleaned the best of my info from here and the link to justridingalong.com. very useful.
I watched my dad once put a tubeless tire on a wheelbarrow rim. To get the tire seated on the rim he put a rope around the tire and tied the ends together leaving a foot or so of slack. He then put a stick in the loop of rope and began twisting it causing the slack to disappear and the tire to be compressed into the rim. He was then able to inflate it. I don’t know if that would work for you but its probably worth a try.
What works good for this method is a modern ratchet strap. You don’t have to apply huge amounts of pressure, just enough to get the tire up close enough to the rim so that there is less likelyhood of leakage. I’ve seen this done with motorcyle tires. The bonus of this mthod is that you can do it without any help as the strap will remain tight by itself, freeing up your hands to apply the air.
Also, I’m assuming that you are using an air compressor to supply air for this process. A hand pump would make it very dificult to achieve enough pressurre to get the tire beads to seat.
i might have to find a ratchet strap and try that. i had heard of the rope method with wheelbarrow tires and i actually cut a piece of twine planning to wrap it around the circumference of the tire, but it soon became apparent that the tire is too big in diameter/too narrow in width for that to be of much help. i will have to try that turnbuckle/strap thing.
i meant to specify, but, yes, i am using a compressor. i also tried removing the schrader valve core and using an air gun/blower attacment on the compressor (per a tip on the Stan’s website) to increase airflow into the tire
thanks for the ideas (and the vernacular clarification) everyone.
I really reccomend the neat washing up liquid/dish detergent trick! Have spent the last couple of weeks trying to get a Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 seal on my Nimbus 29er rim using the ‘ghetto tubeless’ method. Tried the ratchet strap trick and using a compressor but just couldnt get it to seal.
Finally got it by first rubbing washing up liquid around the bead of the tyre, then mounting it on the rim and running another line of liquid around the edge where it seals against the rim strip. Blew up easily using a standard double barrell footpump.
Don’t give up on going tubeless its well worth it,
so today i finally got the tire to inflate!!! it was the third try, but this time i had a ratchet strap, and that’s what did the trick. i was also using soapy water brushed in the joint of the tire bead/rim sidewall, which also did help. i tried it first without the soap, to see if it would work at all; it didn’t. so both were necessary for me with this tire/rim combo.
just out of curiosity, are you guys talking about straight dish soap out of the bottle, or diluted dish soap? i used a diluted solution (of liquid hand soap, actually). i think it was a bit more than an ounce of soap to 3 cups water, which i realize is a good bit weaker than indicated in Stan’s instructions (i didn’t feel like wasting soap). i do kind of wonder, if i had used a stronger solution of soap, weather it would have seated up more easily.
anyways, the only noticeable leak after that was at the rim joint opposite the valve hole, this was a little surprising, since i was under the impression that any features on the rim (like spoke holes and rim joints) don’t come into play in a converted tubeless setup. but no matter, i put in about 3 ounces of sealant (1.5 scoops), shook it up, and did the whole lay it on either side on a box bit. brushed the soapy on the sidewalls, and lo, there were no bubbles coming from anywhere. i took a quick ride in the parking lot, going over some parking barriers and it was nice. later i took a long way home, putting about 15mi on the new setup. it certainly is smooth. still heavy, but smooth.
as far as pressure, i’ve heard some stories of people blowing tires off rims at pressures like 40-60 psi, including one recent story. honestly i don’t see much reason to run such high pressures, especially on a tubeless 36er, safety/reliability issues aside. i’m running about 30psi now, though i may raise it to 35 next time i take it out.
I thought I was the only one who didn’t like high pressure in a TA. When I first had my 36er I pumped it up to 50psi because the general opinion seemed to be that higher pressure is better (and indeed on a bike I’d agree). But I find that anything over 30psi makes it extremely hard to control on roads with any sort of camber. 25-30psi seems the ideal for me (for a mix of xc and road).
Most tubeless guides talk about using soapy water around the rim, so thats washing up liquid/dish soap diluted with water. If you have problems getting it to seal then you could try using it undiluted, I just squirted it straight out of the bottle and smeared it around with my finger.
I’ve had the same thing with my Nimbus 29er rim and it puzzled me as well. Took quite a while for that bit to seal up this time too. Has anyone tubless with the KH rims with the holes cutout? Makes you wonder whether these could be a problem.
My guess of what you guys are seeing with the air leaking out of the seam on the rim is air that is trapped between your tube/ghetto strip and the rim. the pressure in the tire is pressing the air under the ghetto-strip out the seam and spoke holes.
I know with my echo rim I can feel air trapped between my rim strip and the tube after I change the tire, the air eventually escapes over a matter of weeks.
