Tubeless Wheels : FAQ

TubelessWheels FAQ

This technique gives you bicycle wheels which have no innertubes, using standard bicycle wheel rims and tyres. The advantages are huge - no punctures, improved traction, increased confidence and as a result more fun riding!
The gallery guide is here. Here's some common questions and their answers.
 

Does it work?

It's very reliable, Glentress every weekend and lots of events. The tyres literally wear out before you get any punctures. Then you fit a new tyre onto the existing cut tube with new sealant and off you go for another long time.

I can't get this tyre to inflate!?

The one thing people sometimes struggle with is the initial inflation. Use LOTS AND LOTS of soapy water. Use a sponge to really get the soapy water right in there and it will inflate with a track pump.
However, these days we've sourced some really cheap CO₂ cartridges so I just use CO₂ to inflate. That always works!

What sort of "maintenance" does this system require ? - how long does the wheel milk last ? - do you top up with wheel milk every now and then ?

First of all, I need to say do not ride with 10PSI tubeless - the tyre will roll off the rim and you will crash! Check the pressure every ride, say 25PSI minimum.

Having said that: With my usual Conti Verticals on 19mm rims, I never do any maintenance.
With narrow tyres, I've found that the tyres need to be topped up now & again - say after 3 months. I do this by popping the tyre off the rim & using a little funnel to pour say 50ml of fluid in.

I've used both JRA Wheel Milk and Stan's fluid, and found that if CO₂ is used 100% then the fluid sets pretty quickly - so use a blast of CO₂ to seal, then blow up with a normal pump.

So once the BMX tube is fitted it can stay on the rim for tyre change after tyre change?

Yes, no problem. The first time you'll be cutting the rimstrip down to size, after that it's fitted so new tyres fit right on.

I change tyres when worn-out or for trail conditions and always re-use the innertube/rimstrip. You've made yourself a custom-fit rimstrip, almost by accident!

For emergency, do you carry a spare inner tube nonetheless or just patches to repair the tire in case of serious slash that the milk cannot repair?

Yes. But in 3 years I've had to use an inner tube once. During a kamikaze descent of Mabie forest I slashed on a rock, it would have punctured with a tube anyway. We put a bit of cut coke bottle and a standard patch inside the tyre, stuck in a tube and rode home.

I wonder if same works with regular inner tubes filled with the wheel milk?

No! I tried this years ago and it's rubbish in my experience. With tubes you WILL puncture and then you're relying on the fluid to seal the hole. Without tubes you generally will not puncture (pinch flat). If you puncture due to a sharp, either glass or thorn, with a tube you have 2 layers of rubber moving independently and wiggling the sharp around. This virtually guarantees that the puncture will continue to lose air.
Without a tube, the sharp stays put in the tyre and can be sealed easily. I noticed the other day that there's a thorn stuck right in the front tyre, worn flat so it's been there for ages. I left it in and crashed into a great big log on that ride - the tyre stayed up. No problem, although I'm a bit sore!

Have you tried it on road bikes as well ?

I've used this with Cyclocross tyres run at 80PSI. These were Continental Twisters, 700x35c. They got me over the Lammermuir Hills in Scotland many times, and hundreds of miles on mixed road/off-road routes. I had no problems.
However, the only "purpose-made" tubeless road tyres are from Hutchison and Stan's site strongly recommends that these are used if you're going to run at road pressures of 100PSI+. This is due to bead strength, these are apparently super-strong.

Also, do I have to use a Presta valve....I really prefer Shraeder generally?

Either is fine. To remove a Shraeder valve core you'll need a little tool, 50p ($1) from most bike shops. TubelessWheels recommend Schwalbe tubes because the Schraeders have lock-rings and because the Prestas have removable valves.

In some Googling I found a guy saying not all rims convert well as the rim is pinned and leaks out air on some rims.

Ignore this, by using a rim-strip you form a seal independent of the rim structure.

How messy is it to change tyres? I mean does the sealant go everywhere? And importantly, can all the sealant be cleaned out if ever I were to sell the wheels on or convert back to tubes?

No, it's not messy at all. You let the tyre down, hook it off the rim and any sealant left is pooled at the bottom of the tyre. You can pour or syringe/spoon it out. The tyre will have a thin layer of latex round the inside you can peel off if you feel the need to get punctures again ;)