blackmyst Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 My son and I eventually undertoook to convert his axis a60 to tubeless after his stock maxxis started looking like racing slicks... So as to not look completely foolish, I undertook to convert his sisters bike first using a std tubeless kit (yellow rim tape + valves and sealent). Following the instructions I removed the old rim tape and inserted the new rim tape inserted the valve and then proceed to blow it up with a foot pump - epic fail... reasoning that maybe it needed the sealent to help seal, I placed in the sealent and had another go - still nothing... so off to the garage to use the air there (I'm sure you can see where this is going...) After getting sealant all over my clothes and side of my car, I came home and replaced with tubes again, as it turns out her tires (Larsen TT on alex rims ID19) were not UST... note to self - verify if the tires+rims are compatible first.... for my sons bike we purchased a Stans no-tube kit and vredestein black panther xtrac - this was bound to work... well I was partially right.. So we did the front the Stans "tube" with integrated valve went on simply - I was very hopeful at this and my son watched eagerly as the rest would be easy...first off the tires are incredibly tight (I think they would fit on a 25" if they existed)but we started none the less - after 30 mins of dodging flying tire levers and me swearing my son gave up, leaving me to fight my nemesisafter about an hour of fighting with tire levers (and a bleeding palm on one hand) I got it on, ran inside to get my son (ye of little faith) and he watched while we attempted to blow it up with a foot pump, we were rewarded with a "fffffffffftttt" him crying with laughter going back inside. Again reasoning it needs sealant, some 20 minutes later I re-attempted the pump (same result), at which point logic left the building... the rear one will go better... (sigh) reaching the same endpoint an hour later, I resulted to garage againanother note to self - make sure you can get enough pressure out of your pump...the front one pumped the rear not so muchtomorrow is a new day.... logic having clearly still left the building - I attempted the pump again which failed (no surprise here)...logic returned....I started having look at the seating, the tire was sitting the middle, the bead nowhere near the edge, another 30 mins of manhandling the tire levers had the bead near the edge, and back to the garage, it inflated having used both types, the Stans was easier, but I was able to learn some important lessons, but it does also beg some questions like how one could "soften a tire", this may be a moot point as that would be exactly what you don't want, but leads me to these guidelines: 1 - watch and read all you can (soapy water + preparing the tire)2 - patience3 - more patience4 - ensure the bead is near the edge (on softer tires you can bring the bead nearer the edge using a tire lever then running it around the rim)5 - enough pressure from your pump what that said - I will attempt my daughters again, has anyone managed to convert Larsen TT (non tubeless) to tubeless?
marko35s Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 We have all been there and you missed out the crucial step that involves beer...Oh and you haven't lived until you have had a Magic Mary explode off the rim at 2am not only covering you, the TV* and pretty much every surface in the lounge in sealant but waking up the wife who proceeds to be angry.But that was okay because you are now temporarily deaf and cannot hear the worst of the things she calls you... * Sealant is not easy to remove from a TV, not at all.
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 softening the tire - leave them in the sun for a while. Loosens them up a bit... Also, dishwashing liquid & water. Foam it up and "wash" the tire extensively, in the bead - it allows it to seat that much more easily. As for the Larsen, they'll probably seal, given enough sealant. The inner diameter of the rim may be slightly too small though, so build it up a bit with about 2 layers of gaffa tape (yes, that duct tape stuff) and try again... Given enough sealant means that the tyres may be too porous to seal without over-applying the stans so that it almost makes an internal layer on the tyre before it starts sealing properly. Don't be discouraged if the tyres are flat again tomorrow morning - bound to be some leakage on the first inflation, just go to the garage again and reinflate. May need to repeat this a couple of times... Good luck!
marko35s Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 softening the tire - leave them in the sun for a while. Loosens them up a bit... Also, dishwashing liquid & water. Foam it up and "wash" the tire extensively, in the bead - it allows it to seat that much more easily. As for the Larsen, they'll probably seal, given enough sealant. The inner diameter of the rim may be slightly too small though, so build it up a bit with about 2 layers of gaffa tape (yes, that duct tape stuff) and try again... Given enough sealant means that the tyres may be too porous to seal without over-applying the stans so that it almost makes an internal layer on the tyre before it starts sealing properly. Don't be discouraged if the tyres are flat again tomorrow morning - bound to be some leakage on the first inflation, just go to the garage again and reinflate. May need to repeat this a couple of times... Good luck!I feel the need here to point out that I gave the Magic Mary mentioned above to this poor sod.Guess what happened...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 I feel the need here to point out that I gave the Magic Mary mentioned above to this poor sod.Guess what happened...Guess whose wife also got the fright of her life at 1am...
taito Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 This happened to me to,,tyre popped ...one AM rim moer toe,,hearing also moer toe.stans all over garage. Our maid never came back after that BANG,,hearing returned after a couple of hours
blackmyst Posted August 8, 2015 Author Posted August 8, 2015 glad i'm not the only one in this boat all part of the learning I guess... cleaning the tv I well believe, that stuff is difficult enough to get off hands... We've witnessed the slow leaks already - expected them, may need to add a bit more stans if it continues over the next few days... tx for the advice on the TT's, I'll give them another shot
arendoog Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 R100 for my LBS to do all that seems to me to be a bargain .Experience is exactly that .Knowledge obtained by making mistakes ,until all the possible mistakes are made no more .
PeterF Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 Practice getting the tyre inflated without sealant. The sealant does not make the tyre inflate any easier, it is just there to help keep it inflated.
Runbikeswim Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 my 1st tubeless took me around 5 hrs. That was with Stans kit.Now I do both tires ghetto style in less than 20 min, all comes down to experience.
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