Yet another tubeless conversion question

[Barry]

22 minutes ago, madmarc said:

Dude !!! why are you searching for air leaks with your ears - paint the thing with soapy water - at the valve - round the bead - all over the nipples - then use your eyes and you will soon know where it be leaking.

GT is the same as Duct Tape it can be porous so sometimes it works and other times it doesn't - Just go onto the STANS website or university of Utube and see how to select the correct width STANS rim tape and how its mounted. then toodle off to your LBS and get a roll with some stans juice.

Oh and clean the flippen rim with proper stuff - GT leaves residue and glue behind when you rip it off. Leave this stuff for the 4X4 okes its the devils cloth on bikes.

then report back that its sorted and you riding the trails - Yes and consider this an uitkak   

GT is supposed to be air and watertight. Duct tape is just thin rubbish and yes it will get soggy and not hold air.

[PhilipV]

39 minutes ago, madmarc said:

Dude !!! why are you searching for air leaks with your ears - paint the thing with soapy water - at the valve - round the bead - all over the nipples - then use your eyes and you will soon know where it be leaking.

GT is the same as Duct Tape it can be porous so sometimes it works and other times it doesn't - Just go onto the STANS website or university of Utube and see how to select the correct width STANS rim tape and how its mounted. then toodle off to your LBS and get a roll with some stans juice.

Oh and clean the flippen rim with proper stuff - GT leaves residue and glue behind when you rip it off. Leave this stuff for the 4X4 okes its the devils cloth on bikes.

then report back that its sorted and you riding the trails - Yes and consider this an uitkak   

Good advice with the soapy water. I've put a wheel in the pool before to find the leak. 

I'm a fan of a gorilla tape. I haven't used stans or any bike brand tape in about 9 years. 

Gorilla tape isn't porous. And if you take a wide roll you can tear it to desired width. Just start the tear with a knife or scissors, and then it continues tearing  in a straight line.

I don't know why people moan about the residue either. When I've had to pull off tape due to replacing a spoke , I just put a new piece over it. The glue residue doesn't affect the integrity of the new tape. I'm yet to have to redo an application of gorilla tape. It just works. 

 

[Cappi]

I once did a ghetto tubeless conversion and just coudn't get the tyre to seal on the rim. no matter what i tried. Eventually with my tail between my legs i went to my LBS. explained to the machi what i did... few minutes later he returned with the wheels seated and sealed....
i asked him what was the magic trick.... he told me some rim/tyre combos u need an extra layer of tape....

[Piernas Flacas]

1 hour ago, madmarc said:

Dude !!! why are you searching for air leaks with your ears - paint the thing with soapy water - at the valve - round the bead - all over the nipples - then use your eyes and you will soon know where it be leaking.

GT is the same as Duct Tape it can be porous so sometimes it works and other times it doesn't - Just go onto the STANS website or university of Utube and see how to select the correct width STANS rim tape and how its mounted. then toodle off to your LBS and get a roll with some stans juice.

Oh and clean the flippen rim with proper stuff - GT leaves residue and glue behind when you rip it off. Leave this stuff for the 4X4 okes its the devils cloth on bikes.

then report back that its sorted and you riding the trails - Yes and consider this an uitkak   

Well, on my first attempt I tried the bathtub and bubbles were coming out pretty much everywhere, even the spokes. But I could also hear the air leaks. GT has given me good results in the past. I think this time I just took too many shortcuts. But you're right GT leaves a lot of residue behind which is difficult to remove.  

53 minutes ago, Barry said:

If you pull the 25mm tape nice and tight it will fit a 24mm rim with nothing sticking out

That's correct. I just finished my 3rd attempt on the back wheel. This time I took my time, I think 3 hours, to remove all the GT and sealant residue properly using acetone and clean rags. I reapplied the GT very carefully this time making sure it stretched properly and stuck it several times with my fingers and nails, or what is left of them. And you're right. Done properly it will fit a 24 mm rim without sticking out. 

[Piernas Flacas]

Ok, here's some feedback.

Just finished reworking the back wheel after about 3 hours of proper cleanup with acetone and clean rags and GT installation. It was a lot of work but I think I got it right now. Just waiting to see if it's holding nicely. I applied a tiny bit of silicone paste to the tyre beads and I was surprised that I could even pushed them in the rim with my bare hands without using levers. Pumped it up and at 1.5 BAR I hear a reassuring pop. Fingers crossed!

Thanks all for your comments even if it was uitkak, LOL!

[ChrisF]

33 minutes ago, Cappi said:

I once did a ghetto tubeless conversion and just coudn't get the tyre to seal on the rim. no matter what i tried. Eventually with my tail between my legs i went to my LBS. explained to the machi what i did... few minutes later he returned with the wheels seated and sealed....
i asked him what was the magic trick.... he told me some rim/tyre combos u need an extra layer of tape....

 

About 1 in 10 tires I do needs that extra layer.

[love2fly]

1 hour ago, Piernas Flacas said:

Ok, here's some feedback.

Just finished reworking the back wheel after about 3 hours of proper cleanup with acetone and clean rags and GT installation. It was a lot of work but I think I got it right now. Just waiting to see if it's holding nicely. I applied a tiny bit of silicone paste to the tyre beads and I was surprised that I could even pushed them in the rim with my bare hands without using levers. Pumped it up and at 1.5 BAR I hear a reassuring pop. Fingers crossed!

Thanks all for your comments even if it was uitkak, LOL!

I've never had to even think of using a lever to seat a tyre....

[Andreas_187]

It really isn't that difficult. Stop using GT and sealant. Get some Stan's yellow tape, one layer and finish. Sealant and pump up to 5 bar. Spin the wheel around so the sealant is moving all over the tyre and finish. This should take 10 minutes 

[PhilipV]

14 hours ago, Piernas Flacas said:

Well, on my first attempt I tried the bathtub and bubbles were coming out pretty much everywhere, even the spokes. But I could also hear the air leaks. GT has given me good results in the past. I think this time I just took too many shortcuts.  

Air coming out of spoke holes point to a leak underneath the tape. I reckon leaving the rubber tape underneath the GT is what caused your headache. 

 

Glad you are sorted now. That pop must have been very satisfying after this episode.

Edited October 19, 2022 by PhilipV

[Barry]

11 hours ago, Andreas_187 said:

It really isn't that difficult. Stop using GT and sealant. Get some Stan's yellow tape, one layer and finish. Sealant and pump up to 5 bar. Spin the wheel around so the sealant is moving all over the tyre and finish. This should take 10 minutes 

The tyre should start seating around 1.5 to 2 bar. If you taking it to 5bar and that tyre lets go it could destroy the side wall of the rim. 

[Andreas_187]

19 minutes ago, Barry said:

The tyre should start seating around 1.5 to 2 bar. If you taking it to 5bar and that tyre lets go it could destroy the side wall of the rim. 

Let's go??? Nothing is going to happen except forcing the tyre to seat against the rim. The rim tape  should definitely not be poking out the side

[Barry]

23 minutes ago, Andreas_187 said:

Let's go??? Nothing is going to happen except forcing the tyre to seat against the rim. The rim tape  should definitely not be poking out the side

The force of a tyre seating or poping the bead at 5bar could cause the tyre to jump the the rim wall. I have seen rims will shredded aluminum walls from the explosive forces from a tyre burst.

[PhilipV]

19 minutes ago, Andreas_187 said:

Let's go??? Nothing is going to happen except forcing the tyre to seat against the rim. The rim tape  should definitely not be poking out the side

Oh it happens. I'm guessing that you've never had a tyre blow off a rim, spraying sealant everywhere? Most bike shops will have a story like that. 

In the days of V-brakes, I rode my rims until they were worn into a concave shape. I was a student, with less cents than sense. I had a rim break while inflating at a garage. This was in 2009.

 

 

[Piernas Flacas]

12 hours ago, Andreas_187 said:

It really isn't that difficult. Stop using GT and sealant. Get some Stan's yellow tape, one layer and finish. Sealant and pump up to 5 bar. Spin the wheel around so the sealant is moving all over the tyre and finish. This should take 10 minutes 

I agree, it's not that difficult. On a brand new wheel it shouldn't take that long. My problem was not cleaning up properly the residue and sealant of previous tubeless installations not knowing that that would cause all sorts of issues. I won't take shortcuts on this ever again. It's probably the crappiest bicycle task to do but needs to be done properly. 

[Schnavel]

7 hours ago, Andreas_187 said:

Let's go??? Nothing is going to happen except forcing the tyre to seat against the rim. The rim tape  should definitely not be poking out the side

Not a good idea - most manufactures limit the pressures to under 3 bar (rim and tyre). 

Exceeding that pressure on a mountain bike wheel is likely to end in disaster...

[Showtime]

Be very careful of exceeding the safe pressure.

One day my brain was switched off. Went to the local BP garage with a friend to seat a tyre and didn't check the regulator set pressure.

Kept the inflator on the valve chatting away and the next moment the world went silent. We couldn't hear a thing for a while and ended up at hospital having our ears checked. The rim was pretzeled and a write-off.