47
votes
Is it practical to switch from tubeless to tubes every few weeks?
If you value your time at US\$20 an hour or higher, you’ll find you’ll quickly benefit by just getting a spare set of wheels, leaving the tires permanently mounted, and swapping wheel sets as needed. ...
- 29.1k
31
votes
Accepted
How to recognize a tubeless tire?
While your question of identifying a tubeless tyre has been answered, I think that might not actually be what you have to worry about. A bike might come with tubeless tyres, but that doesn't mean that ...
- 4,175
30
votes
Accepted
Perfectly round holes on new Schwalbe Pro One tire
It is an increasingly common practice for manufacturers to add tire wear indicators, which are little divots like the ones on your tire. Otherwise, there is no objective measure of when to change a ...
- 29.5k
24
votes
Perfectly round holes on new Schwalbe Pro One tire
It’s an intentional wear indicator.
There should be “TWI” (Tread Wear Indicator) and a small arrow printed on the sidewall where the dimple is. When the dimple is no longer visible your tread is ...
- 26k
15
votes
Accepted
Is it practical to switch from tubeless to tubes every few weeks?
I have changed a number of tubeless tires now and the other answers are on point that generally this should be avoided, and if possible run either more than one wheel set, choose a more general setup,...
- 30.4k
13
votes
Accepted
What air attachment screws onto a Presta valve with the core removed? High volume for seating bead?
Inflator heads with Presta fittings let you do this because they tend to (always?) seal down around the stem, not the core. I don't know any other way. I suppose you could also take a spare Presta ...
- 81.7k
12
votes
Presta or shrader valve for mtb?
The debate of Presta or Schrader is mostly religious and often based on poorly misunderstood facts or historical differences.
Rim Width. In the 21st century, the problem is less about the strength ...
12
votes
Accepted
Do I need to refill sealant after puncture?
Pull the valve core and poke a 2mm Allen wrench down to test the fluid level with the valve at the 6 o'clock position with the tire off the ground. You want "some" free liquid. How much depends on the ...
- 81.7k
12
votes
Accepted
New tubeless setup: losing air through spoke holes
It seems like there is a problem with the rim tape. The tape should seal the spoke holes without milk. Try cleaning the rim and replacing the tape if it is still loosing pressure.
- 2,340
11
votes
Accepted
Does sealant in tubeless tyres slosh around?
Tubeless sealant has the consistency of roughly soy milk. If you take a tubeless wheel and shake it, you should hear the sealant sloshing around (and if you don't, chances are it's time to add sealant)...
- 46.1k
11
votes
White foam around tubeless tires
Modern tubeless bicycle tires require a sealant to be added to the inside of the tire. If a small leak develops the sealant seeps out, meets air, solidifies and seals the leak. I believe this ...
- 75.5k
11
votes
Accepted
Used tubeless ready tires leaking air (that were used previously with tubes)
Yes, lots of small leaks everywhere typically means you just need more sealant.
Tires vary quite a bit in how thin/supple versus thick/strong their casings are. Some tires simply take more sealant ...
- 81.7k
11
votes
Are solid/tubeless tires worth using in Thorny areas?
Both approaches would help, but are very different. A solid tyre is unpunctureable, but the riding properties are much worse. Not only it is slower, but also the adhesion and the feel over uneven ...
- 16.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Do tubeless sealants remain a highly viscous liquid or do they form a thin rubber film?
The sealant is a suspension of latex particles. When there is an opening (like a puncture, or a pore in the rubber), the liquid is carried away by the air leaking through the opening, causing the ...
- 17.6k
11
votes
Bubbles in carcass/ casing of Schwalbe Pro One TLE
This looks benign to me. The label patch clearly is a separate thin rubber layer put on top of the uniform sidewall, a cosmetic manufacturing detail. Until sidewalls seal, they usually leak minute ...
- 5,699
10
votes
Is it practical to switch from tubeless to tubes every few weeks?
I don't think I'd want to be taking off tubeless tire set up as tubeless with sealant once a month then reinstalling then later.
You could run the wider tubeless tires with tubes in them to make the ...
- 75.5k
10
votes
How to recognize a tubeless tire?
Look at the tire sidewall for model/name, tubeless tires usually have TL, UST, TR or Tubeless in it; some tires don't (like Schwalbe Pro One), so google the model and see if it's tubeless or not. Keep ...
- 5,699
10
votes
Accepted
How much pressure to inflate a tubeless tire so it seats into the rim
TLDR: The pressure you put into the bottle is NOT the pressure to which you inflate the tyre. The pressure drops down as the volume increases when you connect the bottle with the tyre. The final ...
- 16.1k
10
votes
Tubeless tyre punctured on the ride
The fastest way is to use tubeless plugs - bacon strips or worms. They are also used to plug holes in automobile and motorcycle tyres.
(source: Pro bike tool marketing pictures)
They are often sold ...
- 16.1k
10
votes
Accepted
Can I run non-tubeless tyres as tubeless?
This used to be commonly done for MTB or cyclocross/gravel, where volumes are bigger and pressures lower. I, OTOH, run a tubeless gravel tyre on a non-tubeless rim quite happily.
For road bikes, with ...
- 16.1k
10
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between more or less expensive carbon wheels?
First, I wouldn't recommend buying from Aliexpress brands that you don't know at all. There are some mainland Chinese brands that sell on Aliexpress or other channels that are likely to be trustworthy....
- 29.5k
10
votes
How to put a tube in a used tubeless tire
The kind of puncture you describe seems to be limited to one kind of plant, that is not present everywhere (although small glass shards, and other plants might exhibit similar behaviours), and seems ...
- 17.6k
9
votes
Future of Tire technology
I'm not sure you know what tubular tires are (they are relatively rare), but I'll describe the 3 basic tire systems for bicycles:
The most common is the good old clincher tire.
(Image from Wikipedia:...
- 46.1k
9
votes
Accepted
How to fix tubeless tire leak at rim seam
The fix ended up being very simple. After inflating the tire to 30 psi to seat it, I decreased the psi to 15 and rolled the tires like normal over the next couple hours. Then I dropped the psi down ...
- 323
9
votes
Are tubeless tyres an upgrade from tubed tyres, or just different?
What if the puncture is not adequately sealed by the sealant? Can I patch a tubeless tyre in a permanent way with a glue-type patch? A permanent repair without a slow leak for inner tubes is easiest ...
- 16.1k
9
votes
Are tubeless tyres an upgrade from tubed tyres, or just different?
I'll cover some of the potential advantages by discipline, since the original question didn't state a specific discipline or disciplines. I'll address both advantages and disadvantages.
Off tarmac: ...
- 29.5k
9
votes
How to stop air leaking out rims without sealant
Two common alternatives exist to stop the air leaking from the wheel.
Use sealant.
Use inner tube.
- 14.4k
9
votes
Tubeless tyres questions
Depends on the sealant, but usually every 6 months.
Yes
This picture shows how the parts of the valve go together.
The reason you'd want to remove the valve core is because you need a rapid inrush of ...
- 29.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Will tubeless tires out-perform my Armadillos on my commute?
Bald-ness isn't a problem on tires used on roads. In fact, it's favorable. I'd replace the tire once I start getting flats (or a bit before), or seeing canvas.
The primary advantage of tubeless ...
- 46.1k
8
votes
I keep destroying new tubeless tires!
Sounds like you are running your tire pressures WAY too low or high. If you are experiencing tire failures due to "larger ruptures/slashes" that's indicative of a pressure issue.
If too low, and you ...
- 669
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