Setting tubeless up on road bikes can be a tricky process and there are a lot of mistakes that can be made. However, Sam Gupta has taken his years of experience as a mechanic to share all his knowledge on how to successfully set up a tubeless system on your road bike. Starting at the very beginning, all of these top tips for setting up tubeless will mean that hopefully you can get it done right first time round.
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00:00I'll be honest, ever since tubeless tech made its way onto road bikes, I was never a fan. It felt
00:05like the same products that were being used in the mountain bike world were just being repackaged and
00:10marketed to road bike users. The issue being that the requirements of the two different disciplines
00:16are actually pretty different. During my time working as a mechanic, I also saw all the problems
00:21that the technology was causing people, from simply trying to get it set up in the first place
00:26to blowouts to then punctures that just wouldn't seal. In fairness, being a mechanic does mean
00:32you're always left to pick up the pieces and maybe not seeing all the times that the technology is
00:37actually working. So this may have pushed my bias further into the extreme. As reluctant as I was,
00:44I have now ridden a fair few bikes with tubeless setups. So I'm going to pair that experience with
00:49all the time that I spent setting up other people's tubeless systems to let you know everything that I
00:55wish I knew at the very start. I'm going to start at the very top because before anyone gets anywhere
01:05close to leaving their inner tubes at home, we need to make sure that we've sourced all of the
01:10correct components. We have actually made an entire video comparing some of the most popular sealants
01:15on the market, so you can go and give that a watch to work out which sealant you would want to use.
01:20In this instance though, I'm going to be using this, the Stan's sealant. I've also got some
01:25pretty standard valves and I'll be using these Paneracer Agilis TLR tyres. And then for the
01:32wheels, we have got the Hologram R45 wheels from Cannondale. Luckily, these wheels are actually
01:38tubeless ready because they have the tape pre-installed. Now one of the key things that you
01:44don't want to get wrong at the very start is actually your tyre selection. Even though you can
01:48set up tubeless with narrower tyres, I would always opt for something that's kind of 28c
01:54as a minimum. As we know from the gravel and mountain biking world, tubeless works best at
02:00lower pressures and I'm sure there's a whole bunch of you that have been running tubeless setups on
02:0425c tyres and you maybe haven't had any issues, but I would potentially put this down more to luck
02:11than anything else. If you want to make sure that you're giving your sealant the best chance possible
02:16at doing its job, then go wide on your tyres so that you can run a lower pressure.
02:26It's pretty well known that tubeless tyres can be a complete nightmare to get onto your rims.
02:32It can almost leave you feeling like you'll never be able to stretch them on. You can end up with
02:37blood blisters, sore hands and not to mention just feeling incredibly demoralised. But there are a
02:43few things that you can do to make life a little easier when it comes to getting them onto that rim
02:49for the very first time. Before you try and actually get them onto the rim, what I would say
02:53is place your new tyres somewhere warm overnight. Ideally maybe next to a radiator as that is going
03:01to help the rubber become more malleable. Then if you have an older set of wheels, try fitting the
03:06tyres to these first with an inner tube and stretch them out a bit. Now of course sometimes older
03:12wheels which aren't made for tubeless setups can be a little easier to mount tyres to, but this can
03:18be a little bit hit and miss, so don't worry if it doesn't work out. If however you can get the tyres
03:24on, again I would say leave them inflated with that inner tube, again in a warm place and it's just
03:30going to make those tyres a little bit easier to manage. Getting your tubeless wheels ready and
03:38prepared is absolutely crucial before you can even think about trying to get them set up. First,
03:44make sure that they're incredibly clean. You don't really want any gunk left from any previous
03:49tubeless setups. Also check the rims for any dents or dings which could hinder the ability
03:55for the tyre to seat properly. Make sure that the rim tape is tight and evenly covering the inside
04:01of the rim and make sure that your valve is inserted correctly and it's right in the bed of
04:06the rim and potentially in the correct direction if it needs to be. Also just make sure you utilise
04:14the little o-ring on the valve as well. You'd be amazed at how often these little o-rings can
04:18actually make a huge difference to getting your tyre seated first time. If you're reusing valves
04:24then pull the cores out and ensure that they're clean and they aren't gunked up on the inside.
04:29Once you've got your wheels prepped, then without getting any sealant involved,
04:34try and mount the tyres. As always, be sure to utilise the deepest part of the wheels
04:39to ensure that you get the maximum amount of leverage and just slowly work it all the way
04:44around. If you are able to get the tyres on from this point then great, get them inflated
04:50and see if you can get those tyres to pop into the bead.
05:00If you can't get the tyres onto the rim, then actually there are tools that can help you.
05:05Like one of these tyre grabbers. Now you can get these from places like Brand X,
05:10Lifeline or Challenge. They simultaneously hook onto the rim and grab the edge of the tyre and
05:16then as you squeeze it will then manoeuvre it into place. Now as you keep working it around
05:22you should be able to get it on, but don't be shy about putting a fair bit of force through
05:26one of these. They can absolutely save your hands so much pain and actually they are built
05:31to take a fair bit of strain. If you've successfully completed a dry fit on your wheels and if your
05:41sealant is fairly runny, then you can remove the valve core and inject the sealant directly
05:46into the wheel and then simply re-inflate. However, if your sealant is a bit too thick
05:52and would just coagulate inside the valve, then pop off a small section of the tyre,
05:56pour in the correct amount of sealant and then spin the wheels by 180 degrees
06:01and then work the tyre back into place. There's always one part of the tubeless setup process
06:09which always has my nerves on edge and that is when you start to introduce air for the first time
06:15to get the tyre to seat. Just remember that the pop
06:21is your friend and what I like to do to save myself from the dreaded tubeless explosion
06:27is to get the tyre to pop into place using a compressor or track pump with a recharge facility
06:33and then finish it off with a hand pump to fine-tune that pressure inside the tyre.
06:38This leads me really nicely on to my next point and that's to make sure that you monitor the
06:43pressure that is going into your tyres. You may be very used to the amount of air you've
06:48been filling your inner tubes with, however, tubeless tyres and hookless rims do have some
06:53pretty different requirements. A lot of tubeless tyres and hookless rims have a maximum pressure
06:58of around 70 PSI. Of course, be sure not to exceed any of these requirements,
07:05but more importantly, make sure the pressure is right for your combined bike and rider weight.
07:11This is how you can start to reap the benefits of running a more comfortable,
07:15fast-rolling tyre setup. Now, I like to use the SRAM calculator to help me work out what pressure
07:21I should be putting into my tyres. One of the things that I really started to hate about tubeless
07:30setups, especially during my time as a mechanic, was the issues caused when the system went wrong.
07:35And I must say that the time that my tubeless setup went wrong, well, it was a complete and
07:41utter nightmare. I had to fight with a tight-fitting sealant cover tyre to drain out the remaining
07:47sealant to then try and fit an inner tube, which in reality was like trying to wrestle a wet fish
07:53into a small hole. However, the mistake that I made was that I wasn't carrying any bacon strips
07:58or plugs to fill the hole that the sealant couldn't deal with. I think that if I had some of
08:03those, then I probably could have sorted out the tyre fairly easily. So, don't be like me. Make
08:10sure you're carrying the necessary tools to fix the basic problems. I won't lie to you, I'm still
08:17pretty sceptical about running tubeless on the road. For me, simply replacing or repairing an
08:22inner tube compared to wrestling with a tight-fitting sealant covered tyre when a puncture
08:28just won't seal is still my preferred option. However, I think if you ensure you carry the
08:33right tools with you, you fit tyres with a nice large volume and utilise quality sealant, and
08:39also run the right pressure for your bike and rider weight, well, you'll probably be able to
08:44do just fine. Is there anything though that you wish you knew before you went tubeless?
08:53Let me know down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like,
08:58subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you again very soon.