Knackers
I had my first failure on a ghetto tubeless setup a few days ago - while experimenting with lower pressures and landing a small jump I had the front tyre lose pressure... with the amusing (not at the time) side effect of putting me right over the bars and landing my little chaps on the top tube. Painful. And the tyre didn't re-seal properly, either, leaving me with a wheel I had no confidence in, with a slow puncture. Time to head home...
Doh!
After examining the wheel back at the Ride It Fix It garage, this turns out to be another my fault. When setting up these particular tyres, I'd re-used some inner tubes I had previously cut very close to the rims, and which I had managed to fold over in one spot (that's the my fault bit) - leading to a couple of very, very weak points in the seal between tyre and tube. So in one place there was a jump from a single layer of inner tube under the tyre bead, to two layers. And then back again in another place. Full credit to the sealant, for even sealed in the first place. So when I landed in just the right way to break that weak seal... burp - instant loss of pressure.
And all this lead to me thinking that perhaps it was time to update some previous tubeless posts, with a list of dos & don'ts to help avoid burping problems... so here they are, my list of dos & donts:
Don't
- try to use tyre/rim combinations that are really slack
- use really narrow rims - wider is better
- forget to check the sealant every so often (about every three months)
- re-use tubes that have been cut too narrow, or cut the inner tube really close when first installing - leave a strip sticking out - about 5mm (1/4") wide, which makes any reinstalls much much easier
Do
- use tubes with removable valves (car type - schrader - are ideal, as you can buy a cheap valve tool to remove the valve core and clean it up if it gets gunked up) this makes adding more sealant easy, and helps with the first inflation
- think about packing a pair of tubes for emergencies when you are out
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