Everything You Need To Know About Tubeless Tyre Maintenance

Tubeless tyres are great… until they’re not! Whether you’re setting up tubeless for the first time, struggling with air leakage or have a mid-ride puncture that just won’t seal, we’ve got you covered. Ollie takes you through everything you need to know about tubeless maintenance in our ultimate troubleshooting guide.

00:00 Intro
00:50 Setting Up - Rim Tape
01:56 Setting Up - Install/Check Valve
03:15 Setting Up - Fitting Tyre
04:43 Setting Up - Sealant
05:28 Setting Up - Seating/Inflating Tyre
08:57 Setting Up - Air Leakage
11:59 Setting Up - Don’t Overinflate
13:02 Roadside - Puncture Won’t Seal
15:41 Roadside - Use An Inner Tube
18:05 Roadside - Excess Sealant
18:41 Roadside - No Sealant

Useful Links:

Do you have any of your own tubeless maintenance hacks? 🧐 Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcntech]

Do you have any of your own tubeless maintenance hacks? 🧐

[luukrutten]

While you are struggling with getting your tires on. Don't forget to check if your tire is directional and align the tire label with the valve hole. Nothing worse than finding out you installed your tubuless tires the wrong way around and having to take them off again. Been there!

[bihlygoat]

I had a rim / tire combo (ETRO standard) that I could not get the beads to seal enough to develop the pressure needed to seat the beads - the beads just stayed in the center channel of the rim. After searching YouTube, the only thing I found that helped was to wrap a nylon strap all the way around the circumference of the tire and pull it tight, squeezing the side walls against the edge of the rim. This finally sealed off the airflow enough to get the beads to pop into place. And I was using an air compressor with the valve core removed, and a high-glow valve stem. I seriously contemplated if tubeless was worth all the faff!!!

[MS-syls]

I had a thorn in my front tyre on Saturday and could hear the air hissing out. I pulled it out and sealant was bubbling out. Just kept riding and it sealed up within seconds. Perfect!

[Multistan]

Had my first tubeless puncture with sealant spray. If you know what to do, it’s not so bad. Put the leak to the 6 o’clock position so it helps the sealant, get ur tire plug, locate the leak, plug it in, then pump it back up and ur good to go. Left the plug there and still rode for 2k more miles. 6k for the year with the same setup. It was my first puncture, considering having 5-6 or more a year with clinchers.

[benarguilla]

A couple of years ago my first experience with tubeless tires on a loaner bike. About a week into riding a got about a half inch side slice. I had tubes but nothing in my pack to cover the slice in the tire and from experience I knew the tube would simply blow through the slice. I started walking home looking at the ground for something to use when I came across a cigarette carton. I tore off a piece and placed inside the tire over the slice put in a tube pumped up the tire and rode home. I started using tubeless nine months ago and have had two slices and evidence of about 12 punctures. Only one of the punctures stopped me from riding and only realized only 1 puncture while riding.

[davidmunchin]

I would always check that the tyre seats properly BEFORE putting in messy sealant. It should stay inflates for at least a few minutes with zero sealant. Also if it won't seat, putting in a temporary inner tube or leaving overnight will stretch the tyre into position.

[Brrunoc]

If you have sealant skirting out on the road, stop, take the weight off the bike and put your finger on the leak. Wait a minute and then spin the wheel, this usually fixes it. Also sealant squirts out if your pressure is too high.

[Brrunoc]

When fitting the tyre, make sure the tyre bead is not sitting on top of the valve core causing the blast of air to just flow around the bead and into the atmosphere.

[mathewjames]

Just to add. After inflating and seating the tyre bead, hold the wheel horizontally and rock it round to get the sealant over the inside of the bead.

[chones_]

love how they cut away right before ollie got to the hardest part of getting any tire on the wheel---the last 20%. pro editing gcn.

[hoopdoggydogg]

A couple of things that I also do:
1. Turn the wheel 45°, then spin it slowly to allow sealant to get closer to the rim to seal the edges.
2. If I puncture, I make sure the puncture sight is facing down so gravity is helping the sealant get to the sight.

Otherwise everything else in the video is good information. Cheers Oliver Woodbridge!

[Daal]

Ollie has found a new calling - Magician!!! At 10:05, Ollie states we should get "the bike in the wheel". Now I would love to see how that is done, maybe that can be arranged for another maintenance video 🧙‍♂

[cxbkpmf]

Love seeing the Park Tools and branding. These guys are absolute heroes in their support and commitment to cycling over many, many decades. They truly are focused on bringing us the tools we want and need at reasonable prices. My newest tool is their spoke tension meter, which is the same tried and true version that's been available for about 30 years (if it ain't broke, don't fix it). I looked at the spoke meter from DT Swiss, and at 1, 200 USD I'm sure it's great, but damn expensive, the Park Tools meter at 80 USD seems perfectly good.

[bikecommuter]

IF you have a hard time getting a tire onto the rim, especially a new one, I used a trick I learned on another video, put a zip tie around the tire to hold it in place once you got part of it installed, and put another one on the opposite side that 180 degrees for the nerdy types (like me)
it's work great it saves a lot of cussing and throwing of tools.

[mickeywakefield]

Thanks for the video. (and many others) I'm new to this and I got a bike with tubeless tires, and came here to learn how they work and what I need to do with them. Great information.

[nrobsonevets]

I’ve had a lot of punctures that seal well enough to get me home, but start leaking again once I reinflate to a proper tire pressure. You can take the tire off, clean it and patch from the inside with a park tool vp-1 or slime skab patch etc. I’ve gotten a lot of extra miles out of tires with these

[onlycoolnameleft]

Some pumps (and I believe the one Ollie shows is like that) have a 2-way switch for the type of air they blow - one setting is for high pressure, normal pumping, the other is for low pressure high airflow. With this pump I've seated many a non-compliant, dried sealant covered bead. This is a great investment as it doesn't take up too much space and costs way less when compared with a compressor. Booster tanks can have their own issues with leaking etc.

[auswi]

The most comprehensive guide to tubeless I think I've seen. Well done. I have been running tubeless now for 5 years and would never go back to tubes. I've lost count of the number of punctures I've avoided compared to tubes. But I always carry a spare TPU tube and patch kit in case the puncture is more of a cut. Only had to use this once. I have stopped carrying Co2 cylinders for inflation and switched to a Topeak Roadie TT. You are not supposed to take Co2 cylinders on a plane, and to be honest, if you try to re-inflate on the roadside, and it doesn't work, you're toast. And for the weight weenies, 2 x Co2 cylinders plus valve connector weighs more than 1 x Topeak Roadie TT 😉

[rg]

The key to getting the tire on is to USE A BIT OF SOAPY DISHWATER on the bead. This should always be used, not just when you're having trouble. Why make the job harder than it has to be?

Also, soapy water on both beads helps the bead seat, too.