Source
r/cycling•
gzSimulator

First time using road tires, tips on tubeless setup?

Just mounted some 32mm michelin power road TLR tires to my 25mm internal width weareone revive XC wheels and easily set them up tubeless, like usual with mtb, with a pretty damn small puddle of sealant. Pumped them up to 55psi (this was a big moment for me, never pumping a tire beyond 40 before, and 55psi is just an arbitrary choice), and have been riding them for a few days.

Even after 3 riding days to settle in, they’re still losing major pressure over the span of a single day, going from 55 down to 40 and even less. I noticed my single layer of rim tape had shifted around a little and had questionable coverage, should I retape the rims? Should I be double-taping to account for 55psi+? How much sealant do you usually run and how long does it take road tires before pressure loss calms down to a reasonable level, at least a complete day of correct pressure?

And then a bonus dummy question what psi you guys running 32mm tires at? I find my 40mm gravel tires to be just right at around 40psi but that’s on very rough terrain and accounting for rim strikes, I’ve never ridden road before or used such skinny tires, I’m used to 2.5” wide tires at 21-26 psi

Posted Oct 8, 2022, 9:18 AM UTC

212
nickyleeward•

That's a really skinny tire for a 25mm internal width rim. Pretty much all the manufacturer's have charts for rim to tire compatibility and they don't seem to recommend anything smaller than 40mm to a 25mm rim. I feel like it would be real hard to setup tubeless right with this mismatch.

4
UniqueVegetable•

Modern road tires are this wide. Zipp 303 is 25mm internally and designed for 28mm tires. Enve SES 4.5 are designed for their own 27mm tires.

3
rnej•

I can't be arsed to convert PSI to bar, but a single layer of tubeless tape that shifts doesn't sound airtight.

Tape it tidy and tight, and if needed, a double layer. A single layer always works for me but it needs to be tight and all the way to the edge of the rim bed, preferably even a mm or two more so it goes up the edges.

How much sealant is in there, and are the tires tanwall? Tanwall tires seep a little bit of fluid.

I ride my 30 mm tubeless rear tire at 5 bar. Total system weight is 120 kg. I'm quite heavy....

(5 bar is the max allowed on my tires)

It all depends on how smooth the roads are in your area so pressure is quite the personal choice. Experiment!

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
Whole_Purchase_5589•

I watched several videos before going tubeless that all said two layers of rim tape. I would definitely try that. I have set two bikes up tubeless. My wife’s bike popped on first try and loses less air than a tube. My bike at first needed to be inflated every couple days. I tried popping the bead reseating it and after that it needs air every week or two which is similar to running tubes.

I would use a calculator to figure out pressure. I have 30mm tires and run around 60-65. 55 maybe right for 32, but good to double-check.

Good luck. I love tubeless. I replaced Schwalbe marathons with racing tires for commuting and a year of riding through glass and debris without a single puncture.

1
UniqueVegetable•

“Rides of Japan” on YouTube has two really good videos about setting up road tubeless.

My tubeless setup loses less pressure than most tubes I had—usually I can’t tell if the tires lost air overnight. I mounted them as recommended in his videos, first without sealant to make sure the tires stay seated and hold air without sealant. Taping was not easy and only on the third try or so I was successful.

The key for my wheelset (Zipp 303) was to make sure the tape covers the center channel first so that the spoke holes are perfectly sealed, and then cover the rest of the rim. Hold the tape under tension, turn the wheel a bit, press the tape into the center channel first with the other hand, then towards the sides of the rim.

The valve also needed attention. Pressing it into the rim with a lot of force improved the seal a lot.

1
lichtspieler•

Tubeless works allways better with more tire material to get a propper seal, road tires with much stricter weight restrictions will allways be just MEH with tubeless and air loss.

Keep in mind with the low pressure that people use with gravel bikes, that while the low pressure and tubeless avoids snakebite issues that you would have with inner tubes, the force in impacts doesnt go away, but it will hit your RIM's and kill your wheels pretty fast.

Instead of a snakebite with way to low pressure, you simply destroy your RIMs with tubeless. Some people are simply not honest about the reality with gravel bikes and tubeless.

I don't really understand why people even deal with this kind of pressure loss. My normal GP5000/GP 4-season + tube setup keeps 6BAR with butyl for 6 MONTHS and >8BAR pressure (110-120psi) is around 0.3BAR loss per 7-14 days till it hits 6-6.5BAR and remains there for months.

If you got decent rims, why would you even deal with tubeless and low pressure nonsense, you will just waste your rims for what?

Fine gravel doesnt need tubeless setups with low pressure, people ride since 120 years "gravel roads" with normal road bikes. If a road requires more dampening and tracktion, just use your MTB instead of wasting your time and components with a bandaid solution.

0
EhGoForIt•

This persons has never ridden gravel with hundreds of thorns and goat heads.

5
willstew1848•

Yeah, dude has never ridden gravel with a proper tubeless setup. Shit works great and your wheels only get dinged if your pressure is too low.

4
lichtspieler•

The majority of my rides is on normal tarmac roads here in germany, we have many cycling roads, gravel is simply rare.

The forest paths that use gravel are not really great for "gravel bikes" either, because its not fine gravel but full with bigger rocks. Anything lower as a 2.3" tire is really difficult to ride with, not because of comfort reasons, but the lack of traktion makes it quite annoying.

=> obviously road tires will get side cuts from the bigger stones, inner tubes or not doesnt even matter, your tires wont make it more than a handfull rides on those roads, even my GP-4seasons look like someone used a knife on the side walls after a few rides

1
Mr-mischiefboy•

I pump my tires up before every ride, so what? I haven't had to fix a flat on the side of the road in two years. On top of that, rolling resistance is lower. Once you get them set up tubeless is the way to go. The benefits are much better and the risks are much lower than stated above.

2
lichtspieler•

I dont know what two years are for you.

On my road bike, with tires lasting 5000-6000km (GP5000/4000) I had a single puncture in the last 16.000km and that was on glass - AFAIK glass cuts wont work well with tubeless either, because you wont just get small holes.

Tubeless test are never done against a clincher with propper puncture protection, even the GP5000 race tires are avoided, because it still got a decent puncture protection.

If your experience was worse with clincher, I honestly just assume you used some race-day / TT tires with way to low pressure for the roads you ride.

2
Mr-mischiefboy•

Yes, everything you assume is wrong. I commute 5 days 20mi year round. In the city of Philadelphia.

You're wrong about glass. Most glass is smashed into tiny pieces that either poke the tire then get ejected or tiny slivers that work in. Tubeless sealant deals well with both. Fun fact, the freshly broken edge of a piece of glass can be one molecule thick. That's so sharp nothing can stop it. That's why I'll do anything to avoid large pieces of a freshly broken bottle, it can cut your tire in half.

Puncture protection is slow. It's just a fact. When you add a stiff, tough layer to the casing you slow the tire. Tubeless accomplishes better puncture protection more elegantly with less weight.

You've got some weird preoccupation with other people's tire pressure. No, I don't run TT tires at a low pressure. I deal almost exclusively with punctures in my riding, never pinch flats. For the past two years I know when I've had a puncture because I find sealant on my down tube or seat tube when I get to work, not because I had to stop and fix a flat.

Look, you can run whatever you want. But stop justifying your choices with totally wrong information about tubeless. Just embrace the, "I'm a curmudgeon and I hate change" ethos and enjoy your rides.

2