UKH

Just got my first tubeless ready wheels and tyres. I think i have fitted it correctly. Anyway a simple question ordinary tyres lose pressure over time and need to be pumped up again to the right pressure, ia this the same with tubeless? If so, do you do it like for a normal tyre?

Yes, they'll lose pressure. Inflate like normal... Until the valves clog with sealant. Then swear a lot. 

Possibly run lower pressure, but consider foam liners/inserts if running low off road pressure or high (road) pressure.

Remember to carry an inner tube for when it fails to seal.

Worth it for mtb and gravel, undecided for road, but currently cba on road bikes. 

I use (and carry) a new spare valve core for when the valve won’t seal properly after getting gunged up. Much easier and quicker (and cheaper) than putting a tube in.

Also, I’ve found pumping up generally with the valve either side of the six o’clock position can minimise sealant gunging up the valve core. However, over time it is likely to happen at some point as sealant thickens!

Have you ever had a puncture that failed to seal, but just sprayed sealant ad nauseum? A spare valve core is a good idea, but was wondering whether you thought it was in addition to a tube, or instead of, or a case of walking if it all goes wrong?

I've had such a puncture but it was at the end of the ride anyway. It sealed in the end but it was back in the shed. I've never used the tube I carry around. Now I carry a Nukeproof thing with plugs to help the sealing process as well but I can't remember actually using one. 

This is where 'YMMV' really comes into play! I've never had a blocked valve core, but I have had tyres which wouldn't ever seal reliably (always carried a tube, so eventually just left it in) and other tyres which showed no sign of a puncture for years, but when I came to remove them were like hedgehogs inside (lots of hawthorn hedges round here).

So for what it's worth, I always carry a spare tube (or two) plus pump (of course).

Oh and putting a tube into a leaky tubeless tyre with sealant is messy. Even more so when you get home and have to 'sort it out'. Just warning you.

Don't forget to top up your sealant every 6 months or so

Road/gravel/MTB out of interest. Its the road issue that's perplexing me. I'm not a convert on the road, but gravel and mtb I can really see it....

I'm only using about 75-80 psi on the road... but I get very few punctures anyway, so the idea of it all failing horribly anyway doesn't really appeal..

I can only add my 5-cents to this. I got a new endurance road bike last May, a Giant Defy Advance. It came set up tubeless with 32mm slicks. I was intending to go back to what I knew, skinny tubed tyres, but frankly it has been lovely. They roll fast, the ride is comfortable, and I get plenty enough grip on gravel when I inevitably end up going off the roads and onto the tracks on longer rides in the peak.

I *thought* I have never had a puncture with it but recent inspection of the tyre showed plenty of spots that look like sealed punctures, so it looks like the sealant did its thing and I didn't notice.

I guess that's the quandary: When it works it's great, but sometimes - unpredictably - it doesn't, and then it's a pain.

Yes you have to pump them up, but most people seem to run between 10PSI and 20PSI lower pressure than with tubes.

I'd agree that on longer rides, carry a tube just in case.

Yep, my experience too. Of course you just don't know when it's working 80? 90? 99 percent of the time - because you don't even realise you've had a puncture that has immediately sealed.

On my gravel bike and mountain bike I've not normally had to pump up the tires very often, although the back tire on my MTB is losing air currently - annoying as it's not apparent where from/why.

Yes, unfortunately. I once had a 5mm cut due to glass on the road (doh!, never saw the broken glass) and that didn’t self heal though it can’t be expected to have done so. That was a four mile walk!

I have since then got one of those thread kits and carry that all the time for any larger cuts - so far never needed to use it by the road side though have done at home when I managed to pick up a nail and it didn’t self heal when removed.  All my “normal” punctures have self sealed. I’ve had many of the latter due to thorns.

That 5mm cut btw was fixed by a thread kit doubled; lasted the remaining life of that tyre which surprised me esp with the abuse that mtb tyres get.

I don’t carry a spare tube usually, but would consider doing so if I was going really remote off road for safety.

It's not a lot to carry and it has save me a long walk several times. One word of advice: If you put a tube in, make sure you get ALL the sealant out of the tyre. The first time I had to do this I was impatient and just dropped the tube in and pumped. End result was that the sealant went inside the rim (somehow, probably round the valve hole) and then dribbled out everywhere for weeks afterwards.

Thanks. I had read before I went tubeless that a tube in a tubeless tyre with remaining sealant was not a good idea (and was messy to). Probably why I decided early on with tubeless not to carry a tube normally as a back up (though I take your point it is not much to carry and do for remoter journeys) and rely on a thread kit for larger punctures if I got them whilst out.

Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but all my normal punctures have self healed and most without even knowing they have happened until I inspect the tyres. I’m a convert to tubeless as it’s been great for me.

As others have said, it would be interesting to know what kind of riding you do. For what it's worth, my road bike rims and tyres are tubeless ready, but I've not bothered. Instead, I've got some latex tubes and paid attention to tyre pressure - a solution which I would thoroughly recommend. They are no-hassle non-messy (unless you count a bit I'd talcum powder) and certainly make a difference (lighter and subjectivly feeling both smoother and faster). Cost is probably about 10€ total, over and above good quality butyl tubes - one of which I carry anyway as a spare. Only other disadvantage is having to pump them up slightly more often. 

Caveat is that I do road riding on good roads, and rarely got a puncture beforehand. I ride carefully to avoid pinch flats (unweighting on curbs, edges and the like), but I do run lower pressure than before. My tyres are 28mm. I really can't see what advantage I'd get from going tubeless on the road bike. MTB is obviously different, but for what it's worth I have set up my gravel bike with latex tubes in 38mm tyres, but I am yet to test it out (frame should be coming next week!)

As previously mentioned those waxy fibrous plug things (and the prong like applicator) are well worth carrying - hardly any weight. They've got me out of a pickle a few times - when the puncture is too big to seal with the sealant alone.  Needs a more permamnent fix when you get home (can get special patches for inside of tyre). 

For the avoidance of confusion... the unsealable punctures I had were pin holes rather than gashes. Anchovies and thread were not going to help. I eventually put it down to very thin supple road tyres and possibly incompatibility with the sealant, but ultimately went back to using tubes with them. With burlier gravel tyres, tubeless all the way!

Another, maybe obvious, thing to remember when putting a tube into a flat tubeless tyre is to remove all the thorns that are probably in the sealed puncture holes or the tube will last all of 10 seconds. 

The tyres will be going on a new gravel bike which will hopefully see sction later this year once fully built up. 

I'll be interested to hear how it goes. It seems like the consensus is that tubeless is the right way to go for gravel, so maybe I'm in the wrong! I guess it will be a learning experience, if it's punctures galore, then maybe my local gravel is rougher than I thought and I should give tubeless a go.

Edit to add: if you're not aware of it already, take a look at the SRAM tyre pressure calculator - it's a great place to start for dialing in the right pressure for you and your riding. 

Thanks for all the replies so far. So i got an airshot canister and have a track pump. I fitted the valve and tyres then used the airshot to seat the tyre to the rim. Inserted some liquid sealant and pumped up the tyres. That was about 3 days ago, all seemed good but now the tyres are flat/very soft. Any ideas whhat migt be the cause and if so, what's the cure?

Did you give the wheels a good spin after you put the sealant in?

Could be many things like valve not seated/sealing to rim right, tyres not fully seated on rims, rim tape not properly in place and sealed to wheel, valve core faulty/not fully tightened, dirt/damaged rims, etc.

Most likely though I’ve experienced is tyre not fully seated on rim; can look ok but not be fully seated. Did you pump high enough to get a loud bang* as they seat?

Did you rotate wheel at multiple angles after sealant was put in to get it to cover all the insides? Is any sealant visible anywhere? I always rotate tyres immediately afterwards to get sealant to all areas inside as this either highlights any “fault” or self seals any minor imperfections.

* There is usually a loud bang as they fully seat on rim though it does depend on wheel and tyre combo; some are harder to seat than others. What pressure did you seat at? A pressure well above what you will run the tyre at usually is needed briefly to get tyre seated. For example, say, my mtb tyres that I run at 17-25 psi, I need 65-80 psi (my track pump booster is pressurised to 120 psi for that) to get them to seat fully on rim. Sometimes two or more high pressure blast are needed.