Going Tubeless - Road Wheels

[AlanW]

I went tubeless on my MTB three or fours years ago and it has to have been one of the best modifications I have ever done.

So with that in mind, I have been pondering for quite a while about going tubeless on my road wheels as well.

Anyway, yesterday was the day I decided to go for it.   I already a pair of Ultegra tubeless wheels, a couple of valves and a bottle of sealant, I hadn't used tubeless specific tyres on my MTB and have had no problems what so ever, so I decided to use my normal Conti GP4000S tyres, nothing to lose and everything to gain.

In truth the installation could not have been any easier, certainly a lot easier than when I did my MTB wheels.

I did the front wheel first and it inflated and held pressure near away straight away.  Then spent 1/4 hour or so rotating wheel around to make sure that the liquid Latex sealant was equally coated to the internal carcass of the tyre.  A few bubbles appeared on the side walls as the sealant was seeping out, but it soon sealed up okay.

Now the rear wheel, and this one was not quite as easy.   For what ever reason the side walls were much more porous than the front tyre and I had a hell of a job getting the tyre to hold pressure.  But in the end I got it to hold at about 60psi.  Any higher pressure than that and the sealant was just simply vaporising as it left the side walls and was not sealing the holes.

So I decided to leave it over night at 60 psi and try again this morning.  Now its also fair to add that while we were watching the TV last night I had both wheels in the living room and every 10 minutes or so I would rotate both wheels just to get the liquid Latex to coat more on the inside of the tyre.

First thing this morning and I checked on the wheels, the front was still holding at 100 psi with no problem.  The rear wheel was also holding pressure albeit only at 60 psi.

So off I popped into the garage to increase the pressure in the rear to 100psi.  Connected the track pump and slowly started to increase the pressure.  Then it happened.........

BANG

The flipping tyre blew clean of the rim, and did you know how large an area 2oz of liquid Latex covers when it explodes?

Trust me, its a flppin' lot, the garage ceiling, the floor, all the shoes on the rack, the bench, the inside of the door, the cupboard doors, most things that were on the shelf and of course yours truly.  Not helped by the fact that I had the wheel leaning up against my left leg when it exploded!

I have since learnt that it is NOT recommended to use non tubeless tyres as they can blow of the rims without warning as apparently tubeless ready tyres are more reinforced on the beading.

Guess what....yep they do!!!

Now where did I put those tubes.... :oops:

[DaveM]

I think I heard the bang.  :D Good job it did'nt blow while you were watching tele.  Thanks anyhow for risking life and limb whistle bravely taking on pioneering work in the field of cycle tyre fitting.  You have made the world a safer place

[AlanW]

Two things l am really grateful of;

1) The missus would have really loved me if it would have exploded in the living room/kitchen.

2) More importantly, l could have been riding on them at the time and that makes me shudder to be honest.

[Sean Barker]

Sorry to hear about your experience Alan but you have to admit that was a particularly hilarious account 

 

[AlanW]

Sorry to hear about your experience Alan but you have to admit that was a particularly hilarious account 

 

 

To be honest, I would have loved to have seen the look on my face when it went bang, and then as I looked around and looked up and saw the dam stuff dripping from everywhere.  It was just like the Mr Bean sketch when he paints the room by dropping a firework in a tin of paint! And in case you have never seen it, look