Welcome to this week’s installment of Mountain Bike Monday. Today, Wandering Justin shares how he got schooled by a problem with his tubeless tires.
A few weeks ago, I realized that I’d worn the front tire on my mountain bike down to nothing. I dropped in at my old buddy Cal’s shop, Bicycle Haus. They’re a Specialized dealer, and carry a lot of their parts. One of the Specialized tires looked like my bag – The Captain! Named after mountain bike icon Ned Overend and aggressively treaded, I figured I couldn’t go wrong. I carted it home, and it was a breeze to install on my rim. That’s not always the case – tubeless tires and sealant can be a right bugger to install.
And it had traction galore! It did great on my first ride at Black Canyon Trail. Then I took it to Trail 100. After about eight miles of riding, that rocky monster tore a hole in The Captain’s sidewall. And the sealant couldn’t slam the door on the leak. I limped back hom by sticking a tube into the tire, which really screws up the ride quality.
To replace The Captain (which I hereby demote to The Private), I dropped into The Slippery Pig (The Captain’s failure is no fault of Bicycle Haus – and I would’ve gone there for another tire, but they mostly had Specialized. I wanted to cast a slightly wider net.). The friendly staff member there recommended the Geax Saguaro tires, which come in a two-pack with a big ol’ container of sealant, probably enough for four tires! She said the price made it one of their best sellers.
Well, one tire mounted fine. The other was a cast-iron bitch. Nothing could get it seated. I dropped back into The Pig for some tips. It turns out that, sometimes, tubeless tires need to be inflated faster than a floor pump can muster. That means an air compressor. I had everything mounted right, but it required a speedy inflation. The Pig’s compressor did the trick in about five seconds.
Now, you might think it’s a good idea to use a CO2 cartridge system to inflate your tubeless tire. But apparently, CO2 reacts badly to the sealant and produces all sorts of nasty unhappiness. So, says the mechanic in charge at The Pig, just don’t do it.
The good news is tubeless tires don’t always exhibit this cantankerous behavior. And even if they do it at first, they won’t do it after a few rides anymore. That’s good news for when you have to remove a bit of the bead to squirt fresh sealant in there.
Let’s re-cap:
1. Use a compressor to et air in there fast.
2. Don’t use a CO2 cartridge system.
By the way, hit mtbikeaz.com for more about the Black Canyon Trail. I just rode it for the first time recently, and will eventually get around to posting about it, too.
Got a question or idea for Mountain Bike Monday? Send it to wandering.justins@gmail.com!
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I’ve read a number of articles, posts, etc… about tubeless tire setup, but this article (Mountain Bike Monday – Two Tubeless Tire Tips/Feb. 8th – 2010) is the first about CO2 being detrimental to sealant. I’m guessing the mechanic at “The Pig” means it changes the sealant’s consistency? If that’s the case, I guess I’ll have to shop for air compressor. Though, I’m happy to say, that at times, I’ve had good luck with my floor pump. Dennis
You know, Dennis, I’m a little skeptical about that CO2 bit, myself. I interpreted his statement as you did – a consistency change brought on by the cold. I’d completely forgotten about this … I might have to go straight to the source and ask a few different companies like Stan’s what they think. Could be a good future topic. Thanks for your comment!