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Just a PSA here, since I wasnt aware. Bought a Continental Trail king 2.4 and a Continental Mtn King 2.2, and have changed tubes in a Kenda Honey Badger 2.3, on WTB laserdisc trail rims. Every time, Ive had a hard time when pumping up getting the bead to fall into the rim. Ive tried all the youtube tricks, like working the tire back and forth at lower pressures and pulling on it to get it on the rim, but no luck. Everytime, a roughly 8 inch section isnt seated, so basically the letters on the tire are close or covered by the rim. Well, finally read the directions on my MTN king, and it said to inflate to max PSI, then back off to recommended pressure. I didnt do that, because who rides at 65 psi? Well, I finally got pissed it wasnt seating and just pumped the crap out of it. Aroumd the 45-50 PSI range, pop, it slid right into the rim channel and seated. Go figure, us men and directions. So I wrote this if anyone has had trouble to help. Also, I know tubeless is all the rage, but my friend has had nothing but problems. Tires are sealing, he rides 5 times, then tires leak and wont seal. Hes used more and more sealant, but we are always stopping for his stupid tires. Is it just him? Ive thought about going tubeless, but his situation keeps me from going there.
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Great tip. I definitely cringe a little when pumping up beyond 40psi–you never know when you’re going to get a loud pop!
How are your buddy’s tires leaking? Where is the air coming from?
Some tires, especially ones that aren’t officially tubeless-ready, have porous rubber that tends to leak air, mostly through the sidewalls. It’s also possible he’s burping the tires. This is basically when the tire momentarily comes unseated, usually due to a square-edge hit or cornering really hard. In both of these cases, there will be evidence of sealant leaking out onto the tires.
Another idea: the rims might be leaking air. If the tape job isn’t quite right, air will leak at the rim since most of the sealant just hangs out on the tire itself and not up on the rim. If this is happening you probably won’t see any sealant outside the tire.
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I think it’s probably the tape as well. If he’s put in a ton of sealant the tire should be airtight at this point.
Sometimes when working the bead onto the rim, you can pull back the edge of the tape which allows air and sealant to leak out into the interior of the rim.
Don’t let your buddy’s experience discourage you though if you want to go tubeless. It’s waaaaaaaaaay easier than it used to be. Most people’s “horror stories” regarding tubeless tires are from back when they tried it 10 years ago. Which did suck. But it doesn’t now.
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I third the tape. I had some seepage under my rim tape and sometimes the sealant in that leak would hold and others it wouldn’t. Could have a good ride one day and the next the air would leak out. Had to start with new tape, clean rims and new sealant. Still super easy to go tubeless these days with anything reasonably modern.
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