Tubeless tyres will not bead

[22jeffers]

I have 29” i23 rims which I taped up using proper tubeless tape. I have tubeless valves with removable core. I have Schwalbe folding Rocket Ron TLE (tubeless) tyres (f2.25/r2.1)

I have used one layer of tape and overlapped at the valve hole.

I have a track stand pump and a tubeless air canister shot blaster thingy.

Im pumping the canister up to about 120psi, removing the valve core, and blasting the air. The tyres do nothing, just leak the air out the sides where there’s no contact.

Even when I fit the tyres with tubes, the beads just appear not to be tight enough on the rim, because when I let the tubes down, the tyres just collapse/ fall off the bead.

What’s the problem, the tyre or the bead? Any advice how to get these stupid things on? Different tyre brand with tighter fit bead? Any tyre recommendations?

[rmap01 ✓ supporter]

What are your rims?  Are they tubeless-ready?

[22jeffers]

Syncros i23 29ers. Bike is 2014 Scott scale so they weren’t tubeless ready, but I taped them up to be tubeless ready.

[Bike Nerd]

Sometimes the only way to get a tire to seat is to use a real air compressor. So go to your local tire shop, gas station, or bike shop and try seating those tires with some serious air pressure. I’m no tubeless tire expert but I’ve seldom had any luck seating a tubeless tire without a compressor. In addition you might need to put on more layers of tape to build up the bead. There are many Youtube videos which describe this process. Try to find an older video which describes this process before tubeless rims became more common.

[enduroexpert78]

I echo Bike Here’s comments. Non-tubeless rims are more difficult to setup, especially narrower rims with a taller profile (deeper well). Another tip: spray soapy water along the bead before inflating. The lubricating solution helps evenly distribute the bead along the rim.

[rmap01 ✓ supporter]

If you are going “ghetto tubeless” the inability to seat the bead is very likely because of the tape job and not the tires.  But before I would mess with the tape I would apply dish soap all along the inner edge of the rims as @enduroexpert suggests and then, before blasting  with air, make sure that there are no obvious gaps between the tire and the tape.  One other tip: When I’m having issues I usually pull the edge of the tire as close to rim by hand (all round the tire on both sides) before pumping up.  I do this after applying soap so that the tires will have that soapy lubrication underneath and are much more likely to seat once you blast the air.

[vapidoscar]

Try a tire insert. Minimal weight penalty with rim protection. Was able to seat mine with a regular floor pump.

[Sunspot]

22jeffers,

Have to ask if the rims are actually tubeless capable. No beadseat, welcome to “Drama 101”! Like rims from 20 years ago, there was no retention slot or groove at the edges of a rim to capture the bead of a tire. Mavic pioneered tubeless years ago and the rims had that beadseat that would hold the beads tight and make tire removal a tourett’s moment. It was referred to as “UST” or uniform standard for tubeless.

Tape is secondary to a properly designed modern rim. This needs to be attentivly done, of course however, with a mediocre job, a tire should seat up on a rim with a modern beadseat although, might not retain air for long.

A rim without a proper beadseat that will not retain the tire without air is plain unreliable and perhaps dangerous.

My plussers have Rocket Ron 3.0’s and Nobby Nic Performance 3.0’s on i45 rims that air up with an old Blackburn pump.

[Author]

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