Ditch the tubes for a smoother ride

To go tubeless or not? If you like fixing punctures all power to you... everyone else, read on

Much has been made of the pros and cons of tubeless tyres. In my experience, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks considerably. The system works out lighter, the tyre is suppler without the extra material inside it so it’s a comfier ride, and the chance of a puncture is greatly reduced. Yes, it’s a bit of a faff if it does go wrong and it sometimes takes a bit of setting up but I don’t know many people who’ve made the switch and subsequently reverted to tubes.

The learning curve for manufacturers has been fairly steep and the common proving ground of WorldTour racing hasn’t been entirely smooth, but tubeless is here to stay. Increasingly, rims and tyres are produced sporting ‘ tubeless ready’ graphics and some manufacturers are even supplying complete bikes set up this way. Cars and motorcycles have been tubeless for years, why not our bikes?

We ‘ve looked at tyre removal on the preceding pages, so here we’ll just concentrate on the installation itself.

01 Clean & prep

Remove the rim tape and clean the rim bed thoroughly. Fit the tubeless tape starting a reasonable distance from the valve hole, applying two complete layers and finishing a similar distance past the valve hole. Make sure no air is trapped by keeping the tape tight squeezing any bubbles out as you go.

02 A tight fit

Pierce the tape at the valve hole and fit. Ensure the valve collar is tight to create a good seal either side of the rim. Fit the tyre. It may be a little resistant as the tolerances are tighter on tubeless setups to encourage a better seal.

03 Pump it up

Inflate the tyre dry. A pump with a chargeable chamber or a compressor delivers the volume of air faster. This step will seat the tyre and let you know if there are any major issues without spraying you with sealant.

04 One quick way...

If you have valves with removable cores let the tyre down and remove the core. Use a tube attached to a syringe to insert the sealant, so you don’t need to unseat the newly-fitted tyre. Once the required amount is in, refit the valve core.

05 ... and another method

If you don’t have removable valve cores or a syringe kit to hand you’ll need to let the tyre down, unseat one side and pop a short section off the rim. Pour the required amount of sealant into the tyre and refit the tyre as you did before.

06 Job done

Inflate the tyre again. It’s common to have a little sealant escaping as it seals any small holes it finds. Spin the wheel and angle it from side to side to coat the whole of the inside of the tyre. Clean any escaped sealant off and fit the wheel.