Do-it-yourself Tubeless Tires by Blown240

There are a couple different ways to go tubeless.  The most common way is to buy an expensive "tubeless ready" rim, and a "tubeless ready" tire.  This way works great, but its pricey, and thats not why we are here.   The setup I am going to show here is called "Split Tube" or "Ghetto Tubeless".  It works great, costs less, and doesn't require a tubeless rim or tire.  Although tubeless ready tires setup much easier.



Things you'll need:


1.  An inner tube thats smaller than the rim you are using.  I am using a 20" tube on a 26" rim.   This will be used as a rim strip, and seals your rim from air leaks.



2.  Some Tubeless tire sealant.  This is used to seal any tiny leaks between the rim and the tire.  It also acts as a sealant if you get a thorn or other puncture.  There are many brands, the most common is called Stans.  I am using one called Tire Plasma because it was cheaper.  Some even make their own sealant, but thats another topic all together.



3.  An air compressor, or another way to inflate a tire fast with a lot of air volume.

4.  Not necessary, but really nice, is a large syringe to inject the sealant thru the valve stem.

The next step is important. You need to clean all the Talc off the inside of the cut tube. I like to take the tube off and give it a good wash under running water.




 

Once the tube is nice and clean, but it back on the rim and mount your tire.   Make sure when you mount your tire, that the cut tube sticks out evenly between the rim and tire all the way around, and on both sides.  Now, using a compressor, inflate the wheel.   Sometimes it inflates real quick, other times you have to play with it a bit to try to close any gaps between the tire and rim.  The tires I used inflate really easily.

In this pic, you can see the flap of rubber between the tire and the rim.  This is what makes this whole setup work.  In this pic, there is no sealant in the tire, and it is holding air fairly well.





The next step is too add sealant.   I like to pull the valve core and inject the sealant thru the valve using a syringe.  You can also unseat a bit of the tire, and dump some sealant in, but you run the risk of moving the split tube, and it can be a pain to get back in the right place.

I used about 4 ounces of sealant in this setup.  Smaller tires will take less.    Also, if your not using a tubeless ready tire, then you need to use more sealant.  Non tubeless tires will soak up a good bit of sealant because they are pourous.

NOTE:  you will need to add an ounce or so of sealant every 3-6 months.  This allows some sealant to still be liquid and it will be able to be able plug and punctures you may get.





Now that the sealant is in, go ahead and inflate the tire to its max recommended pressure.   Now pick up the rim, and shake it a ton, while you turn it around.  The goal is to cover all the inside surfaces with sealant.

No put the wheel back onto the bike and take it for a ride for about a mile. This will also help  distribute the sealant inside.





Once you know that everything is sealed up, you can trim off some of the excess on the rubber flap between the tire and tube.   I like to wait about a week to do this, and then I like to leave about 1/4 sticking out all around.   If you trim it too close, it may loose the seal at lower PSI, and if you ever need to change the tire, you wont be able to reuse the rim strip/split tube. 

NOTE: if you are running rim brakes, you will need to trim the flap more, so that your brakes work.  This setup works best with Disc, or Hub brakes.





And now your done!! Time to get out and enjoy not having to worry about flats as much, and enjoy the feeling of less rotating weight on your bike!  You will notice that the tires seem to roll better.  There is something about not having the tire against tube and any friction there that gives the tires a more smooth feel.  Its hard to explain, but you'll probably notice it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

WOW!

what's the weight difference between a tube and the sealant? or would you use the sealant anyway, tube or not?