Tubeless pump ??

[sethpo]

Anyone out there from Team Tubeless try this pump or know one similar?

Bontrager TLR Flash Charger Floor Pump

Looks pretty handy for getting the bead seated. It’s $$$$ though but seems like maybe a huge time saver.

[jabberwocky]

120 bucks? For that price just get a pancake compressor and call it a day.

Plus, its bontrager. Which means it will work for a year or two tops.

[Raymo853]

I have one. Got it as a Christmas present. It seats big tires easily. It is a little annoying to use as a pump normally, as it has to charge the chamber to the tire’s pressure first.

It feels well made. Yes a little compressor would be nice, but not when you are out in the woods without power. Yes you could get a travel tank, but those do not last for ever not are as easy to pack.

[hozn]

I have this high-volume pump from Lezyne.

It was $40 on CL. I briefly considered the bontrager, but yeah it costs more than a cmpressor (or definitely a gheto tubeless inflator using 2-liter bottle). In the end, I haven’t had any tubeless setups I couldn’t seat with a floor pump (even pre having a high-volume pump). — At least not with tires drained to be used tubeless.

[sethpo]

@jabberwocky 137066 wrote:

120 bucks? For that price just get a pancake compressor and call it a day.

Thanks. My understanding is you needed a rather large capacity compressor to generate enough ooomph to seat the bead on the rim. Comparably priced compressors seem to have around 3 gal. tanks. Is that enough to deliver that quick blast of air?

Portability is definitely a thought as well. It would be nice to just throw it in the car w/o having to worry about a power source as well.

[hozn]

Are you having problems seating tubeless tires with a regular pump?

With purpose-built rims and tires, there shouldn’t be any need for special equipment. I can seat my Specialized tires on Stans rims with a Topeak mountain morph hand pump. But I know that tires with wire beads can be tough. Or rims not designed for tubeless can make seating a little trickier.

[Raymo853]

I have on bigger mtb tubless tires like 2.3s and 2.5s on Stan’s and Bonti rims. Especially with Bonti tires, they tend to have looser beads.

[sethpo]

@hozn 137107 wrote:

Are you having problems seating tubeless tires with a regular pump?

With purpose-built rims and tires, there shouldn’t be any need for special equipment. I can seat my Specialized tires on Stans rims with a Topeak mountain morph hand pump. But I know that tires with wire beads can be tough. Or rims not designed for tubeless can make seating a little trickier.

Yup. I was able to eventually seat the Pro Ones. Difficult the first time but since I’ve been able to quickly re-seat them. I can’t seem to get the new G-Ones seated though even after a week with tubes

[hozn]

Ah, ok. That is too bad! The G-One does look nice. Which rims are you using?

[sethpo]

@hozn 137118 wrote:

Ah, ok. That is too bad! The G-One does look nice. Which rims are you using?

These are going on the Volagi Ignite VL’s w/ 25mm tubeless-ready rims.
http://www.volagi.com/product-category/wheels/

The Pro One 28s are on Reynolds Stratus Pro disc that are daily commuters and road ride. They really are fast and smooth. I run them about 60-65 psi.

I’m thinking if I do cross this season I’ll end up with some tubeless tires for that as well and really like the idea of a portable / quick solution for re-seating tires…but man that’s expensive for a pump.

[hozn]

Yeah, pricey. I have considered building one of these: https://youtu.be/EtmatxJG_zg

Though I haven’t needed it yet. I have probably been a bit lucky.

In your situation are the beads staying in the center channel (rater than going up onto the shelf)? Or something else?

I end up using dish soap on the new tires, or just use sealant for the beads (but soap is cheaper).

[Anonymous]

This is clearly a ymmv thing, because opposite of hozn, i’ve never been able to seat a tire with the floor pump. Using CO2 cartridge it’s a snap, though. I guess it would depend on how often you’re putting on tires, but at $1 each i’d have to change a lot of tires before it becomes price prohibitive.

[hozn]

Good point; co2 is cheap. I have had to use a co2 once for some non-tubeless carbon rims. Tires fit so loosely on those rims. I do find the best setup is when the beads are tight enough on the rims so that using the center channel [for mounting the tires] is a requirement.

Definitely Stans rims have always been the best for seating. The wide bead shelf helps, I think. Other rims sometimes require a bit of furious pumping to get enough air in there to move the beads up. E.g. seating the Specialized Roubaix Pro 2bliss on Flo30 (not necessarily designed for tubeless, but have enough center channel to work) required some spirited pumping with the high-volume pump. I might not have been able to seat that combo with the regular floor pump (at least not without starting with a tube to lock in one of the beads and going crazy with soap).

I used to always start with tubes in the tires first to get everything bedded nicely, but don’t bother with that anymore.

And sometimes the benefits just aren’t worth it. E.g. the Xerxes was a PITA to seat and then I couldn’t run it high-enough pressure to make it roll fast on pavement. So switched back to tubes for that one.

[Raymo853]

@hozn 137151 wrote:

Good point; co2 is cheap.

Do note co2 is not friendly with most sealants.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/12/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-tire-sealant-questions_355499

[sethpo]

@Amalitza 137149 wrote:

This is clearly a ymmv thing, because opposite of hozn, i’ve never been able to seat a tire with the floor pump. Using CO2 cartridge it’s a snap, though. I guess it would depend on how often you’re putting on tires, but at $1 each i’d have to change a lot of tires before it becomes price prohibitive.

Yup. Your logic makes total sense. Although I’ve gone through two cartridges already with this one wheel before deciding the rim tape was too wide and re-doing it w/ custom cut gorilla tape. It’s now at the point w/ my old floor pump that I can get it up to about 40 psi w/ just a few rim leaks so another cartridge would surely do the trick or maybe not even if I worked at it long enough. Then again, T+1 is appealing to my inner tool nerd. sigh.

For those using soapy water to ease things along (and I also read on some MTB forum of people using butter on the tire bead) do you get them seated “wet” and then remove the valve core and add the sealant or do you have the sealant in there before adding the soapy water lube or does it not matter if you mix some of the soap water w/ the sealant?

[Author]

Posts