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Cherokee
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Tubeless Conversion
06/07/13 at 5:14pm
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I'm trying to do a tubeless conversion and have the first tire done and aired up, but have air leaking around the valve stem. Every time I air it up to seat the bead solidly, when I get to about 40 lb it blows off air around the stem down to a little below 30 lb. Of course, I plan to ride it below 30, but like this it will pop off air at every bump. Tonight I plan to break the bead down and try to round out the stem hole better and maybe enlarge it a little to let the stem's shank pull into the hole farther.

The question is whether I even have the right kind of tubeless valve stem for this. This is the one I bought:

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I'm thinking the shoulder is not pulling into the hole enough, but maybe I'm just not using the correct valve stem. Any thoughts?
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #1 - 06/07/13 at 5:50pm
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I use those stems and they work fine for me.  Someone told me that if you screw them down to tight then you can screw up the bottom of the stems so try not to over tighten.  It might have more to do with the rims then the stems.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #2 - 06/07/13 at 7:44pm
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You are using the right stems


I put a minimal hole in the liner/tape and shove the stem in and tighten it down enough to smash some of the rubber base. After you air up the tire hold the leaking stem downward and shake the sealant  so it washes over the stem to help seal  any deformaties around the rubber shoulder.
« Last Edit: 06/07/13 at 7:44pm by Enoch »  
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Cherokee
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #3 - 06/07/13 at 9:03pm
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Thanks for the replies. Jerry I did do that to seal around the valve base. I think my error may have been to try cut out the hole and got it irregular rather than punch a hole and push the valve through it.

The main thing is knowing I have the correct valve...I'll work on it more, but it helps to know I'm not spitting into the wind.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #4 - 06/07/13 at 10:56pm
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Enoch wrote on 06/07/13 at 7:44pm:
You are using the right stems


I put a minimal hole in the liner/tape and shove the stem in and tighten it down enough to smash some of the rubber base. After you air up the tire hold the leaking stem downward and shake the sealant  so it washes over the stem to help seal  any deformaties around the rubber shoulder.


This worked for me.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #5 - 06/08/13 at 8:51pm
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I'm converting mine to tubeless tomorrow.  Thanks for the tips.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #6 - 06/09/13 at 2:41am
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I finally got the first tire to work. The second one never would seal. I was doing this on my back-up bike mainly for the experience. I didn't have trouble with either tire sealing even without using the compressor; the problem was just with the stem. I worked on them off and on all day and finally gave up on the second tire. I think I'm through with tubeless conversions unless I find a stem with a better design. I really don't like the design of the Stans valve stem. I had a couple of unused Mavic tubeless valve stems laying around  that have a thin rubber shank that pulls into the rim hole a little and seals very well. The rubber shank is much thinner than the fairly blunt rubber wedge of the Stan's stem. However, the Mavic stem couldn't be used on my non-tubeless rim because it's designed for a double walled rim and is not threaded far enough to tighten snugly. But even without being tight, it sealed better than the Stans.

My rims were WTB rims...an internet search brings up quite a few people who have had trouble with the valve stems leaking on WTB rims. That might be the issue here.

Good luck, DZack. Let us know how it goes.
« Last Edit: 06/09/13 at 11:59am by Cherokee »  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #7 - 06/09/13 at 11:05am
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I did the same conversion with a pair of WTB rims. It was frustrating but finally used two layers of Stans rim tape. Thes tires are a Maxxis and a Specialized Control. Took a good bit of patience (for me anyway) spinning and letting the Stans flow around the stem to get it to seal. Having a compressor helps. 
This is on my secondary bike. Six months later they still hold air.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #8 - 06/09/13 at 8:39pm
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While my general opinion is that American Classic parts are crappy, rebranded, outdated Zipp overstock, they do make lower profile tubeless valves.  Their rims won't work with Stan's valves because of the narrow channel in the rim.

Give them a shot.
« Last Edit: 06/09/13 at 8:40pm by stateprez »  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #9 - 06/09/13 at 11:12pm
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I have dt swiss 485d rims with Maxxis Ikon non tubeless tire and the only way I could get the tire to inflate was to add the sealant first...  Think that's what you have to do if you don't have tubeless ready tires from some youtube videos I was watching.. also I didn't really hear the bead "pop" like I heard In some of the videos but I shook the wheel around bounced it a few times and all seems to be good... ill do the rear wheel tomorrow.   

Also is there a time period I should wait before I go and ride or is it ready to go asap?
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #10 - 06/10/13 at 12:46am
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DZack wrote on 06/09/13 at 11:12pm:


Also is there a time period I should wait before I go and ride or is it ready to go asap?

Ride them ASAP...a quick ride will usually fix any leaks.

I can get my Ikons to seat without sealant.  Stan's Crest, Stan's strips.

I've been running Stan's Alpha 400's (2 layers of Stan's tape) on the road with Maxxis Padrone tubeless tires, no sealant.  Aired at 100 psi, they'll go down to 90 in a couple of days.
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #11 - 06/10/13 at 1:18am
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I got my new rear tire pretty high up in the psi and also never heard a ping.  Is the ping mandatory haha??
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #12 - 06/10/13 at 10:45am
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The valve stem can be cut out of an old presta tube and put into service. Not idealist works in a pinch. Smiley
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #13 - 06/10/13 at 2:24pm
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The Cycle Path wrote on 06/10/13 at 10:45am:
The valve stem can be cut out of an old presta tube and put into service. Not idealist works in a pinch. Smiley


That's kind of what I ended up doing. Except I used the whole tube.


(No problems sealing...why didn't I think of that to start with?)  Wink
  
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Re: Tubeless Conversion
Reply #14 - 06/10/13 at 3:36pm
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If you decide to pursue the tubeless conversion again Greg, feel free to bring it over. I bet we can conquer it.
  
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