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Today my BIL aske me to help him fit Pro One TL to his Hunt 4 Season wheels.
I have used tubeless for years, but i have had a total nightmare....and failed to sort them.
The tyres were amazingly tight on the rim, and once the epic struggle of getting them on was accomplished, they seemed so stiff in construction that no amount of trackpump, ghetto 3L inflator at 65psi would seat them.
The Hunt video shows him putting them on easily amd then seating with one stroke of the track pump.
We even used the ratchet strap tactic, but to no avail.
What have i done wrong?
Spray some soapy water or muc off round the rim. Should help the tyres slide on. I use a gas canister as well since i don't have a compressor.
I moved to different tyre, Hutchinson Sectors.
ive also gone up to 100psi in a pop bottle inflator, so try more pressure. I assume you’ve removed the valve core?
I hat some real trouble with Hunt wheels and Schwalbe G-One and Pro One tyres. They weren't the hardest tyres I've had to fit but getting them off was something else!
I ended up having to cut one of the G-Ones off the rim as it would not come off at all! In all honesty I wasn't impressed with either tyre running them tubeless, they all punctured very easily and wouldn't seal with the tubeless sealant. I'm now back to tubes on the road bike.
Mine have been fine but seating them took a lot of care, they needed lifting onto the rim bead. Once on, they popped up no problem with an AirShok compressor and they've been faultless since then. Did LEJOG a couple of weeks ago, zero punctures or pressure loss.
Good tyres - light, roll well and they're grippy but comfy.
These tyres are an absolute and total bastard to get on and then even worse to try and get to seal tubeless! The best way of helping imo is to stick a tube in, inflate the tyre to full pressure on the rim and leave for at least 48hrs. Then try to set up tubeless with a tubeless inflater and by removing the valve core to get to seat on the rim. Then whack in some sealant, put the valve core back in and see if they inflate without leaking!
Well he already has the tyres so i will dobthe 2 day inflation with tube plan.
The tyres bent the tips of my Park tyre levers...and we had to use some DH levers with thin metal tips...
I will report back. i had no idea that they were such a pain to use in tubeless mode. I will look for some Hutchinsons for my next fitment.
thanks all
Fairly liquid solution on the bead, valve core out and 120 psi in an Airshot...works every time
will look for some Hutchinsons for my next fitment.
Rims make a difference too - mine went up a doddle on superstar arc rims. I'd say they were the easiest tubeless I've ever done.
Mine went on easy to grail rims but were very hard to inflate, a real ballache - I got them done by levering the bead onto the shoulder of the rim [few youtube clips of this technique] as best I could and they eventually went up. This is maybe harder to do if the bead is really tight.
Wouldn't buy pro one's again - I've had vittoria cross tyres go up on these same rims completely without problem, so it's just not worth the setup hassle.
Also use some fairy liquid inside the bead to ease it onto the rim in the first place. Just a little on the last bit you mount. I usually do this to avoid the wrestling on any tubeless tyre.
Same story here . Broke 3-4 plastic tyre levers fitting the blasted things. Tried and failed to get the bloody thing to seat , broke my remaining levers getting the tyre off the rim again .
Didn't try the tube in tubeless technique , but I was out of levers by this point., and I hadnt invented my car tyre - bicycle tyre inflation device , like i now have.
Ok, seems like an airshot or mega fire extinguisher reservoir is the item.for the job here!
Have had similar experiences that were helped with a bit of soapy water.
What mulv said
some rims and tyres are silly tight. I tried to fit a Pro One to some LB carbon rims and hit the same problem. Whether it's the rim or the tyre that are at 'fault' I'm not sure but the previous Bonty tyres were okay.
Odd. Just fitted a pair of 23c Schwalbe Pro One Evo ("TL Easy") tyres to a set of new Hunt Race Aero wheels. Normal game - soldering iron to size the valve hole, included valves fitted, tyres seated on the rim dry (no soap, no latex) and inflated with my Specialized Air Blast. Tyres didn't feel any tighter to fit than the 25c GP4000s that I was removing and were fitted by hand (albeit with sore thumbs afterwards!)
Both wheels inflated with the air blast first time with no issue and, after being manually topped up to 110psi, have stayed more or less inflated despite being fitted without fluid or anything! I will sort this later tonight when I have time.
For comparison, I've used this exact setup to install Schwalbe G-Ones to a set of Fulcrum Racing DB5 wheels on my gravel bike and it was an absolutely arse to do, taking probably 4 or 5 attempts per tyre before they "caught" and inflated onto the rim.
I'd echo others in this thread - the Pro Ones were the easiest TL tyres I've ever fitted, based on fitting two and both inflating first time with no leaks or faff.
Edit: It's worth noting that the Air Blast goes up to over 130psi (in fact, it goes as high as my track pump will take it!), so it really does give the tyres a good "kick" onto the rim. You mention 65psi in your original post - I've not tried mine at this, but it certainly wouldn't have seated the G-Ones on my gravel bike! Perhaps your ghetto solution isn't going to work here...
Tubeless Easy is the best name ever. Especially when you're sweating and gritting teeth, tearing thumbnails away from fingers and snapping multiple tyre levers. I'd hate to fit Tubeless Frickin Hard tyres.
Anyway, I've found this stuff helps -
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/schwalbe-easy-fit-montage-fluid-30843
Easiest tyres tubeless ever.
Depends on the rims. They were very easy on my Grails, but even then they needed a gas canister when I needed to refit them. Anyway, given how fragile they are there's plenty of opportunities to practise.
i have exactly that wheel/tyre combo...
i found an inner tube 1st to seat the bead, leave it over night, then tube out with only one side unseated, the valve in, the using an airshot pumped up to 160psi (which i happened to own anyway) did the job.... for the rear wheel.
the front wheel wen on in minutes with a track pump and barely breaking a sweat
The tl tubeless ones I had were horrid and I managed to damage a rim getting the on. Cut them off in the end. Never got them to work tubeless.
i will buy an airshot....unless something else is better?
I've got one of these:
https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/pump-products/specialized-air-tool-blast
...picked it up with some half-price-voucher deal that came up earlier this year, so was only £25. Can't say whether it's better than others, but it's worked well for the Pro Ones and worked (eventually!) for the G-Ones too.
Well I just fitted a pair of these tyres to my hunt race aero wide wheels and it was really very easy. Tyres went on ok and went straight up with a track pump. Just removed the valve cores, dumped in some jizz and reinflated. 23mm if that makes any difference?
28mm tyres in exactly the same combo. Went on first time and super easy. Didn’t have to resort to any tricks - valve cores out, leaving a tube in, strapping the tyre etc.
wow, its hard to believe people are saying they manages this quite so easily. Im getting an airshot device and i will try again v soon.
Thanks for your input everyone.