Tubeless Racing Ralph...I'm beat

It now reduces to about 20 psi over 7 days

You should try using Latex inner tubes, that would happen overnight!

I'd be happy with that for tubeless MTB. My gravel bike is about the same loss rate...

Given I check pressures before each ride, I don't really care if it's dropped a bit (or a lot).

On the road side all schwalbe tubeless are followed by “TL” so you know its tubeless.

10psi in 7 days - I’d take that on my MTB!

My Maxxis lost similar, wtb about 5 psi in a week but my conti’s lose virtually nothing over a week.

Pump up before every ride you’ll be fine. 10psi a day…different story at that pressure.

My road tyres lose about 5psi every couple of days at 85psi starting.

You’ll never get totally air tight.

My rear tyre is a Racing Ralph set up tubeless and will hold 30 psi for 3 months or so, before needing a top up of air. This front tyre needs a top up weekly currently.

30 for 3 mths…wow. I’ve never achieved that!!!!

I bought a similar tyre assuming it was the tubeless one. It wasn’t and no way of getting it to hold pressure. Swapped to the specific tubeless one and no issues at all. You need the TL tyres.

Someone will be along in a minute to say they've been using tubeless 15 years and never have had a puncture nor lost any air.

Tubeless isn't' for me. Tried it many times. I get the advantages, but it is a messy faff, you always lose pressure, it's useless for touring and you still get punctures.

Swapped to the specific tubeless one and no issues at all.

This is my conclusion too, thanks.

I've had the same problem with tubeless specific Nobby Nics so I wouldn't assume it's going to fix all your issues.

Interestingly, I did both and one tyre was fine while the other still can't hold air for longer than a day or so.

I even used Schwalbe sealant.

Just ride it, and pump it up before you ride.

What you need is valves that cost more than the tyre...

You really shouldn't need to patch a tyre from new though, was it actually new or a faulty/used return do you think? - it looks fairly new in the photo but difficult to be sure.

Not sure it’s the issue here but MucOff fluid gets frequently called out as being awful.

TBH, thats a good point, i got some mucoff sealant in a gift pack a couple of years ago. It was bloody useless. Tyres that i'd already used tubeless refused to seal up. Switching back to the Stans i had on the shelf, sealed first time.

Also, scrub the inside of any tyre, some have a greasy residue that stops the sealant actually wetting the inside of the tyre, so it takes ages to actually seal anything.

(and yes, i'm one of the annoying b'stards who can get pretty much anything to go tubeless. Including some which are "impossible" according to most.)

FWIW, I have two wheels with RaRa TLE on DT Swiss tubeless ready rims using Stans and both hold 30psi for months no problem.

I will try Stans, I have not been impressed with the Muc-off sealant to date. I think the rubber on the tyre above must have micro pores where the sealant just can't get into, hence is very slowly loses pressure. I'm surprised folk see pumping up a tyre every ride as a viable option!

That's not a tubeless ready tyre, so perhaps not surprising it's not staying up.  I tried to go tubeless on some "performance" nobby nics, not a chance. I've found the muc off sealant just fine so far, sealed everything for me 👍

I’m surprised folk see pumping up a tyre every ride as a viable option!

I do this anyway, even with tubes. They also deflate with time, especially on a road bike with 90psi in. Takes 1 min to do.

I had similar issues setting up non-TR Maxxis Ardents as tubeless. The more I ride them the better they hold air, I think the rotation combined with the motion of the ride making the tyres flex really helps seal any micro leaks.

I've a Racing Ralph on the front of my bike setup tubeless and it loses very little air. And it has never punctured, it's a Performance 29er as well.
The rear Rocket Ron on the other hand has several tubeless repairs and was more difficult to get to seat and seal. 🤷‍♂️

For me tubeless is fantastic when it works which is about 90+% of the time. When it doesn't work, it can fail quite spectacularly and be a messy and faffy fix. That's if you can fix it.

I'll take the occasional faf over the majority of great performance.

I've been using ghetto tubeless for nearly 20 years, using art latex as sealant and split inner tubes as rim strips. You can convert nearly any tyre to tubeless, but extremely thin sidewalls tend to seep a bit. Losing 7 PSI in a week is normal. Proper tubeless tyres are obviously much easier.

As for sealant, the muc-off stuff is fine for setting up new tubeless tyres but crap at sealing punctures. It doesn't dry up too quickly though.

I'd always used Stans before but it can dry up pretty quickly and is more expensive.

Now using Joe's and like it, it's on special too at Chain Reaction.

@coconut

I’m surprised folk see pumping up a tyre every ride as a viable option!

Why would you not? The vast majority of rolling resistance, traction, cornering, ride feel etc is dependent on tyre pressure.

I check mine almost every time i ride and never more than 2 rides on an MTB. Maybe 3 on a road bike. And TBH, with the lower and lower pressures that everyone is using, you have less and less margin for error, or smashing your rim.

The money i spent on a decent track pump and gauge has been well worth it.

Oh, I should add I do use tubeless ready RRs in 2.35 and they lose about ooh, 2psi in a fortnight?

I run UST RR on UST rims, even though they will hold air really well I still check every ride...
and a 10 psi drop in pressure wouldn't bother me, thorns holes taking time to seal, a burp I never noticed clogged valve not shutting properly just pump and ride.

Not sure it’s the issue here but MucOff fluid gets frequently called out as being awful.

Never tried their sealant, but their chain lubes come last in every independent test which measures wear rate - Zero Friction Cycling called it 'grinding paste', the only lubes which couldn't complete his tests protocol as the chain was too worn after block 1 of 5 tests!

I’m surprised folk see pumping up a tyre every ride as a viable option!

Been doing that for 30+ years, long before tubeless came about!

 I’m surprised folk see pumping up a tyre every ride as a viable option!

How d'you know if your tyre is at the right pressure othrwise?

How many layers of rim tape do you have? 1 or 2?

I find I need two layers to get my tyres to seal properly. My road wheel failed the other day as it popped the spoke hole as it only had 1 layer on when I bought them, never thought to check it.

If it's not a TL ready tyre and If it's leaking out the side walls, take the tyre off and swish the sealant round, pour out the excess into a container and let the sealant on the tyre go off over night/couple of days. (I find a tyre I've previously used goes up better because of the sealant that's set, not 100% sure but it works for me)

Then try it again, put the sealant back in and use water with washing up liquid in to get the bead to move and pop when you inflate it. Sometimes it looks right but it's not on the bead and let's air out, even after riding it.

My tubeless mtb tyres stay inflated for ages. I only ever pump them up from time to time to check the pressures. If they are going down after a week something isn't right. My road tyres don't lose that much pressure in a week!

Currently using stans or Joe's sealant

You have to wait 7days to get to perfect trail pressure?
Why not just start a 20 😉

How d’you know if your tyre is at the right pressure othrwise?

I squeeze my tyres, if they feel okay I ride my bike.

I’m going to bookmark this thread and come back to it if I ever feel the urge to try tubeless again (which is very unlikely)