Tire Lab

So, I'm still a little sick. I was feeling better yesterday and got on the trainer for about an hour for an easy ride; I think maybe that was a mistake. I felt worse this morning. So, I took things pretty easy today; even though I'm feeling better now, I decided not to ride at all. I did get out and shovel a little bit though... I can't believe it snowed again!

What I've spent most of the past couple days working on is getting my tires sealed up with the Stans Notubes system. I bought some new wheels from Stans: ZTR Olympic rims and Hope Pro II hubs. I'm using my Kenda Nevegal tires from last year. There are better race tires out there, but the Nevegal is a good tire, and, as it turns out, I think it was smart to start out with Stans on a used tire. I'm just using the yellow tape and sealant... no special rimstrip.

The first step in setting the tire up is to inflate it with just soapy water to help things seal. I spent about half an hour trying to figure this out with the first tire. This is where using a used tire helps, since the bead is already basically the right shape. The devil is in the details here; watching the video on Stans website really helped. I eventually got it (with a floor pump)... it was pretty cool when it finally sealed, you could hear the soap bubbles snapping and the tire actually held air for a little while. (Like I said, technique matters, I inflated the second tire on my first try.)

The next step is to add the Stans sealant and shake it around to seal any pinholes and around the bead. Again, used tires help here because most of the pinholes have already opened up. This is where Kenda's are a pain though, because their beads are notoriously hard to seal. It took me about two days to get them sealed, but I think I've got it now. Both tires held their air overnight last night, and the "soap test" doesn't show any foam. The picture below shows a soaped up tire during the sealing process, you can see the foam from a bead leak on the lower left.

I'll probably take the tires out for a little spin on the road before I hit the trail, but I expect everything to stay sealed up now. I was also originally concerned about the tires blowing off the rim on a tubeless setup, but now that I've worked with it a little, I feel pretty confident that the tire will stay on the rim.