The first question to answer, however, is: why should I latex my wheels? I need it? The reason is clear: to drastically reduce punctures, especially in the case of small thorns.
But you also need to be real with yourself in understanding 2 things:
Will I go cycling often? Am I able to keep the latex inside the wheel under control?
If I haven't answered YES decisively to these two questions, the risk that the Tubeless system will bring more headaches than anything else is real.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TUBELESS SYSTEM
CAN I MAKE ANY MTB WHEEL TUBELESS?
No, the rim must be Tubeless Ready. But it must be said that now all modern rims, not considering the very low-end "supermarket" ones, are Tubeless compatible. The question of compatibility is related to connection between the tubeless tire bead and the bead seat located in the inner rim channel.
In non-tubeless models (Hookless) there is no tooth to keep the tire well sealed and not let the air escape. There are conversion kits to take normal wheels to tubeless wheels
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO LATTICIZE THE WHEEL?
- Tubeless or tubeless ready tyre
- Sealing liquid
- Valve
- Sealing tape
There are kits on the market that contain all these things in a practical box.
HOW TO MAKE A WHEEL BECOME TUBELESS?
Having read and understood the necessary premises at the beginning of the article, here are the steps to make our wheel Tubeless:
- Remove the tire
- Remove any inner tube
- Remove the inner tube protection flap
- Clean the rim channel well (because then you will have to apply the sealing tape which must stick well to the rim)
- apply the sealing tape (to be purchased based on the width of your rim)
- make a small hole (with a simple screwdriver) in correspondence with the hole for the valve
- install the valve making sure it adheres well to the rim
- I install the tire almost completely leaving a small part open, so I can put the latex
HOW MUCH LATEX GOES INSIDE THE TIRE?
- Close the tire and inflate it until it becomes beaded (ATTENTION: do not overinflate the tyre, above 3 bar, to avoid breakages!). If the tire does not buckle at 3 bar, deflate it and use a product to make the sides less "sticky" (soap, detergent or other)
- Spin the tire well, so as to "spread" the latex inside well and check if there are any leaks
- In the event of air leaks, the wheel has most likely been taped poorly or the valve does not adhere well to the rim. We have explored, TO THIS ARTICLE, the argument
- If you don't lose air, go for a nice MTB ride!
FURTHER LINKS
