Introduction

This page describes a very effective method to eliminate snake-bites and flats in mountain biking.

Any mountain biker that's even semi-serious has had a fair share of flats, I'm sure. Recently a new latex-based material is on the market that turns any regular, tube tire into a tubeless tire, eliminating the need for an inner tube and, more importantly, is very effective at eliminating flats altogether. The advantages of this method has been reviewed extensively with mind boggling results. This last link is particularly exciting - it demonstrates the strength of the idea to the fullest.

What's less known is that, in my mind, there's a better and cheaper method than Stans' notube, that has the following advantages:

• Uses a regular tube with Shrader valve, that is cheaper than Stan's kit, with a valve that is stronger and fits gas station air compressors.

• The method is more air-tight, since the tire presses against rubber (rubber on rubber) rather than the rim (rubber on metal).

• The procedure is greatly simplified. No soap-and-water, no need for special nylon spoke tape, and altogether easier sealing.

The following method greatly improves on the product, at a reduced overall price.

Materials you'll need

Tire sealant - either Stan's no-tubes material (just the material, not the entire kit), or in Israel, Joe's no-flats material

24" inner tube, preferably shrader valve, which has a removable core. Any brand will do and it need not be fancy.

A tire in good condition. I've sometimes had problems with old  tires. That's because the rims of used tires are already folded inwards, which makes locking them on the rim difficult, so save yourself the trouble and get new tires for this. Besides, a good installation of the tubeless system will outlast the life of the tire. I've had one ridden to the bare cloth, 4000km, with no puncture. So it's worth starting fresh, in my opinion.

Finally, you'll need rim tape, if the wheel doesn't already have one fitted.

Tools You'll need

• A pair of scissors

• A xacto knife,  or swiss-army knife or similar

• Air compressor  (gas station compressor or similar). Alternatively, a CO₂ power pump may do the trick, though I personally never tried it

• Tire irons - optional

•  Optionally, a shrader valve core removal tool, available from most auto shops, like this valve cap that has a core removal slot.

   

Procedure

Take the 24" inner tube and do something unusual with it: using the pair of scissors, cut it at the seam that's farthest from the valve, all around its perimeter. The end result is a closed strip with the valve is at the middle of the strip. It's similar to Stan's notube strip, except that it's a lot wider and has a shrader valve. If you have a shrader valve core removal tool, remove the core by inserting the tool inside the valve and rotate counter-clockwise until the core protrudes out the valve body. Pull the core out.
insert the valve through the hole in the rim, and push it all the way in so it sits snugly inside the rim. Stretch the tube around the rim, with the rim approximately centered.
Since the tube is 2" smaller in diameter (24" tube compared to a 26" rim), it'll stretch tightly around the rim. Snug it in the rim. The talcum powder that's in the tube can also be wiped away at this time
Now you can go two ways, and I'll explain both. The end result of both is the same: the tire is mounted on the rim, with the inner tube between the rim and the tire. Do one of the following (Cut tube first method; Cut tube later method): Cut tube first method (easier): First, with the tube snug inside the rim, use the xacto knife to cut the tube up to the height of the rim, as shown in the first picture at right. Cut gently and slowly, making sure the tube is not pulled outside the rim, but rather stays inside tucked all the way down. Cut at both rims, and then mount the tire, making sure it fits inside the tube, and the tube is not folded under the rim. The tube is between the tire bead and the rim, all around both sides. Cut tube later method: Do not cut the tube to size yet. Fit the tire over the tube, onto  the inside of rim. Start with one side. Starting is easy, but once you get to the last section, it'll be a bit hard because the tire needs to go over the tube, which makes the rim slightly larger in diameter. With the help of a tire iron and some patience, push one side of the tire across. The tube must stay outside the rim, with the tire bead make contact with it from inside the rim. Do a similar procedure to the other side. It's harder to fit the tire this way, but the possible advantage is that there is plenty of tube left over the rim. Go all around the rim (easy at first), when you get to the difficult end, about 5" left, stop, unless the valve core has been removed. In that case, complete pushing the rim all the way around. The bottom two pictures show the end result: the tire inside the rim, before air is pumped, and the rim locking the tire bead as air is pumped	Cut tube first method Cut tube later method before and after inflating tire
With a bit of the tire section still outside the rim, rotate the tire so that the open section is at the bottom. Fill the tire with the specified amount of tire sealant  Rotate the tire 180 degrees so the sealant stays at the bottom and the open section is now on top, and push the remaining section of the tire across the rim, again, making sure the tube edges stays out all around the rim, from both sides. If the core has been removed, inject the sealant via the valve hole.
The end result is the tire inside the rim, with its bead against the inner tube, with the wide inner tube protruding out the rim all around the tire on both sides. Give the tire several rotation, but don't press on it. Just make sure the sealant makes a few turns inside the tire, coating it all around. If the core has been removed - screw it back in using the core tool. Get the air compressor. If using a gas station compressor, make sure it is set to 'inflate empty tire' or whatever setting to get it to work continuously, and pump air in. Do that while the tire is held in the air, not touching the ground so as to retain its round shape. The bead should soon lock on the inner tube and the tire fill up to pressure with air. Now set the compressor to around 55 or 60 PSI and fill to that pressure. Rotate the tire several turns.
Hold the wheel by the tire and shake, as shown here. Rotate tire a bit and repeat. If there's a leak, (bubbles), move that section to the bottom and do the shake until it stops.
Using a cutting knife, cut the remaining inner tube, close to the rim (careful not to cut the tire).

Troubleshooting

On some combinations of tires and rims I've had problems inflating the tire. The beads did not lock on the rim, because of one of the following three factors:

• The beads had steel in them that made them a bit heavy and inflexible (Panaracer FireXC pro)

• The rim was V-shaped such that the tire tended to 'close up' its bead (Cane Creek WAM)

• I used a gas station compressor that emitted 'pulsed' air flow, of about 2 seconds, with about 2 seconds interval - in which the air quickly deflated out of the tire.

I found the following procedure remedied all of the above. You'll need the core removal tool and a 'real' compressor - one that can blow continuously from a reservoir, and also a bucket with equal parts of liquid dish detergent and water, and a brush.

• Mount the tire entirely, and remove the core from the valve.

• Using the brush, wet the bead of the tire, all around, both sides, where it needs to lock onto the inner tube.

• With the core removed, connect the compressor and inflate the tire. You may need to 'thump' the tire near the valve to make it a bit wider. Eventually, I got the tire to inflate that way.  If you've got the tire to inflate  - you're almost done

• Remove the compressor - all the air comes out (no core - remember?)

• Inject the sealant through the core, using the bottle narrow nipple cap

• Insert the core, and inflate. The tire should inflate easily now, because it already went through this once.

One additional point - some tires mount too loosely on the rim. A snug, tight, fit of the tire on the rim is critical to easy inflation. If the tire mounted too easily, and its a loose fit, remove the tire and tubeless strip and add another layer of rim tape or liner.  If the tire is difficult to mount it should be easy to inflate.

Troubleshooting Links:

• Helpful Hints on no-flat site

Maintenance

As you ride, you may hear a slight swooshing liquid sound coming from the tire sealant. As long as that's heard - you're well protected. When  there's no such sound coming from the tire, and none heard when you take the wheel off and do the shake, it's time to add some sealant.

• Remove the valve cap

• Place the valve at 5 or 7 o'clock position and deflate it by pressing the valve core pin.

• Using the core removal tool, remove the core.

• Alternatively to the above steps, open a section of about 5" in the tire, by breaking the seal on one end.

• Put specified amount of sealant through the hollow valve (I use a syringe and put in about half a bottle) Joe's material comes with a narrow spout). and replace the core.

• Pump the tire up. This can almost always be done with a floor or hand pump, unless the bead seal is very much broken.

• Replace the valve cap.

What to do if a 2" nail is stuck in your tire (a true story)

A 2" nail stuck in your tire, under different circumstances, strongly tends to ruin your ride. Not with this tubeless.

This actually happened to me on a trail, away from a road, with no spare tube, and it was obvious only by the ting-ting-ting sound the nail made each time it crossed the frame's chainstay and made contact with it. Here's how I got out of this situation in less than a minute:

• Pump up the tire (using the trail pump, of course), really hard. If you have a gauge, get it to above 50psi. If not, at least until the tire feels rock hard. This will make the sealant 'agile' and send it hurling out the nearest hole.

• Rotate the wheel so the nail is at the 6 o'clock position (bottom of wheel). That way, the sealant is very close by.

• Get a good grip on the nail and pull it out as fast as you can. A Leatherman tool would be useful here.
  At most, you will hear a quick one-second psst as the sealant rushes out to seal the air and see a tiny white wet dot on the tire where the nail went through, and that's it! Nail's out. Tire sealed and ready to ride.

• Rotate the tire so the valve is at around 9 o'clock position and lower the pressure to your comfortable riding pressure - I use 25-30 in summer, 30-35 in winter.