Tubeless Mountain Bike Tire Tips and Tricks [Resource Roundup]

In the beginning, tubeless mountain bike tire systems and hack setups caused more frustration than they saved and generally made the garage floor look like the Ghostbusters set after Slimer wafted through. Folks who were pulled by the magnet of “no flats” and running cyclocross-race pressures in mountain bike tires pressed on with the latex lament.

We cut valves from road tires, wrap rims in three or four layers of duct tape or slice open 26-inch tubes to seal our rims, add sealant (sometimes sprinkled a rainbow of glitter), fire up the most powerful compressor we can find, soap the rims and tires down to help everything slip into place, and cross our fingers that the bead seats instead of explosively launching over the rim wall. It’s been a trying work in progress.

At one point I nearly gave up on tubeless and went back to patching flats. My front tire blew off the rim in a hard compression while I was descending as fast as I knew how. My body sailed violently over the bars, landing on a girthsome cedar stump. On the walkout, lightly nursing a pair of cracked ribs, I hated every last thing about tubeless tires.

Fast forward ten years, after a massive amount of R&D, and that hate has shifted to near adoration. I suffered a single flat that couldn’t be repaired with a tire plug in the past two years, and that puncture was with a non-tubeless XC race tire. I still pack an emergency tube, which only comes off my frame when I need to give it to someone who punctured a tube. I feel no need to cross fingers or fret a jinx. This system works well.

With today’s tubeless-ready tires and rims, and notably better sealant options, seasoned tubeless tire wrestlers can set up a new rim and mount a tire with sealant in under 30 minutes, or replace an existing tread in half that time.

Yet, despite recent innovations, tubeless tires can still have quirks and complications. This article is a compilation of the tubeless setup and hack info that we have shared over the years, and some additional tips and tricks to help streamline the process.

General Tubeless Tire Setup

Tubeless Conversion Install

This video from Stan’s No Tubes outlines the process of setting up a tubeless tire from start to shred.

How to Convert Non-Tubeless Rims

Dusty Betty has created a clear set of steps for converting non-tubeless rims to tubeless.

How to Install Tubeless Tires

Here is a rather entertaining take on tubeless.

GMBN shares a few unique notes on setup.

Finally, here’s Park’s suggested procedures for mounting a tubeless system.

Tubeless Setup with Tire Inserts

[see_also id=’263710′]

The Cush Core installation method, including some helpful tips for more general tubeless tire mountain:

The Huck Norris method:

Effetto Mariposa’s take on insert installation:

Additional tips and tricks

Every Presta valve cap can be cut into a Shrader pump adaptor. With this hack you can set up your tires with the compressor at a local gas station. It will also come in handy if you find yourself stranded on a ride without a Presta pump option.