Mounting tubeless tires : MTB vs Road

Equipment
1

I recently bought an air compressor and was successful Mounting my mountain bike tires (barely!) , I now have to replace my road tires and I’m wondering, in general, are smaller volume tires easier or more difficult to mount, or is it tire dependent.

2

It depends… lots of variables at play. I’ve popped almost every MTB and gravel tyre on with a floor pump. Road is about 50% success rate with a floor pump, 100% with the compressor. A compressor is definitely worth having nearby for tubeless (if only for the time saving).

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3

I’ve had the opposite :rofl: I always need to bust out the air compressor to install my gravel tires, but my road tires always seat with a floor pump. I do agree, a compressor is worth having though and a cheap small one is all that is needed.

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4

Personally, I’ve mounted MTB and road tyres with a floor pump, both BTLOS rims. I actually found the road tyres a little easier.

I did once have to get help from the bike shop with their air tank pump but I think that was due to the poor tape from the factory. Same wheels, with same model tyre went on easy after retaping myself with DT Swiss tape when I put new tyres on a year later.

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5

I’ve never needed anything more than a floor pump but I will say that in general, road tires always seem a bit more difficult due to the “supple” casing. The trick to getting them to seat properly is to use the secret:

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6

This is an incredibly simple and easy tyre/rim combo. They should try doing it with decent inserts too. Some MTB tyre and rim combos are nigh on impossible to even get the tyres onto the rim :smile:

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7

Does the combo they’re using in the tutorial matter? I have never needed to use a compressor, including setups that involve the use of inserts. Of course, this is anecdotal but… ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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8

Oh well if you have never needed to use a compressor… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I don’t use a compressor either, I’ve only ever used a track pump (I even find that inserts make that part easier). However, just getting the tyres onto the rim in the first place can be a huge struggle in a lot of cases! The vid makes it look way easier than it is :sweat_smile:

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9

I recently realised why i was having trouble mounting tyres, i was trying to inflate them whilst they were resting on the floor. Even with a compressor it would rarely work. After actually reading the instructions on the Stans sealant bottle I realised they should be hung up when inflating, and amazingly it worked first time (doh!)

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