Tubeless pumps for seating

Equipment
21

That link, more or less. There are likely 500 brands of that exact compressor. Standard pancake tank with motor above. As an owner of that design, i’d consider two things:

  1. Its noisy - if you live in a space where thats a concern, you may want to look into quieter options
  2. While it has a handle on top - its not the most amazing thing to move around, there are more specialty options with vertical tanks that have wheels on more of a dolly frame.
22

I have and use an airshot because I didn’t want to add another pump to my already large collection of pumps.

2 Likes
23

Id be buying a compressor over an air shot or tubeless specific pump. Far more uses.

If its purely for seating tubeless, take the tube off your existing track pump & use an inflated car tyre as a reservoir.

Typically lower PSI but 30-40 at that volume should seat just about anything.

2 Likes
24

An air pig is cheaper than a compressor, it’s just a tank that you fill up at a gas station or from another compressor. Sometimes a used one might only cost 20$.

1 Like
25

I’ve been running tubeless on all my bikes (road, gravel, mountain, fat) for 10+ years and have encountered many frustrations along the way, so have learned the hard way!

The root causes for this include:

  1. There is a dried piece of sealant between the tire and the rim, preventing sealing
  2. The tire bead is not fully seated against the rim
  3. The tire diameter is too big for the wheel by a small amount

The solution for each is a bit different:

  1. Clean off the dried pieces of sealant.
  2. Pump the tire up to a higher pressure to get the tire to seat fully against the rim.
  3. Install additional layers of rim tape to increase the effective diameter of the wheel
1 Like
26

I had to replace a tyre last year (Vittoria Rubino on DT Swiss rim) which drove me to distraction. The old tyre (also a Rubino) seated perfectly with just a track pump, but this one was having none of it; cleaning, pumping furiously, soapy water - nothing. An Airshot finally got it seated and it has remained seated thankfully. A compressor would probably have been the more flexible long-term choice, but more expensive, plus there’s a nice simplicity to the Airshot and build quality that doesn’t feel like it’ll explode!

1 Like
27

I’ve lost count the times this has happened when putting on new tires. Drives me crazy until I find the little piece of sealant in question.

28

I ended up buying a cheap one from Lowe’s and it was infinitely easier to seat a tire than any other process I’ve tried. I had a CrankBrothers Klic with air canister, I have the Fillmore valves, I’ve done the mailing tape trick, used CO2 canisters. An air compressor puts those all to shame. It’s not even close. I don’t know why I didn’t buy one sooner. It was less than $150 too so less than some pumps.