Tubeless update – front tyre problems

Thought I’d update my experiences with my tubeless tyre experiment.

 

Previously blogged >  Just gone tubeless – first ride and everything I’ve learnt along the way

 

I’ve had a few problems with my front tyre. Its blown out a couple of times now and I’ve had to put an inner tube into it. This is the 819 rim and kevlar bead single ply High Roller combination. Its happened when the front tyre has hit something at an angle. It happened in the Alps when I caught a root, it burped some air and I made the mistake of not topping up the air and it blew all its air out on an off camber corner when the tyre was put under a lot of pressure. It happened today at an uplift day at UK Bike Park when my front tyre clipped a tree and it just blew out.

 

I’ve had absolutley no problems with the rear wheel which has the home made tubeless kit on a 719 rim and a wire bead single ply High Roller.

 

I think the problem is caused by the kevlar bead being just to prone to stretching which, when its really pushed, causes it to burp some air, sometimes all the air.

 

Its a bit messy popping in an inner tube but its only a case of removing the valve from the rim. I’ve been not bothering to remove the wheel milk (sealant) because next to the trail its just not worth the faff. Like I said its a bit messy, the sealant comes out of the valve hole in the rim a bit for instance but its not too bad. Any sealant that has escaped soon dries and peels off anything its got onto, hands and wheel for instance.

 

So conclusion and what next- The kevlar tyre just doesn’t seem compatible with the tubeless system so I’m going to run the front tyre with an inner tube until I can justify replacing the kevlar bead tyre with a wire one.