Step 1: apply rim tape as sold by JRA, Spesh and others. My rims (2010 Specialized DT Swiss X420SL) came with the blue Spesh tape already applied, which was handy:
Step 2: fit the tubeless valve and nip it up good and tight. Mine came free with my bike but are cheapie ones with a non-removable core. The JRA ones allow the core to be removed which can make life easier if you get clogging problems with the valve. I'll see how I get on with the freebie ones first before laying out more money.
Step 3: Optionally, slosh soapy water round the rims to help the initial seal. Some say this is a must, but it doesn't seem so necessary with tubeless-ready tyres? I sloshed some on during initial testing, but it had pretty much dried out by the time I was ready to pump for real.
Step 4: Blow up the tyre as a sanity check test. This is the potentially tricky bit if you don't have a compressor (I don't). Initially, it just wouldn't go up at all. I wrongly assumed this was because I had a tiny Presta hole and a dodgy old track pump. I tried the "hand pressed down over the valve area" trick - still nothing. But some experimentation soon revealed the master stroke: knee power! Flatten the tyre over the valve area with your knee as per the photo then pump like a loon. It went up in about 20 strokes.
Step 5: Assuming Step 4 went OK, deflate the tyre and apply the milk. Because my valve has a non-removable core, I had to pour the milk into the tyre using the handy JRA applicator. With a removable core, it's marginally easier to remove the core then pour the milk down the valve hole.
Step 6: Blow up the tyre for real this time using Knee Power (patent pending) as above.
Step 7: Go out and ride, you're done. You don't need to do all the dishing and wiggling stuff you see on various Youtube videos to seal pinholes or make a rim seal, because tubeless-ready don't have pinholes in the sidewalls or imperfections on the beads which need sealing. I took mine out for a quick local 10 miler to bed it all in and check it out - it was all good.
Step 2: fit the tubeless valve and nip it up good and tight. Mine came free with my bike but are cheapie ones with a non-removable core. The JRA ones allow the core to be removed which can make life easier if you get clogging problems with the valve. I'll see how I get on with the freebie ones first before laying out more money.
Step 3: Optionally, slosh soapy water round the rims to help the initial seal. Some say this is a must, but it doesn't seem so necessary with tubeless-ready tyres? I sloshed some on during initial testing, but it had pretty much dried out by the time I was ready to pump for real.
Step 4: Blow up the tyre as a sanity check test. This is the potentially tricky bit if you don't have a compressor (I don't). Initially, it just wouldn't go up at all. I wrongly assumed this was because I had a tiny Presta hole and a dodgy old track pump. I tried the "hand pressed down over the valve area" trick - still nothing. But some experimentation soon revealed the master stroke: knee power! Flatten the tyre over the valve area with your knee as per the photo then pump like a loon. It went up in about 20 strokes.
Step 5: Assuming Step 4 went OK, deflate the tyre and apply the milk. Because my valve has a non-removable core, I had to pour the milk into the tyre using the handy JRA applicator. With a removable core, it's marginally easier to remove the core then pour the milk down the valve hole.
Step 6: Blow up the tyre for real this time using Knee Power (patent pending) as above.
Step 7: Go out and ride, you're done. You don't need to do all the dishing and wiggling stuff you see on various Youtube videos to seal pinholes or make a rim seal, because tubeless-ready don't have pinholes in the sidewalls or imperfections on the beads which need sealing. I took mine out for a quick local 10 miler to bed it all in and check it out - it was all good.
