# Compressor for tubeless tires?



## Dancer (Dec 8, 2004)

I am thinking it would be handy to have a compressor around just in case I have trouble seating my tubeless tires with my floor pump. Does anyone have a suggestion for one that's suited to the task? I am not imagining having to use it it for anything else.

Dancer


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## ddimick (Aug 9, 2011)

Use CO2 instead for two reasons:

1) It will be a lot cheaper than a compressor since you don't want a compressor for anything else (like air tools).
2) If you need a compressor to seat your beads, you're screwed if you have to patch your tire while on the road. You can carry the CO2 with you.


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## purdyd (Jun 18, 2010)

ddimick said:


> Use CO2 instead for two reasons:
> 
> 1) It will be a lot cheaper than a compressor since you don't want a compressor for anything else (like air tools).
> 2) If you need a compressor to seat your beads, you're screwed if you have to patch your tire while on the road. You can carry the CO2 with you.


Ok, if you get a flat on the road, you.can just throw in a tube

Also, once they are mounted and ridden for awhile they are fairly easy to reseat

Sometimes they can be fussy to seat the first time, usually, because the tire gets caught on the valve

The Stan's no tubes alpha rims are easier than the dura ace rims

Sometimes a tire just won't cooperate and in that case a compressor can be handy

I would be reluctant to buy a compressor just for tubeless

They are pretty handy for a variety of tasks


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## ChuckDiesel (Apr 16, 2011)

I agree with using a CO2. Easy and effective. Cartridges can be had in bulk off of ebay for fairly cheap. I've actually only had to use a CO2 on a few mounts. Many of them can be done with a floor pump. Just press the tire down over the valve so air doesn't escape there and go to work with the floor pump. Also, many of the valves have a removable core so you can take the core out and really get a lot of air in with the floor pump. This will seat the bead. You then just have to reinsert the valve core and inflate.


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## j.o.e.l (Oct 7, 2009)

I use a car tire compressor I bought from Harbor Freight. It's the type that clamps onto the car battery and does not have a tank. It goes to 100 psi. $24 if I remember correctly. You'll need a schrader to presta adapter. 

I use this to mount tubeless tires on my MTB and road bike and works flawlessly. 

I tried CO2 before but I find it causes the sealant to form big chunks in the tire. I think it's because CO2 gets freezing cold when released from the container. Not a problem if you don't use sealant. Maybe some sealants are not compatible with CO2.

This photo is not the exact model I have but it should work too.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

why don't you just buy one of these? you can fill it up at the gas station every month or so...
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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

purdyd said:


> They (compressors) are pretty handy for a variety of tasks.


Indeed. I have one, don't run tubeless on my bikes, and don't even use it to inflate bike tires at all.


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## pmt (Aug 4, 2009)

You don't need a compressor; a high-volume floor pump easily inflates Road Tubeless. Get a Zefal Double Shot or similar.

On the road you'll need CO2 of course, to re-inflate after you patch the puncture (assuming the sealant doesn't handle it).


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## AM999 (Jan 22, 2007)

If you are having trouble seating a tubeless tire with a floor pump just put in a standard weight butyl tube. That should do it. No real cost but more work overall. I had a lot of trouble with one tire - floor pump, CO2, and my neighbors compressor would not work. The butyl tube did the trick. Once the tire was stretched out the floor pump worked fine.


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## dekindy (Jul 7, 2006)

Forget the compressor, just need to use proper technique.

Having said that, prior to installing an Intensive on the rear and a Fusion 3 on the front on Saturday, I resorted to using a compressor at my LBS on the last two Hutchinson Intensives installs on Shimano 7850-SL wheels. Then I read the instructions and used the proper technique.

You need lubrication on the rims to make the sidewall seal easier. Use a very high concentration of liquid soap in water and wipe the area of the rim that the tire seals against.

Install the tire at the point of the rim farthest away from the valve core. As you mount the second sidewall keep working the sidewalls into the deep central channel of the rim to make installation easier. Make sure the tire is seated around the valve core area. The next part is the most important and the main error that I was making. Instead of trying to get the sidewalls close to the rim, press the sidewalls away from the rim edge and get both sidewalls into the deepest part of the center rim channel. If you inflate the tire with a floor pump and hear air escaping, the tire is not seated properly around the valve core. Once the valve core area is seated properly and the sidewalls are in the deep center channel, the tire will inflate evenly all the way around and the sidewalls will seat easily against the rim with no air leakage.

I used this method and tire installation was easy. Believe me when I say that I had a puddle of sweat on the basement floor on numerous previous attempts at using a floor pump to inflate Hutchinson tubeless tires not following the proper technique.


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## Crawf (Oct 21, 2010)

A decent track pump is all you will need for 23-25mm road tyres, larger volume mtb tyres is a different story and a compressor can be handy.


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## NWS Alpine (Mar 16, 2012)

You should not use co2 with stans sealant if that is what you are using. It messes up the sealant. Only use it for the initial inflation if you cant get it with soapy water. 

Make sure you have the beads touching the rim and not sitting on the valve. This is the only thing you need to watch out for and it will be easy to inflate with any floor pump. I used a cheap $25 pump and worked fine. 

That being said I do have a nice dewalt compressor that is really quiet for compressors and the prestaflator deluxe.


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

I have a 6 gallon Porter Cable compressor and use the Prestaflator. Way overkill if you won't use it for anything else though.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

> Make sure you have the beads touching the rim and not sitting on the valve.


This was really helpful advice for me, thanks! I was struggling to get a set of new Fusion 2 tires mounted on 7850SL wheels despite having run the same combination for the last 4-5 years. It turns out that the inside of the bead was hanging up on the valve. This was hard to see and hard to diagnose unless you knew what to look for. The very inside lip of the rubber was curled under and on top of the square valve end. Actually I'd say that is a design flaw in the Shimano design - they should round off that to avoid this hang up.

Anyway, you saved me spending $100 on a ridiculously large air compressor that would have occupied valuable garage space and been used only once a year. Thanks!


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## Wheeler (Aug 27, 2013)

ukbloke said:


> This was really helpful advice for me, thanks! I was struggling to get a set of new Fusion 2 tires mounted on 7850SL wheels despite having run the same combination for the last 4-5 years. It turns out that the inside of the bead was hanging up on the valve. This was hard to see and hard to diagnose unless you knew what to look for. The very inside lip of the rubber was curled under and on top of the square valve end. Actually I'd say that is a design flaw in the Shimano design - they should round off that to avoid this hang up.
> 
> Anyway, you saved me spending $100 on a ridiculously large air compressor that would have occupied valuable garage space and been used only once a year. Thanks!


 This is what I have. Use it for all kinds of things...not air tools. It mounds on the wall and takes up very little space. IME it is one of those things that you didn't know how you got along so long without it...


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

What model is that? I've never seen one like it.


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## Wheeler (Aug 27, 2013)

rruff said:


> What model is that? I've never seen one like it.


It is actually an older discontinued model. Didn't know that.....


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## changingleaf (Aug 20, 2009)

CO2 will cause most sealants to solidify - It usually takes a day so you won't notice it right away. I agree with using a good pump and working on your technique. One thing that stumps many users is that the tire bead will fold under and sit on top of the air-valve so that when you inflate half of the air doesn't even get in the tire. Many times I have to spread the bead around the valve with two hands then with some dexterity quickly push down with one hand to hold the beads out and inflate with the other hand. Good luck! It gets easier with practice. Of course if you have a rim that allows the tire to fit very loosely then you're going to have lots of trouble regardless.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

I just bought a two gallon cheap compressor at Home Depot. It is rated to 110psi, but honestly, I don't need to take it that high. I used a floor pump prior, and it worked just fine. This is faster and 80% of the time, it seats it every time. I also bought it for doing my MTB tires which are much harder to seat with standard tires and stans no-tubes and a pump. Bonus is for my car tires. Saves that $1 every time I need to put air in my cars tires. The compressor was on close out for $50. It gets light usage by blowing coils on the fridge and air filters.


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## purdyd (Jun 18, 2010)

mtbpete said:


> Of course if you have a rim that allows the tire to fit very loosely then you're going to have lots of trouble regardless.


I've used a few different rims and road tubeless tires and you are absolutely right, how tight the tire is on the rim after it is mounted is very important.

If it is really loose, the tire won't expand and you are just blowing air.

The Stan's alpha rims with a couple of layers of tape always worked well for me with fusion 3's and would seal up with a few fast strokes of a hand pump. The tires are also relatively easy to mount because the low profile sides

Shimano's with the same tires sometimes it would be easy and sometimes it would take full out compressor with no valves. 

I have some deep carbon wheels converted for tubeless and they are very difficult to mount tubeless (but worth it) and while the fusion 3's would often just pump right up with a compressor, my IRC top secrets would simply not mount on the front wheel no matter what I tried, they were simply too loose.

And I agree that catching on the valve stem rubber can get you. I've got some new orange seal valves that look different that I hope will solve that issue.

Orange seal is also the only manufacturer I know of who is three different sizes for tubeless valve stems.


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