Unanswered Cushcore and tubeless - maintenance?

[Ghostviking]

Hi,

I just bought my first eMTB (Specialized Levo) with tubeless and cushcore already installed from the first owner. The bike is almost new. I have never run tubeless or cushcore before. Would you remove the tire for routine rinse of old sealent and refill once in a while or so? Our just top of sealent and let it be? I am not an aggressive rider, mostly gravel and dirt trails.

And Q2 and Q3 : Which sealent would you use and how often would you top it off?

I am a newbie, please forgive my lack of knowledge

Ghostviking,
Norway

 

[KnollyBro]

Hi,

I just bought my first eMTB (Specialized Levo) with tubeless and cushcore already installed from the first owner. The bike is almost new. I have never run tubeless or cushcore before. Would you remove the tire for routine rinse of old sealent and refill once in a while or so? Our just top of sealent and let it be? I am not an aggressive rider, mostly gravel and dirt trails.

And Q2 and Q3 : Which sealent would you use and how often would you top it off?

I am a newbie, please forgive my lack of knowledge

Ghostviking,
Norway

Congratulations! Good question! You will need to add more sealant over time. I top mine up at least every season, if my tires last that long. It can dry out and ball up if you leave you bike sitting for too long in the same position. The sealant can also just get absorbed/evaporated/dissipate or get used up with the many small leaks that you can get over time. I use Stans as that is what I started using. You should not mix different types of sealant. I am not sure if there are better ones but Stans has a good reputation so I am sticking with it. If you happen to take your tire off (for fun?) you should see some sealant in tire. If you have not put any in for awhile, unscrew the presta valve insert and squirt in an oz or two using a syringe. Its better to safe than get a flat. Also, carry bacon strips for when you do get a bad puncture! Youtube is your friend on the how-to!

 

[Ghostviking]

Congratulations! Good question! You will need to add more sealant over time. I top mine up at least every season, if my tires last that long. It can dry out and ball up if you leave you bike sitting for too long in the same position. The sealant can also just get absorbed/evaporated/dissipate or get used up with the many small leaks that you can get over time. I use Stans as that is what I started using. You should not mix different types of sealant. I am not sure if there are better ones but Stans has a good reputation so I am sticking with it. If you happen to take your tire off (for fun?) you should see some sealant in tire. If you have not put any in for awhile, unscrew the presta valve insert and squirt in an oz or two using a syringe. Its better to safe than get a flat. Also, carry bacon strips for when you do get a bad puncture! Youtube is your friend on the how-to!

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Great advice - thank you. I just YouTubed baconstrips and tubeless, I will for sure buy a set of these for flats. I will also check with the first owner about which sealent used so I dont mix two different kinds in there.

Chris

 

[KnollyBro]

Great advice - thank you. I just YouTubed baconstrips and tubeless, I will for sure buy a set of these for flats. I will also check with the first owner about which sealent used so I dont mix two different kinds in there.

Chris

Just checking in to see how you are enjoying your new bike and tubeless setup. Any flats yet? Have you noticed that your tires are maintaining a constant pressure or losing a little air pressure? I run quite low pressure so I am always topping my tire pressure up.

 

[Ghostviking]

Just checking in to see how you are enjoying your new bike and tubeless setup. Any flats yet? Have you noticed that your tires are maintaining a constant pressure or losing a little air pressure? I run quite low pressure so I am always topping my tire pressure up.

Hi! Thank you so much for checking in with me! I am just truly amazed of the capabilities of this technology overall, I am riding in high alpine terrain in Hemsedal of Norway, mostly on rough trails (off course, not off trail because of the fragile nature). I never thought I could do this in my forties, without much prior experience. But I have learnt to respect the brakes, speed and how fast it is to loose control of the heavy e-bike. The tubeless setup gives me a little extra safety with the grip, and the cushcore makes me a little less afraid of punctures - I am not totally prepared for this all alone in the mountains. I have cell coverage, and help locally if anything happens to me out there. No flats yet, but I did need to top of the air after about three weeks and 40-50 KM riding. I have not topped up any sealent yet, but I will do some more maintance before winter storage. We have about seven months of heavy snow conditions in this area of Norway.


Chris

 

[JStrube]

Nice report back! I have been running tubeless on my mountain & gravel bike for 10+ years. It is the first thing I swap when I buy a bike. Keep a tube and pump with you, as you never know what will happen out there though. Once, on the first big ride on my new mountain bike, I actually split a bead on a lava rock, and could not get tubeless to seal back up. It just kept leaking at that spot. I had to run a tube until I wore out that tire. I'm pretty new to the cushcore, and just installed it in my gravel bike to start. So far, I dig it.

 

[KnollyBro]

Nice report back! I have been running tubeless on my mountain & gravel bike for 10+ years. It is the first thing I swap when I buy a bike. Keep a tube and pump with you, as you never know what will happen out there though. Once, on the first big ride on my new mountain bike, I actually split a bead on a lava rock, and could not get tubeless to seal back up. It just kept leaking at that spot. I had to run a tube until I wore out that tire. I'm pretty new to the cushcore, and just installed it in my gravel bike to start. So far, I dig it.

If you are running Cushcore and you get a flat, I would be impressed with anyone who could/would swap out a Cushcore for a tube, on the trail. Bacon strips for the win!

 

[JStrube]

If you are running Cushcore and you get a flat, I would be impressed with anyone who could/would swap out a Cushcore for a tube, on the trail. Bacon strips for the win!

I carry the bacon strips on my cushcore filled bike, and a tube, just in case... So far, the tubeless hasn't let me down, except the one time with the busted bead.

Well, for Road, I tried tubeless, but hated it, those tires are impossible to change, with the super stiff bead. Took the group expert to change that one, and people were really upset with the 100psi Stan's flying around after I got a goat head.

 

[KnollyBro]

Hi! Thank you so much for checking in with me! I am just truly amazed of the capabilities of this technology overall, I am riding in high alpine terrain in Hemsedal of Norway, mostly on rough trails (off course, not off trail because of the fragile nature). I never thought I could do this in my forties, without much prior experience. But I have learnt to respect the brakes, speed and how fast it is to loose control of the heavy e-bike. The tubeless setup gives me a little extra safety with the grip, and the cushcore makes me a little less afraid of punctures - I am not totally prepared for this all alone in the mountains. I have cell coverage, and help locally if anything happens to me out there. No flats yet, but I did need to top of the air after about three weeks and 40-50 KM riding. I have not topped up any sealent yet, but I will do some more maintance before winter storage. We have about seven months of heavy snow conditions in this area of Norway.


Chris

Good to hear you are enjoying your bike! If you are only in your 40s, you have lots of time to figure it all out . I didn't start mountain biking until I was at least 45 and there are lots of riders on this forum who have found new legs on emtbs well past 65!

 

[Kingerz]

Just top up the sealant, every 3 to 6 months, it's a messy nightmare to strip it all down and no need. Darts are great instead of bacon strips.