DIY Tubeless Inflator Airshot. Do they actually work? No smoke and mirrors test.

[@luukarends6946]

What always works for me, even with the worst tires is to cover the whole edge with ductape. So you stick the ductape on the rim and sidewall off the tire. This creates an airtight seal. Even with the smallest pump you can pop the bead on like this

[@nocturnalcadence1676]

That's a good idea!

[@Hiasibua]

Ah yes, the ghetto tubeless setup. My go-to, as well. I don't have hooked rims on my MTB, but with enough duct tape I can get it to work just fine

[@luukarends6946]

@@Hiasibua I only use the ductape for the install, afterwards I take it off. Just for the bead to pop, I dont tape it on the rim bed

[@abedfo88]

Gorilla tape is so much better than the proper tubeless tape.

[@daveeades9333]

Awesome idea, dont know why I didnt think of taping over the bead! 😀 Thanks!

[@JohnGarlandTrialLawyer]

Garden sprayer, remove wand, remove valve core. High volume, low pressure - works great.

[@AAP2023]

Just tried this and it exploded at 80psi haha 😵‍💫🤕

[@maxspruit8370]

Love you for trying this and filming it. I felt lazy so i bought an air dust can that is used to blow dust of electronics. Still have to find out whether it works.

[@joelhume2360]

I’ve used a 2L bottle, never dared to pump it above 40psi, although that was for a 700x38c tyre. If you take the valve core out it’ll go up first time and seat the tyre. Then add sealant, refit core, and pump up as usual. Oh I also lift the wheel off the ground so the flat spot at the bottom doesn’t provide an easy means of escape for the air.

[@dtolios]

That is pretty conservative on your behalf. When I seat MTB or my gravel tires alike (700x45C), I typically pump them to 45ish PSI dry first, to make sure I can seat them and have them seal without sealant. You often get the bead "popping" even after the first couple of pops and easily past 30 or even 40 PSI. A 700x38C tire alone, is like 2.8~2.9lt in volume (assuming 32mm width and 708 OD / 622mm ID). If I was to get my tire to 40-45 PSI and assuming that a portion of the "booster" will be lost before the tire is seated, I would pump it to at least 2x the target PSI in the tire. MTB tires are notably larger in volume, thus the "extreme" PT had to go to, risking his naked toes to be blown off :p

[@joelhume2360]

@@dtolios conservative but it works. Regardless, the main thing he did wrong was leaving the valve core in.

[@garrywhelan9211]

My secret sauce is to put a roof rack strap around the tyre circumference. That reduces the volume of the tyre and let's the air push the bead rather than inflate the tyre outwards. Get the beads to seal in one shot then add air to inflate.

[@celynjones4958]

Grand job and speedy recovery👍🏻 I found taking out the valve core helped a lot when just using a track pump.

[@FightFilms]

I made one from a garden sprayer bottle made to withstand being pressurized. It worked fine, then one day split open gently and quietly. So, I made another from high pressure PVC pipe and that one works just fine. But tubeless rims with tubeless tires, I inflate with a floor pump, no problem.

[@MrBirdshell666]

it exploded twice. a cocacola bottle can withstand much higher pressures

[@WalkerBikes]

What a surprisingly entertaining video hahaha, cool I got myself a 2 gallon air compressor for $50 lol, does the job

[@totallynotraging]

Always a good idea to put the tyre on with an inner tube first. Then carefully remove the IT so that half the tyre is already seated. Also had success with liberally spraying the unseated half with soapy water (water and washing up liquid) so that the bead of the tyre is lubed.

[@NewPolishScientist]

I did mine with garden spayer works beautifully

[@abedfo88]

One of these got my wtb resolutes seated in about 5 seconds. Genius design on my behalf I must say.

[@junggyuszko]

Adding some lubricant helps too, like soapy water to help the tire to seat. By the way just get a small second hand compressor off FB marketplace, that's what I did, 6l so doesn't take up much space, paid £30, good for blowing out dust from the PC as well and other cleaning duties, and not being scammed at gas station anymore for a bit of air either.

[@craigblowfield8821]

I tried with a track pump on some road tubeless and failed. I'm lucky enough to live close to a Service(Gas) Station so used their automatic pump on the 'flat tyre' setting after taking the valve core out. Worked a treat!

[@hallisoft1926]

I can usually get tubeless to inflate with just the track pump. On the odd occasion when this did not work I used a cargo strap around the outside of the tyre to squash the tyre down a little which forms enough of a seal to allow the pump to work.

[@0001-u2u]

I'm here with wired tires trying for 2 days unsuccessfully. Then used a different, snug fitting pneumatic hose and Viola. I now am running tubeless wired tire.

[@mattm00ey]

Great video. Have people suggested taking valve core out of outlet valve. I haven't been bothered to do this yet but need to and it looks like it bloody works!! Thanks a lot

[@AnarchoKapital]

Apart from all the other good tips: what is sometimes needed and depends on the tire/rim combination and especially the rim shape, is another layer of rim tape. It doesn’t even have to be tubeless tape, but electrical tape works fine. All it needs to do is elevate the tire in the bed, so that it is already air tighter when in the bed and a “shorter” way to be adequately seated.

[@Hiasibua]

That doesn't even sound bad. Gotta give it a try next time I'm changing tires!

[@fritzlanguish456]

I was able to get my mountain bike tires popped on at 80psi and with a leak bottle top. Worked like a charm.

[@TrickyTree84]

I've built one and it works for me, but you need to take the valve cores out. Also keep pumping once released

[@seitenryu6844]

The issue with poor seating is not flow or pressure, but tire to rim fit. If you get poor results or your chosen combination is hard to seat, you need to build up the center channel of the rim. You can use duct/gaff tape or even more tubeless tape, but you only need to build up where the bead rests. You'll add this BEFORE your tubeless tape. Adding additional height at the edges will only make it more difficult to seat. You can test it before you apply your tubeless tape, just make sure it fits with no large gaps. Then add your tubeless tape, 2-3 layers(Whisky or Uline PET green packing tape), and it should seat WITH A HAND PUMP. If it doesn't, how do you expect to fix it on the trail if it unseats? With a good setup, you can plug a flat tire, and even it's unseated, get it back running again without a tube.

[@elchram]

I had a struggle with one of my new 44mm gravel tyres. I almost broke my fingers trying to seat it with a tyre leaver (it worked for one of the 2) for 2h… rushed down to the store the next day, bought a ridiculously expensive pump with a booster and it took literally 2min to seat the tyre and set up the system with sealant… it was so worth the money.

[@marekkrol5652]

Going back to a uni project many years back (a 1,25L coke bottle with compressed air was the only allowable energy source), a plastic bottle with the cap epoxied on easily held 100-120psi from a home compressor. Other teams went higher with more industrial equipment. I'd say you're safe, but that was before bottling companies started taking material and cost out ;) Alternatively, picked up a Topeak Joe Blow Ace a little while back. No reservoir, but it has three pressure ranges. Set to 0-60psi it's set every MTB and gravel tire I've thrown at it. It is nowhere near as much fun as a bottle hack though.

[@Spartan9567]

I use rubber grease on the rim and tyre bead when seating the tyres, and a latex sealant which works well. Basically if you've got poor seating of the tyre bead it doesn't matter what you use for supplying air as it'll come out through the lack of tyre interfacing before it can even inflate the tyre. It always astounds me how big the tolerances are in bikes in comparison to cars. Like my race face rims that aren't even designed for tubeless don't need sealant, whilst my campagnolo ones specifically designed and welded for tubeless do.

[@seitenryu6844]

That's not a tolerance issue, but a lack of unified design. Every manufacturer thinks they got it figured out and consumers are left to decipher who's correct. We also need to ditch the idea that rims should be designed for tubes and tubeless. Dedicate rims and tires to tubeless, and commit to it.

[@Monkey_slapping_keys]

Built an airshot assembly out of a garden sprayer, works quite well.

[@dan_wylie]

I've made one. It worked perfectly on my MTB tires and not so well on my commuter, but that's more the tire rim combo imo. I pumped it up past 100psi on the first test and then it leaked from the holes I drilled in the lid. The inconsistency is pretty annoying and the last time it was a humid day and I was absolutely friggin drenched in sweat from the pumping. Nearly cracked and bought an air compressor on the spot.

[@abedfo88]

Little tip, pour a tiny amount of sealant into the coke bottle....then it stopped leaking from the holes in the lid !

[@ronaldochua6349]

I also made my own tire inflator. What I'd do is when the tires are partially inflated, I'd take off the inflator and connect my pump to the tire valve and continue pumping until I get that pop. Put soapy water around the rim and tire bead to make it easier for the tire bead to sit. It will be a bit messy though...

[@wasnmurks]

Adding some soap water all around the edges of the tire helps to fit the tire, so it seales. Sometimes its required, sometimes it is ok without.

[@mt1p]

Old water fire extinguisher, pumped up to 8bar, works like a charm, have a smaller converted CO2 extinguisher that I can take with me, it can go to higher pressure.

[@bill8791]

I can't get a brand new set of Maxxis DHR IIs on a set of Raceface AR30s without the use of the compressor. Even with one side on the bead using a tube. Even the bike shop I took the wheels to smirked at first then had to admit, not even a track pump with 250psi would do it (which is what I was using). I assume it's two super tight fitting tolerances and very stiff sidewalls.

[@sempi8159]

Those are some well engineered feet you got there.

[@Silidons91]

I just seat the bead with a tube first, take off one side and then works fine with hand pump

[@RLFWE1]

Yeah agreed, there's no way they ever seat/hop up onto the bead with gaps at either side of the tyre.

[@weedaviec]

Track pump works fine. Great workout!

[@nicnac4239]

I made a charger canister out of a spare SIGG style aluminium water bottle I had. Works a treat.

[@andrew567234]

I'm using one in the shop for 2 years, even tyres that won't seal with the compressor or a CO2 cartridge will easily pop with this.

[@Sad1qJaffer]

Recovering from injury sucks. Hope you're back on the bike soon!

[@markb9571]

I've used this setup for probably 10 yrs now. A few tips to improve the setup... Frosty jacks cider bottle = 3L. The extra volume helps stubborn tyres seat. Car brake hose pliers to clamp hose. This setup is great for throwing the cap in your bike bag for travelling abroad too, just buy another carbonated drink bottle out there.

[@PeakTorque]

That is a great tip about just taking the cap. Nice.

[@abedfo88]

Did you you drink the frosty Jack's?

[@anonymouscitizen9630]

My first time going tubeless I inflated my tires no problem and thought that was easy, then I replaced both tires and couldn't get them to seal. Not even with my compressor at 130 psi. Then I figures out if you pinch the tires and bring the bead as close to the edge of the rim on both sides and then inflate it works, anyhow I still said F it and bought the Joe Blow booster pump so that I wouldn't have to battle it anymore.

[@Sekhmet6697]

You need to seat the bead first with your fingers for that to have any chance of working (look up Syd and Macky’s tubeless video for the specific technique) . I’ve seated tires with a tiny hand pump using that technique.

[@ribblevalleycyclist]

Cracking film, ta. Bit of soapy water and a paint brush can help seat the tyre.

[@johnshade4001]

try using used fire extinguisher. it's not hard to make and it holds a lot of air and really high pressures safe and with no issues. plus it is very easy to operate (adjust and control the air flow)

[@Alan_Hans__]

I so want to try this but don't have any tubeless tyres to play with. I have previously made an air powered boat that used 6 2 litre bottles inflated to 80psi. A tubeless car valve works well for inflating them. I used a 4mm drip irrigation tap for the on/off switch. To improve the air flow I wanted to go to 6mm tubing and tap but there was none to be had locally. As far as IED's go these things are fairly dramatic. They are often used for bottle rockets and an incredible amount of noise can be made by putting dry ice inside a sealed 1 and being WELL back before it vents.

[@simonmac4291]

A 2l bottle threaded* into a Scuba cylinder @ 5000 psi almost makes a rather loud bang. (* AKA mangled. The trick is first softening the plastic with a lighter and forcing it into the cylinder, forming an approximation of the cylinder's finer threads. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME :) )

[@markj.a351]

I'll stick to the Schwalbe tyre booster. was like £30 and does a great job.

[@korchin]

Here's a little tip that made my life a lot easier: If you have a tube, install it with the tube first, then remove it. This way, one side will stay locked in place and airtight. All that's left is to install the valve and pop the other side of the tire into place.

[@marknuernberger]

"IED on the floor here." 😂 Got myself an Airshot to save the workout for the bike and to lower the chance of explosion. Glad your eye protection was not tested. I've seen others use lighter fluid and pop it on with fire...your next attempt/experiment??

[@bytesizecreations]

Something that makes it way easier is to wet the rim with soapy water. It allows for the tire to slide onto the bead much easier. It also means the tire goes on straight - so you don’t get any wobbles.

[@glennoc8585]

I thought he would've tbh.

[@paulmckeown3425]

You need to start pumping again after you release the air from the bottle. As others have said a bigger bottle as well as the pressure drop as it expands into the tire is then less which then gets your seal.

Hi! I have a question that's been bugging me for a long time, and i'm just not smart enough to figure it out. So... for bicycle frames it is said that stiffer is more efficient in pedaling. But is it true? I mean, they say that energy is lost in the frame if it bends. But it must bend back, which means it should give back this energy, unless you're strong enough to permanently deform the frame. Also, just because something is stiffer, doesn't mean it doesn't bend, just not as noticable, so the percentage of my force that goes into the frame instead of rotating the wheels should be the same, no matter how bendy or stiff it is. Unless i ride a sponge. Maybe it's just the twisting chainline? But that shouldn't be as big of a difference as they claim, chains go all over the place on the cassette, much greater movements than how much a frame can deform. I might be completely wrong with my thinking. Is it true that stiffer frames are faster, or they just feel faster and it became a marketing bullshit?

[@johntracey8592]

pretty sure it’s marketing bs. some bike brands say stiffer = better while others say stiffer ≠ better

@@johntracey8592 yes, not to mention that comfort is more important in most cases than pure speed. It could be kinda tested with a full suspension mtb, locked out vs. with open rear suspension. But dampers and the shock itself are not that efficient, probably eat up a bit of our power.

[@hellopsp180]

It bends back = uses that energy as heat during deformation. The "Bending" steals energy from your forward motion The energy doesnt dissappear it gets converted to something useless like heat If you are still confused as to why it becomes heat. Get yourself a rubber band. Keep stretching and relaxing it. The elastic deformation will be converted to heat. if you do it enough times you will actually feel that heat.

[@rileybridges7080]

watch dylan johnsons video on locked vs unlocked suspension, tldr even in the extreme case of an unlocked full suspension mtb there isn’t much of a performance difference in terms of efficiency. id imagine this extends to road bikes where small increases in stiffness arent going to help

@@hellopsp180 if it bends back, it gives its energy back. Like a spring, they're really efficient. What they don't give back, that's the heat. Sure, every kind of deformation generates heat, but is it really the case here? How much difference a bendy vs stiff frame makes? And the rubber band gets warm because it doesn't give back as much force as you give into it. Plastics are weird, not really the best example.

[@Mesofs9]

A larger bottle, would it work.better? It can hold more volume, incrrasing the potency?

[@hellopsp180]

@Peak torque. Found online for 2L bottles are rated to go up to 150 PSI (When in good condition) I reckon you can easily go up to 100 PSI (if you fix your leaking issues) and get the tyre to seal Glad you didn't go any higher than 140 PSI in your video :)

[@Mamilian]

Sometimes slapping or leaning on the tire as you're blowing the air in makes all the difference.

[@ricktan5663]

In the US, there are 2liter soft drink bottles. That may help over the 1.5liter bottle that you have But in Mexico, they have 3liter soft drink bottles!!!

[@SuperNeilB]

Being a scuba diver I have 275bar to play with from my compressor! I'm not storing the pressure in a plastic bottle though.......

[@glennoc8585]

I i intially thought is this a belated April fools. My tyres pump up a seat just with the pump I don't take it for granted after watching this.

[@Soho-dude]

hey is it okay if you don't hear the snap or pop sound when you add pressue to tubeless tires? I was able to just pump mines up with a regular pump and it holds air just fine but i didn't hear any snap or pop.

[@scpromark]

I spent hours doing this too. A complete waste of time and effort in my view, an interesting experiment though. In the end I bit the bullet and bought a double chambered track pump and threw away my IED Coke bottle. 10 out of 10 for your perseverance though. 😎👍🏻

[@hippoace]

lol IED coke bottle 🤣

[@alicangul2603]

I had it worked literally the first try, with the same exact setup as PT.

[@scpromark]

@@alicangul2603 a lot depends on how tight the tyres fit to the rims I think.

[@alicangul2603]

@@scpromark I guess so. To give context, I used DT Swiss 466D 29er and Schwalbe Rocket Ron.

[@MrBirdshell666]

1.25L and 4.5 bar pressure, works on everything. cover it with a blanket and use ear plugs just in case it explodes

[@mikeeast9632]

No sealant? That makes things easier. Pop sealant into the tyre by the valve, with it down the bottom. Mount the tyre, remove valve core, turn the valve to the top so the sealant starts running down the inside of the tyre/rim and then blast it with the IED blowing sealant around the inside of the tyre/rim. I've been using one of these for years. It works first time every time with the right technique.

[@Whatsthepointingoats]

Skills with phil did a good tutorial with a sprayer bottle, and its works perfect!

[@sempi8159]

Are those the thick soda bottles or the thin lidl water bottles?

[@MrBunglor]

The pressure inside a sealed plastic soda bottle full of carbonated drink does not increase when shaken. the gas remains dissolved in the liquid until the seal is broken.

[@0001-u2u]

Yes but when you bring the bottle in a location with large difference in pressure. It goes kaboom.

[@mikehall6608]

I've made a couple of these. Same bottle size. Beefed it up considerably with Gorilla tape (other brands available), especially the lid area. Worked a charm for road tyres... Tighter tyres required a bit of lube on the bead, but eventually worked. Managed to go as high as 9-10BAR with one of these... yes air was pissing out the cap between the valves, but I pumped furiously enough to get the pressure up to an adequate amount. Usually 7Bar is enough. *Pro tip*, (from a complete amateur) when releasing the pressure, have valve at 12:00, and press down on the tyre around the valve, so the air doesn't piss straight out. For higher volume mtb tyres have you considered a larger bottle? e.g 2l?

[@mikehall6608]

After opening the airflow and if the tyre is almost seated but not quite, you should continue pumping, the tyre will hold enough for the pressure inside to continue increasing inside, and therefore finish seating.

[@grahamm2015]

Do you have a black Friday deal on these 😀. Apparently come bottles are rated to 140psi live and learn

[@werdsmyth]

I use the garden weed killer spray method. Think it cost me a tenner off eBay. First attempt resulted in sealant spraying everywhere but that was 100% down to user error (I took the plastic tube off in order to put the valve core back in but didn't put my finger over the hole, so everything just sprayed straight back out the valve...idiot). Second time it worked a treat. Would thoroughly recommend. But would also echo other comments, that you need to remove the valve core, so the air can rush into the tyre at pace.

[@zzzwillzzz]

no need for reinforcing the bottle, they hold lots of pressure. i used to unload trucks at a grocery store and watched a driver use a 2 liter soda bottle to support a pallet that weighed hundreds and hundreds of pounds with no problem.

[@hw5533]

I have done this and with a bit of fiddling it worked. I had to bounce the wheel up and down on the ground to initiate some of the seal. Also, have you tried to do it with the valve at the top so it's not trying to blow through the sealant?

[@rickcski8082]

You should also wear a cup along with those safety glasses.

[@mgoo1713]

I just bought a 3.7hp 60 gallon 165 psi air compressor.

[@JeffCowan]

I wimped out now and use a pancake compressor and a spray bottle of soapy water. It's a noisy mess but works. I get that you're in a small apartment and that wouldn't fly.

[@Robinators]

That rim needs a couple more layers of rimtape. and biger bottle.

[@jaro6985]

2L pop bottle might be a bit of an improvement. I think one problem is presta valve has such terrible flow rate, you can buy higher flow versions, although looks like you did take the cores out which would help. Hope your knee gets better.

[@tobycolin6271]

Mine worked a treat and then went off like a bomb smoking sealent and ringing ears for a while.

[@ianhunter1279]

If you had brushed washing up liquid around the beed, it would have seated alot sooner

[@FightFilms]

93 'Till Infinity

[@dtolios]

Soapy water helps a lot... or so I think. I have a small compressor, don't even own a track pump. Name-brand track pumps are stupid expensive IMHO, cost a large fraction (or same) as a new-gen, low noise compressor that is as loud as conversation (i.e. workable even in an apartment IMHO), or more than a cheapo-old compressor (stupid loud).

[@8paolo96]

I just use CO2 cartridges, they worked flawlessly so far (on 38C and 43C gravel tyres), they're quite expensive but I'm not reseating tyres that often to justify the price of a 50€ booster tank,

[@cjohnson3836]

Not all sealants play well with CO2.

[@scotia7566]

Every time I use my home made effort I can’t shake the felling that the presta valves are going to shoot out like shrapnel and take me out😆😆

[@tristramcharnley2581]

50-60 psi in a big plastic coke bottle works for me every time, gotta remove the valve core first.

[@peglor]

Just put a tube in it, inflate till the bead is popped on all around and you're already good to go. If you want it tubeless, leave the tyre inflated with the tube in it while you do something else for 15+ minutes so it can settle to it's inflated shape (Usually seating new tyres fails because of leaking at the corners left in the tyre bead where it was folded for shipping), pop the bead off at one side only, pour in sealing goo and add rim protector if you use one and put the bead back in place. It'll seal first try with a track pump and still take less time overall even of you stand by the wheel doing nothing while waiting for the tyre to settle to its inflated shape.

[@DanKolan]

I do the same. I bang in a tube and ride it until I remember I was supposed to put sealant in. It also helps with installing tubeless tape. Whack it around the rim bed, whack in a tube. Tube smooths the tubeless tape out and gives a nice seal as well as seating the bead.

[@PeakTorque]

I used to do that, but it was very unreliable, even getting one side re-seated. This was just a bit of fun really, works well at 140psi and its a butt twitching fun pumping it up that high.

[@peglor]

@@PeakTorque Maybe works so well for me because the rims and tyres I use are on the narrow side of what is available now. Since my riding is not smashing full suspension bikes through rock gardens, I've found tubeless to be of no benefit to me. I tried it first when the original UST system was released and again a few years ago when I happened to get some wheels with sealed rims. I found the sealant worked reasonably well in dry conditions, but broke down in wet conditions, which meant my tyres were saving up the punctures they'd collected in the dry to leave me repairing them on wet days.

[@deadreckoner5276]

I bought a used one on eBay for $30. Works great.

[@waynosfotos]

Mate, it is 2021, tubeless are the new tech everyone is using! Really? This to me looks like a whole lot of hard work. 🤔

[@highcarbrider]

My mate made one of those, it exploded on him and ripped his hand to shreds, never seen such a gory mess

[@paulsymons562]

flow, pressure and volume... remove core from wheel valve for flow, use a 3l bottle for volume and pump to a good pressure -7bar or so. Alternatively buy a cheap air compressor :-)

[@Hiasibua]

Still noone wished you a speedy recovery, so here I go: get well soon! 🦾

[@rommelreyes2209]

I thing you were already done in the first few attempts. You just needed to finish it using the pump directly

[@jonwatts9872]

Soap suds round the rim and it'd probably have popped on first time

[@davidnicholson6680]

The lengths people go to to avoid spending $100 on a compressor and inflator. Also, you need a bigger bottle.

[@nocturnalcadence1676]

Thanks for the cool video.

[@ProffessorSeen1]

Has to buy park tool di2 cable routing kit because “sometimes you just need the real deal.” Proceeds to make a homemade improvised explosive device to seat a mtb tire.

[@MarioXcore1]

The toppeak joeblow does the inflation at 160 psi

[@darrenhaines1]

It may be wrong, but I just use a CO2 has never failed me yet.

[@ridethelakes]

Just use a co2 cartridge, job done.

[@joelanwa]

with soapy water in bead is magical to be seated

[@redh7039]

Maybe, should of had the tire horizontal rather than on the floor???

[@patrickparisienne1917]

I just use large CO2 canisters. Cheap as chips when you buy 10 pcs plus…

[@davidcarroll4150]

Yes they do

[@the.communist]

Put Soapy water around the beads

[@shawnchong2761]

God tier tire inflator. Just requires 9 attempts.

[@wtfiswiththosehandles]

Sounds like you're restricting airflow... I remove valve core from wheel and use a larger diameter hose.

[@PeakTorque]

Of course the valve cores are removed!

[@wtfiswiththosehandles]

@@PeakTorque okay, I thought they weren't based on how long it took to empty the IED ;)

[@bossebo3535]

I can tell you are a Pilgrim watcher, saying the pump it hah.

[@SignorLuigi]

I see why folks love tubeless tires. 🤔