How to Set Up the Priority Apollo Tubeless!

YOU CAN DO IT! Have patience! And be sure to get your tools and materials setup ahead of time. Set your tires up tubeless!
TOOLS AND SUPPLIES USED/NEEDED:
- Sealant: amzn.to/3e5Cfo0
- Sealant Syringe, Valve Core Remover, Tubeless Valves: amzn.to/3bYHdjH
- Rim Tape: amzn.to/3kOqhjN
- Tire Levers: amzn.to/3uPg0bX
- Tubeless Valves: amzn.to/2MMLUEL
- 15mm Pedal Wrench: amzn.to/2OnCNKS
- Floor Pump: amzn.to/3e8vbXD
- Band Aids: amzn.to/3sNwort
Have fun. Ride your bike!
Oh yeah... I started an Instagram account that’s dedicated to surfin dirt on bicycles. Check it out here! / drtsrfn
Personal IG - / timallday

[@dvms2010]

I love my Apollo and thanks for the video! I've found that it's easier to remove the rear wheel with the bike upside down. Also, you can actually tape over the red rim tape that comes on the wheels. I think it's designed that way and helps make the tape lay more evenly by smoothing over the spoke holes. At least I hope it'll stay after setting mine up tubeless a few weeks ago.

[@thegravelist]

Yeah the Apollo is such a fun and smooth bike. Love how robust it is. That’s a good call on removing the wheel upside down, ha, I almost lost my hand. That’s a good call out about leaving the rim tape that comes installed. I had no idea you could do that! I’ve always set my tubeless tires up using this method, but now I wonder if I should have left the already installed tape...

[@rmdcoolboy]

My Apollo just shipped today, now I know how to make it tubeless when I decide it's time to switch. Thank you for the awesome content!

[@thegravelist]

Hey Riley - thanks for stopping by and I'm stoked this video helped. New bike day coming up for you?! That's the besssssttt! Congrats on the Apollo. and have fun out there.

[@johnmcclain3887]

I've been considering going tubeless for some time, and watching this video has convinced me. When I began and was riding the most, it wasn't even close to really working, I watched others, never even thought to bother in the seventies. I had no idea it could be so easy, but an awful lot of things have changed, even since fifteen years ago. Thanks for a most insightful, skilled job demonstrating the swap. I'm convinced.

[@thegravelist]

Oh wow. I'm stoked this video was helpful to you! Thanks for taking the time to comment and leave a thoughtful one at that. Have fun out there!

[@johnmcclain3887]

@@thegravelist I entered bicycles like most boys did, in the sixties, a 20 inch, turned to "stingray", then getting a ten speed, Varsity, about 12. I ended up building a steel framed Raleigh, with the latest six speed cog, by 75, at about 23 pounds, as light as I could afford. I spent two decades in the Corps, cross trained for strength and endurance on a cheap, nice road bike, and same for mountain bike. Just got back in, after twenty, for health, and everything is vastly different. I've wrenched all my life, machinist, toolmaker, but have rediscovered my old passion. I'm waiting on delivery of an "L-train", due in July, and riding a nice road bike, and trying to get my old mountain bike free of about ten pounds of NC mud, learning how different it is from either the old or very new. I'd really like to be "relatively flat-free", never was before. Thanks again, and for the reply, I've found myself in "youtube" with this plandemic, as never even considered, and really enjoy the "community" other than the "deletions". I've been having "the time of my life", and a lot came off of this kind of thing. I think many people are doing much the same. My best,

[@lazurm]

One more tip is to re-install the tube and tire and leave it for an hour or so after the tubeless tape install to really compress it onto the rim before you put the valve and sealant in. Afterwards, remove the tube and continue with the sealant procedures.

[@GoodkatNW]

Really appreciate this. Coming back into cycling after a 10 year hiatus, everything has changed. My Apollo is due to ship August 15th Cheers

[@thegravelist]

Right on Joel! Thanks for the kudos. Love that you're getting back into cycling... hopefully it comes back.. just like riding a bike. Ha. Dad joke.

[@ARJWright]

Literally a question I’ve been evaluating for my Apollo. Timely recommendation from YT. Many thanks for also the bit about tire sizes (can take a 700x47c, this opens much thinking).

[@thegravelist]

Glad I could help!

[@paulcardine]

A couple of comments. Regarding the problem with the gears not working smoothly the Alfine hub,, given what you said about the yellow lines I have found that after a few thousand miles, if I have a problem with the shifting, I change the oil in the hub and the shifting is fine.. When I am removing the Alfine hub, I put it into the highest gear, (the cable is at it's loosest) and that makes working with the cable easier.

[@desiralhagger4034]

Awesome video Tim, my Apollo has been tested and it's come out remarkable so far on the gravel roads in Kansas and Missouri. I immediately went tubeless the day it arrived and never looked back.

[@thegravelist]

Yesssss! That’s awesome. Thanks for commenting on this video. I still appreciate the kudos you gave on the review video - hope you’re staying healthy out there and riding the Apollo as often as you can 🚀

[@lazurm]

Desiral, you really should look back, especially when riding on the streets with cars.

[@newq]

Hey, I'll be riding my Apollo on Kansas gravel too! It should get to me on Thursday.

[@KevinPeffley]

Super vidéo. Thanks! I’ll keep this handy once I try making my tires tubeless. I liked your admission that maintaining bikes can be difficult, so I’ll always keep that in mind. Robert Pursig wrote about gumption in his book Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. In simple terms, you need courage in tackling these kind of things. You never know what you’re going to run into, so you need to have patience and take your time.

[@thegravelist]

Yeah man, no problem. Tubeless is either easy and seamsless or hard and incredibly frustrating. Lol. Good luck!

[@tenapier]

Thanks Tim, love your positive videos! Just put together my Priority Apollo, and looking forward to taking it out tomorrow for my first test ride! Needed to know how to change a flat on the rear wheel, and your video was the most instructional for that by far. This is all new technology for me and I'm excited to try it and learn, so thanks so much for your help! Please keep up the great vids!

[@thegravelist]

Hey tim! Sweet name, btw. Ha. Glad you found this channel and congratulations on your Apollo! One of the funnest bikes to ride for sure. I love how bomb-proof it is. We’re all here to learn! I’m still learning new things about the Apollo everyday. Have fun out there and thanks for the support 🙌🏼

[@rockbrd1]

Some tires you do need a compressor .... the WTB Byways are very tight on the sidewalls so they seat very easy , Tip on th Stans sealant ( what I do is i mix half regular and half Race sealant to get better puncture protection) by mixing 1/2 1/2 sealant won't dry as quick if it was pure race sealant great video content BTW keep em coming thanks !

[@b33gft67]

Just bought my Apollo today! Can't wait for it to get here. Thanks for the great videos, really helped me with my purchase decision.

[@ParanoidPixel]

Very informative. I feel pretty confident that I could do this myself especially knowing I don't need a compressor with the default tire to rim size.

[@thegravelist]

Right on! You definitely got this. Go for it!

[@christopherking2999]

Dude, love your stuff, but the camera pan made me dizzy. I need as much information about The Apollo as I can get my hands on. What do you think about 32c for road only? Tubeless of course.

[@freshstart6]

Great job! Doing my conversion tonight!

[@danieldijo]

Gang bro I wish you a great experience with Tubeless system. My giant tubeless system is trash haha

[@NotARealChef]

Good info on how to go tubeless. You missed an opportunity to weigh it before and after. Got my priority and changed to tubeless day one. Unfortunately I forgot to do a before and after weighing aswell.

[@thegravelist]

Dang it... should’ve done that! Ha. Oh well... next time? Ha

[@stevemullin1195]

Would an Apollo or a 600 be better for long distance multimonth touring using panniers. I noticed they both only have one braze on on each fork blade so don't see a way to get a rack on the front for pannier bags.

[@bwhite757]

Great vid. Personally I HATE rim tape. I know rim tape is lighter, but Gorilla tape is so much easier to work with, and I have WAY less failure rate with using gorillla tape to seal the rim. Also, with the Alfine 11, you're supposed to shift to the 11th gear, then shift up 5 gears to 6th gear, then align the yellow alignment marks. Seems like it wouldn't matter, but definitely did with my Apollo.

[@thegravelist]

I agree with ya! Gorilla tape actually sticks and has more flex to it, which is nice to install with. Thanks for the tip on the gear alignment!

[@BooLee01]

Hey, Tim. I am coming back to this video because I have to ask something. In researching the Priority Apollo gravel bike, I watched some KZbin videos and saw no less than four flats, one of them was your first video on the Apollo. That did not instill a lot of confidence, but I think they were all with tubes. So I was wondering if you could tell me how these WTB Biway tires have been since switching to tubeless.

[@thegravelist]

Heyyy! Thanks for coming back to the vid. Since going tubeless in the byway I suffered one flat. But that’s no fault of the bike, by any means. The byways have really soft and thing rubber. I’m sure there’s a more technical term for that, but they seem more at home on road than off. If you got a stronger tire with thicker casing I bet that would help!

[@velascomeva]

Thanks for the video ! Love my Apollo, what benefits have you seen in going tubeless ?

[@thegravelist]

No problem, happy you enjoyed the video! The benefits, for me, are off road riding. I can run much lower tire pressures (28psi) and have a more comfortable ride because of that. Plus the peace of mind that if I get a puncture then I'm not completely out of luck because the sealant should do it's magic.

[@jancoetzer9941]

Dude, your camera is rebellious! 🤣 It's like it keeps on focusing where you don't want it to! You should give it a stern talking-to... or set your autofocus settings...

[@thegravelist]

Hahah!!! Yeah definitely need to dial in settings. Any tips?!

[@jancoetzer9941]

@@thegravelist I’m no expert, but I might have two suggestions: Set the autofocus to centered weighted or wider, so that it doesn’t try to focus only on what is in the middle of the frame. Try to get more light in your shooting area - this will allow the camera to use smaller apetures, which has a deeper field of focus, allowing more of the frame to be in focus at a time. When the scene is darker, the lens aperture has to open wider to let more light in, which makes for a narrow field of focus, with more elements in the frame out of focus. Loved the content, and very importantly, the audio was very good! Please don’t stop!

[@thegravelist]

@@jancoetzer9941 Wicked smahhhht! I'll give this a shot!

[@77jesseday]

did you roll the belt onto the front ring?

[@BooLee01]

I love your reviews of this bike. I am retiring next year, moving to Japan (where I lived for 14 years in my younger days) and I plan on starting cycling, so I'm researching what my first bike should be. Looking at gravel bikes because I'll want to do both city riding and some bikepacking, including multi-day tours in various parts of Japan. I hate doing maintenance so this belt drive system looks perfect. I'm just wondering, have you done any bikepacking on it, or otherwise loaded it up with bags and/or panniers? If so, do you have any impressions to share?

[@thegravelist]

Hey hey! Thank you for your kind words and HUGE congratulations on your retirement. That’s going to be amazing moving to Japan as a retiree, what a life!! I think this bike would be fine for light backpacking. I would fit it with some larger tires for sure. But it’s longer wheel base, longer chain stays and up right riding position lend itself to longer hours in the saddle. The gearing, however, might make things a bit difficult. The gear range is more suited for gravel and road. If you’re looking to climb, especially loaded down, then the gearing would be steep for that. Have you checked the 600x out? That bike is ready for adventures and has the gear range to back it up! Good luck with everything. And happy retirement!!

[@BooLee01]

@@thegravelist Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have looked at the 600, well, the 600X because I've been watching Ryan Van Duzer like a madman. It costs nearly twice what this Apollo does. I think the 600 would be great for climbing but I think it's slow. I'm looking for something more all-around ready so I can join in on some of the city rides that the local clubs do and then I can load it up and head out to Okutama with a tent and some cooking gear. I was mostly just wondering if this was sturdy enough to handle, say a couple of panniers and a handlebar bag. Keep up the good work. I like your videos.

[@thegravelist]

@@BooLee01 gotcha! This bike is definitely strong enough for a pair of panniers. If an all rounder is what you’re looking for, then this is a great choice. It’s built well, has the gates and internal gearing which would is perfect for outdoor adventures. I think it would workout well for you!

[@ericanderson1110]

@@thegravelist , @Eikichigai (Billy Woolfolk) Late to the chat, but I just got my Apollo and use it for commuting with full panniers (computer, change of clothes, lunch) and was worried about the gearing. Here in Portland OR, it turns out I can just manage most of the hills. Full on bikepacking would be a challenge. I ended up buying a larger rear cog from Priority which will give me another 8% or so on the low end. I am not really worried about the high end and going fast because I can always coast down hills. It's the climb that is worrisome with this. I lived in Japan for about 16 years, and think that with this lower gearing you might be OK. Apparently it is a pretty simple change. Haven't done it yet, as I am currently trying Panaracer SS+ for the commute to cut down rolling resistance. See how that goes at first. Best of luck with your retirement, and Tim, keep making those vids. Love them. Not enough about the Apollo out there.

[@thegravelist]

@@ericanderson1110 love the insight! Great idea about purchasing the larger rear cog - I’ll have to give that a shot. Enjoy the bike! Thanks for the kudos on the videos, much appreciated!

[@stevederr4927]

So you used the same tires after adding the rim tape and tubeless valve? No need to buy a different tire? Any advice on options you’d get when one orders it from Priority (fenders, racks, kick stand, racks, etc)? Any issues since you got it. Think I’ll ask for the easier gear, if I can. How was the sizing? I’m riding a 61cc Specialized Roubaix road bike. Thanks for the reviews!

[@thegravelist]

Yooo. Thanks for the kudos! No need to buy a different tire as they’re tubeless ready. Just the new valve, tape and sealant then you’re good to go. A rear rack would be pretty sweet, especially if you’re going to commute with it. As for the easier gear request, I’m not sure if they’ll do that. I may have jumped the gun in saying that... sounds like they don’t offer that. Sizing was good. Pay attention to the top tube length on their geo spec. As for stand over, I have a 30.5” cycling inseam and the medium allows for about 1” of space - so perfect there. Good luck!!

[@skezicks6447]

Just was curious after a few months with the Apollo, if you are still riding it, and what you think of it long term. I am a first time shopper for a gravel/road bike buyer, and am really intrigued, but just wanted to hear more opinions of what people think long term.

[@thegravelist]

Thanks for the comment and question! I am still riding and loving it each time I do. Specifically it's the smoothest feeling bike to ride around town. The gates belt drive is still butter. I haven't done any maintenance with it other than washing my bike with a hose and soap. That's been real nice not having to fiddle with a derailleur and needing to lube a chain. I also use it to commute to work with where I'm wearing a pair of jeans and I don't worry about showing up to work with a greasy pant leg, ha. As for gravel -- since I set this up tubeless I've been able to run a lower PSI which has helped soak up bumps n such that you encounter off road, plus the ease of mind of not puncturing my tire is nice. In summary... long term? This bike still rules. Each time I ride it, it feels like a brand new bike. Smooth, quiet, and very capable off/on road. It's really just a lot of fun to ride! Hopefully this helps!

[@skezicks6447]

@@thegravelist thanks a bunch!

[@MrQuay03]

Hey Tim. I'm interested in the Apollo but after doing some research, there are quite a few Alfine 11 failures, especially when pedal hard on 2nd gear and 10th gear. Have you gotten any issue, gear mis-shift, gear slippage at all?

[@thegravelist]

Hey Qui - thanks for your comment and support! I haven’t had any failures that you’ve mentioned. I’ve taken it off road a bunch and have struggled up hill in 10th gear and it hasn’t been an issue. I did have some mis-shifts after riding the bike around a few hundred miles, but that was easily fixed by adjusting the barrel adjuster until the yellow lines lined up on the hub. Hopefully this helps!

[@Globeguy1]

There are two versions of Alfine 11. Original s7000, this is probably the version you read about. Newer s7001 is supposed to be more rugged. I suspect it would take couple more revisions to become bullet proof like current Alfine 8.

[@MrGZM90]

is it possible to add some schwalbe marathon plus tires on priority apollo?

[@thegravelist]

Not sure -- I'd say this bike can take a 47 max, 45 with knobs.

[@user-yb5cy2sz6g]

How often do you add more sealant after your setup of tubeless tires?

[@thegravelist]

I usually check levels every 6 months give it take a month or two.

[@ArmandoRodriguez-uv5nf]

@@thegravelist Just got my Apollo last week and I'm thinking of going tubeless. Mine came with Goodyear Connector tires, which I assume are tubeless compatible. How do you check the sealant level? And how does it lose volume? leaks? evaporation? Great video; Thanks!!!

[@bennetthasty7886]

I love Priority but don’t trust this Hub can’t decide if I’ll get the Apollo or like a normal Canyon Grail with derailure

[@thegravelist]

What’s up with the hub?

[@bennetthasty7886]

@@thegravelist honestly nothing in particular just don’t find people saying it’s reliable like a Pinion gear system is

[@bennetthasty7886]

Follow up I just did a 30 mile bike race yesterday & a guy with me sheared off his derailure 10 M into it he did the next 20 riding single speed fixie so maybe no derailure is the way to go

[@brianlove7660]

You don’t ride clipless?

[@thegravelist]

Yeah I do. I just put those pedals/straps on there temporarily as my clipless pedals were on a different bike.