It had long been a running joke between Chris and I that I was running tubeless tires on my bike. But the fact is, when I got my Panaracer Gravel King tires some months back and we tried to mount them, we just couldn’t get that back tire to work for us. So after several tries, I just stuck a tube in it and called it a day. The joke was that we both decided to never tell our third riding partner, Joon.
And we kept that secret through several rides, until I was out a couple of months ago and finally got my first flat on the back tire. Joon was puzzled. “It didn’t seal?” The cool things about tubeless tires is that they’re filled with a liquid that kind of automatically plugs small holes or cracks in the tire, so even if you get a puncture, you don’t usually get a flat (unless it’s a real lulu).
So I finally spilled the beans and told him that Chris an I had been deceiving him all along. I guess you had to be there. We usually have a good banter going on rides, and so we’d be boasting about being tubeless when Chris and I both knew very well that I wasn’t.
So finally, after telling Joon several times that we should go ahead and finish the job (now that I’d been riding the Panaracer with a tube in the rear, I was sure it would seat) I went over to his place tonight and we got to work.
And the back tire did seat…with a couple of glitches. First off, I still had the hole from the flat I’d gotten a while back. We sealed that with a repair kit, but the rim still needed a little help. There were a few small leaks in places. But we figured that if we got the sealant into the tire and gave it a few spins, it’d go to the spots and do it’s job. And after a few tries, it did.
So yeah. I am now totally tubeless, and as a bonus we also re-sealed my front tire, which was almost dry. And all of this just in time for my big ride on Saturday. I’ve just got to hope everything holds. I’ll certainly be carrying at least one spare tube just in case.
