How To: Waterproof your rims for use with mousses and TuBliss.

Lord Triumph · Jan 3, 2018

I ride in some very wet conditions. Sometimes crossing deep rivers and wading through 2ft of rain water filled muddy ruts. More often than not my rims get a good filling of water through the spoke nipples. Even when applying several wraps of rim tape/electrical tape on the inside of the rim. This is normally fine with tubes as they expand far enough into the rims recesses to stop a lot of the water getting through. And tubes are pretty resistant to wear anyway. But with mousses the gritty dirty water accelerates wear. And with TuBliss there is ample free room for water to get in and build up a nice heavy swimming pool!

A good trick is to clean the inside of the rims and seal the back of the spoke nipples with a good quality waterproof sealant. I use Nemesis black frame and glazing sealant. Screwfix £6. It’s tough and flexible and can be easily dug out and replaced if I need to adjust spoke tension at any time.

I still run a proper rubber rim band over the top of the sealant as well and apply this when the sealant has cured so the band doesn’t stick to it.

I also use a small rubber washer on the stem of the rim locks (hub side of rim) to stop water getting in that way and I use a bolt in stainless valve from Enduro Tyres to stop water getting in the old valve hole.

Not much water if any at all gets in past the tyre bead as long as it’s clean and seated well.

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Chawnz · Jan 3, 2018

Rape Tape works

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mike54 · Jan 3, 2018

Not to mention being easy to remove if you want to replace spokes. I dont see the wisdom of putting sealant on them at all.

steveman · Jan 3, 2018

I didnt make my rims waterproof and I rode quite a lot through water and in very wet conditions. Never had a problem so far. Maybe it is worth to mention that I use lots (!) of mousse lube to avoid the mousse overheating. Could be a reason why I have never found much water or dirt inside the tyre...

ktm9 · Jan 3, 2018

Same here, if I've had an especially wet ride, Ill remove tyre & relube mousse.
If you blow air into the valve it tends to push any water back out.
You can also get lube in through the valve hole too, that's if you don't fancy removing the tyre.

My Mousses are 100+ hrs and still pretty good. So much so I refitted them into my new bike.

stumo · Jan 3, 2018

water won't get into a tyre with tubliss...

If air cannot get out (most of the time there is very little pressure change in the tyre week to week) then water won't get in.

NKL · Jan 3, 2018

The TuBliss rim tape is fucking good as well, can't see how water would get past that either

smilervx · Jan 3, 2018

Maybe coz you cut 2 holes in the tape?

Think the gen3 tape is better with 3 wraps.

Not sure if tightening spokes breaks tape

stumo · Jan 3, 2018

i've never spotted knackered tape around the nipples (Ffnarr Ffnarr)

Pindie · Jan 4, 2018

If you let the air out of Tubliss you can adjust spokes without fear. Then re fill. Any sharp edges and burrs should have been removed during your meticulous rim prep. The only wet in mine only ever tends to be the stuff I put in during fitting.

UK Stanley · Jan 4, 2018

Yeah,
Water doesn't get in a Tubliss setup. The rim tape has at least 100psi pushing it down. Water doesn't get past that!
Also, you want the rim to be clean before applying the tape... Not covered in sealant or other crap.

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smilervx · Jan 4, 2018

Mates Tubliss foaming at the valve....

No idea what happened.

stumo · Jan 4, 2018

smilervx said:
View attachment 16338

Mates Tubliss foaming at the valve....

No idea what happened.

that's possibly down to poor fitment of the tyre, or a tyre that isn't smooth on the inner part of the bead that the liner pushes against

Lord Triumph · Jan 4, 2018

It’s got rabies.

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Pindie · Jan 4, 2018

I agree. Sometimes you get a bit of residual air that soon stops but if it keeps leaking you’ve fucked up. Make sure there’s no tyre damage where the sealing lips touch the tyre and there are no moulding hairs crossing the sealing lips. Use the reset procedure if required. You’ll soon get the knack.

Minor sealing lip, internal tyre surface damage (all caused by bad lever use) can be sorted with super glue. Same as circumferential running small splits near where the core reinforcement wires are located- damage here is also from levers and not a Tubliss issue itself.

How To: Waterproof your rims for use with mousses and TuBliss.

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