# Kids (20/24 inch) Tubeless Setups



## cakemonster (Sep 30, 2012)

Just wanted to post my experience running my kid tubeless with the Spawn TR 27 rims and Waxtion tires. Set up easily with a standard Stans valve and 3M tubeless tape.

My 5 yo (47 lbs) seemed to have much better grip with them on his Yama Jama after riding with tubes for a while. Running 18 PSI front, 20PSI rear but considering going lower given some smaller women ride those pressures. 

Now my 7 yo is jealous and I might need to find him some new wheels(read "Dad why don't we just get dual suspension if we are getting new wheels"..."Good point son..." 

I tried to setup the 7 yo tubeless on regular rims (Cube) with the Spawn tires and couldn't get time to seal even with a compressor.

Anyone else running tubeless setups with kids? Other rims/tires that work well? Pressures?


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## SpuTTer (Jan 19, 2004)

Maybe try ghetto tubeless using a 20" tube on the 24". I use it one my 26" single speed with good results and have been considering on my kids 20" and 24".


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## RMCDan (Feb 28, 2008)

Try inflating them with the valve core removed. The core restricts air flow into the tire more than you would think. Yes, the tire tire will deflate immediately once you pull the chuck off the valve stem, but the bead will stay seated and it should inflate no problem once you put the core back in. If that fails, split-tube method is almost guaranteed to work.


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## DigitalBoy (Dec 28, 2016)

Yes, loads of parents running tubeless in their kids bikes. Totally worth it in my opinion. I usually do the ghetto method with gorilla tape. Haven't had too many issues getting them to seat properly but doubt you could do this with a hand pump. Compressor is needed. At least I needed it.

And as RMCDan mentioned, remove the core, inflate and seat the bead. Then when you remove the compressor although the pressure escapes, the bead should stay seated.

As for pressure, it is low. 18/20 seems high for 47lbs. For my 60 lbs kid, I usually run 12/14, but I have even run lower than that. You need a little tire deformation, really helps with both grip and comfort. But not too much so the tire rolls over during cornering. Usually not an issue for lightweight kids however. The tire almost feels flat to us adults. I just have him stand on the bike on a hard surface and have him kind of bounce on the bike. You should see the tire soaking up some of that movement without 'squashing' it flat. If it hardly moves, too much pressure. If it flattens down, too little. Just experiment but don't be afraid to go low.

Please don't run 40 psi. Went for a cruisy ride with friends and saw one of the kids getting pinged around and beaten up. Must have been 60 psi in that thing, straight from the bike shop. I quietly let it down to something more appropriate and enjoyed watching the kid have a much easier ride. Most kids bikes have overinflated tires, my 2c.

db


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

DigitalBoy said:


> Yes, loads of parents running tubeless in their kids bikes. Totally worth it in my opinion. I usually do the ghetto method with gorilla tape. Haven't had too many issues getting them to seat properly but doubt you could do this with a hand pump. Compressor is needed. At least I needed it.
> 
> And as RMCDan mentioned, remove the core, inflate and seat the bead. Then when you remove the compressor although the pressure escapes, the bead should stay seated.
> 
> ...


We are running Maxtions at around 12Psi for 52lb kid. Its great, boat loads of traction. We did have a blow out tho. He tries to jump or hit anything and did so on some log that had a slight edge to it. The tire blew/burped out all the way and then bent his rim a bit which put a small slice into the edge of the tire. Not sure if it was low PSI, though I'm guessing it had something to do with it.


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## cakemonster (Sep 30, 2012)

Thank You. Will experiment with going lower. I knew 18/20 was too high proportionally, but was worried about burping. Even 18/20 tubeless vs. 30 with tubes made a big difference.

Maybe I will try 15-16 f/r next time for the 5 year old.


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## cakemonster (Sep 30, 2012)

And I will try the remove the core trick. We thought about trying that but my buddies compressor has one of the Park handles that does schrader and presta, but would not go on the coreless valve. What connector do you recommend to attach the tubeless valve without the core in? Thank you so much for your experience.


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## Szy_szka (Oct 29, 2015)

svinyard said:


> We are running Maxtions at around 12Psi for 52lb kid. Its great, boat loads of traction. We did have a blow out tho. He tries to jump or hit anything and did so on some log that had a slight edge to it. The tire blew/burped out all the way and then bent his rim a bit which put a small slice into the edge of the tire. Not sure if it was low PSI, though I'm guessing it had something to do with it.


Interested to know what happened next? Did you have a spare tube to patch things up and continue the ride or did you have to walk back to the car? Stories like those make me very hesitant to even bother with the whole tubeless setup.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Szy_szka said:


> Interested to know what happened next? Did you have a spare tube to patch things up and continue the ride or did you have to walk back to the car? Stories like those make me very hesitant to even bother with the whole tubeless setup.


Just bend the rim out a little where it got dinged and put a tube in it and ride. No big deal. He was around the neighborhood and just walked it back.


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## DigitalBoy (Dec 28, 2016)

cakemonster said:


> And I will try the remove the core trick. We thought about trying that but my buddies compressor has one of the Park handles that does schrader and presta, but would not go on the coreless valve. What connector do you recommend to attach the tubeless valve without the core in? Thank you so much for your experience.


I just use one of those presta to schrader adapters. Allows a huge amount of air to pass through. You can pick them up at Walmart etc.

db


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## DigitalBoy (Dec 28, 2016)

Szy_szka said:


> Interested to know what happened next? Did you have a spare tube to patch things up and continue the ride or did you have to walk back to the car? Stories like those make me very hesitant to even bother with the whole tubeless setup.


I carry tubes when I'm going to be more than a couple miles from a trailhead. But honestly it usually stays in my bag anyway. Never used them, but I tend to be overprepared. Kind of feels like anything that is enough to destroy a tire in tubeless mode would also wreck a tube, so a spare tube is required in both cases. In my experience, I've had waaay less issues with tubeless vs constantly repairing/patching tubes. Don't miss that at all. Of course there could always be something catastrophic, but that is true for any part of the bike. If the rim is that bad that you can't get a tire to seat, a tube may not help either.

If this helps - you'll see a lot of people converting to tubeless, but don't often hear of people going the other way. That has to say something.

db


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

DigitalBoy said:


> I carry tubes when I'm going to be more than a couple miles from a trailhead. But honestly it usually stays in my bag anyway. Never used them, but I tend to be overprepared. Kind of feels like anything that is enough to destroy a tire in tubeless mode would also wreck a tube, so a spare tube is required in both cases. In my experience, I've had waaay less issues with tubeless vs constantly repairing/patching tubes. Don't miss that at all. Of course there could always be something catastrophic, but that is true for any part of the bike. If the rim is that bad that you can't get a tire to seat, a tube may not help either.
> 
> If this helps - you'll see a lot of people converting to tubeless, but don't often hear of people going the other way. That has to say something.
> 
> db


Yeah we were in the neighborhood so the kid just walked the bike home, we bent the rim edge right, threw a tube in there and off we went. That being said, before tubeless, I was patching tires like a maniac. Literally sometimes twice a day from weird thorns or whatever was about.


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## Szy_szka (Oct 29, 2015)

DigitalBoy said:


> I carry tubes when I'm going to be more than a couple miles from a trailhead. But honestly it usually stays in my bag anyway. Never used them, but I tend to be overprepared. Kind of feels like anything that is enough to destroy a tire in tubeless mode would also wreck a tube, so a spare tube is required in both cases.


Did not really mean to dissect your quote but you said it yourself: "a spare tube is required in both cases." I also carry one one (or two) for every trip I take (learned my lesson the hard way few seasons back) but if the only benefit of the tubeless setup is not to bother with tubes... well, clearly they are not going away, are they? . I know, I know, there are other benefits to be had with the tubeless setup but ... call me crazy, I am still skeptical. Maybe one day....


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## DigitalBoy (Dec 28, 2016)

Szy_szka said:


> but if the only benefit of the tubeless setup is not to bother with tubes... well, clearly they are not going away, are they?


I think you've missed the entire point. No one is saying the benefit is to eliminate tubes from existence. You may want to reread the thread. The discussion is about what pressure to run. If you want to run 12 psi with tubes, go for it... Spoiler alert, it usually doesn't end well.

The reasons for going tubeless have nothing to do with a sinister plot to kill tubes. It is all about weight overall (2 less tubes) unsprung weight, superior resistance to punctures, and my personal favorite - the ability to run much lower pressures without risking pinch flats. The handling increase and total lack of punctures makes it a no brainier in my view.

But look, no one is forcing anyone to change. We're only helping the OP and sharing personal experience. People should run the setup they are comfortable with. For me, that is tubeless, for you it is tubes. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

db


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

Szy_szka said:


> Did not really mean to dissect your quote but you said it yourself: "a spare tube is required in both cases." I also carry one one (or two) for every trip I take (learned my lesson the hard way few seasons back) but if the only benefit of the tubeless setup is not to bother with tubes... well, clearly they are not going away, are they? . I know, I know, there are other benefits to be had with the tubeless setup but ... call me crazy, I am still skeptical. Maybe one day....


The difference is huge for me.... ignore the weight of the tubes but the whole thing feels much nicer to ride, grips better and in thousands of riding hours I have only had to use a tube once (and that was not absolutely necassary just quickest way back to the parking when I'd get a fine)

A whole stick got pushed through between the tire and rim in a freaky OTB and that would have been fine without masses of pine needles and dirt joining it... so I stuck in a tube .. got back tot he car and took a rag and cleaned off the dirt and pine needles and reinflated and it resealed.. (and that is 9 mo ago and it is still sealed)

Ive had numerous probably hundreds of punctures I know of (as I pulled out a thorn/nail etc.) and hundreds I didn't and every one has sealed .. I ripped a really light XC tirewall on a sharp rock enough to have to replace it but it still sealed enough to get me home...

The kids bike has Stans Crest ... no need to remove the valve core or even use a track pump... with either 2.1 Rocket Rons or the huge 2.4 Fat Alberts...

I only carry a single 26" tube that will do the 24's or my 27.5's... before that our riding I'd be doing a puncture a week between us....

Pressures vary from 35 psi for road/firetrail specific to 12-15ish for aggressive single track... and we did a 3000' climb last weekend and let some air out at the top...

However, as digital boy say's no-one is forcing you but like droppers 90% of people never go back... it's not just the weight or just the ride or just the grip or even rarely getting a puncture... but a bit of all of them .... I'd quite honestly forgotten about fixing punctures...


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