A friend who lives in a flat (with a garden and lockable bike box but no shed) has decided he wants a compressor for tubeless set up and the odd bit of DIY (pinning skirting etc). I’ve only ever used 50L or larger so I’ve no idea of how small you can get away with. For context I’d imagine he’d be setting up tubeless once every few months and potentially topping up tyres once a week or so. I think the DIY side isn’t really a dictating factor other than greater portability would be better.

Are there any significant drawbacks to a 6l model for infrequent tubeless set up? What’s the minimum you’d recommend?

Thanks in advance all

When I looked into this recently I was told that 6L would work fine, though I have no direct experience.

I still have my Airshot if it comes to it though.

I live in a flat and have succeeded 80% installing tubeless with a regular pump and little mess.

After struggling a couple of times I bough a used AirShot. With that ive succeeded the remaining 19% of the times apart from one with a combo of Schwalbe tyres and Mavic rims (even the bike shop struggled A LOT with a compressor).

Unless they need the compressor for other bits of work I would just get an airshot or similar.

I Just made one from a 2kg fire extinguisher bought off eBay for £6 - a tubeless valve and some clear aquarium style tubing.

I was really surprised how easy it was to make and how effective it is. No issues blowing up a 3" tyre on a 50mm rim - valve removed - no tube to seat bead necessary. -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKHhyFAbmrQ

Kudos, but I'm relatively certain that I'd end up removing my own face if I used one that I'd made.

I have a 9 litre tank compressor (£45 iirc).and two issues
1.air flow is not great but its a dirt cheap tube and inflater, a better quality may remedy this.
2. All inflaters are schrader not presta so you need a solution there.

I just use it to inflate a 9 litere fire extinguisher and dump from there as i allready had this. I suspect i can remedy 1 above to make it work ( better inflater bigger bore air pipe etc )but 2 is going to be tricky ( you can get valve adapters to adapt presta to schrader but getting a valve in afterwards or enough air with it in will be a problem.

I advise either a fire extinquisher solution ( cheap and easy )or a bigger compressor than 6 l

Lazarus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 12:49 pm 2. All inflaters are schrader not presta so you need a solution there.

I just use an air gun with the nozzle jammed in the valve (core removed, obviously) to seat it, and then stick the core in and use a normal pump. If you're quick you can get the core in before all the air comes out and save a bit of effort!

Mines just a bog standard 5l job I think.

Check the CFM rating (Cubic feet per minute) as this determines how much air gets blasted out. My 50 l 3.5hp compressor kicks out 15 so I can run an air wrench but 5 or 6 should get a tyre up.
Tank size shouldn't really be an issue, it just means the compressor motor will keep kicking in for the stubborn tyres.

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 6:02 pm
I just use an air gun with the nozzle jammed in the valve (core removed, obviously) to seat it, and then stick the core in and use a normal pump. If you're quick you can get the core in before all the air comes out and save a bit of effort!

Mines just a bog standard 5l job I think.

Ooh good tip Dave, I faff with a presta adaptor and bad language to do this.

I just use an air gun with the nozzle jammed in the valve (core removed, obviously)

I have one of those and tbat is such an obvious solution its embarassing i never thought of it

Cheers

Thanks all, he currently has my old airshot but with the need to do DIY, he wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Will advise him on CFM requirements.
Cheers!

If you're feeling fancy you can also fit a Presta pump head easily enough.

Glad my slapdashery has helped people

Lazarus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2024 7:15 pm I have one of those and tbat is such an obvious solution its embarassing i never thought of it

To be fair, it doesn't seem like it would work very well. It's not terribly efficient because you inevitably get a bit of leakage, but if you have enough air capacity behind it it doesn't really matter.

A bit of hose of the right diameter to fit over the gun and valve would probably make it bit easier too.

Not actually indulged myself yet, but deffo on the ‘Would like one’ list

https://prestacycle.co.uk/collections/inflation-tools

Few quid less, fits any valve and works perfectly so far for me

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JXSSJYR? ... asin_title

Wotsits wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2024 1:48 pm Not actually indulged myself yet, but deffo on the ‘Would like one’ list

https://prestacycle.co.uk/collections/inflation-tools

Definitely on the fancier end of the scale.

I think most air compressors come with a schrader fitting for inflating car tyres, I carry one of these around in my toolkit & have also used it with an air compressor for seating tubeless. The airflow isn’t idea, but it’s worked & it’s cheap as chips

https://www.cycleking.co.uk/pumps/pgr/p ... zGMFwU-_x2

I’m using a garden sprayer, adapted to take a presta input. It’s worked well for years, even for 4.6 fat bike tyres, but has developed a split that leaks a bit at high pressure. I’ve just ordered an empty 2kg fire extinguisher to take its place. I just use a rubber hose that fits over the outside of a presta valve (core removed).