Tubeless ...

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Levo-Lon

Guru
None..
run them around 20...24 psi..front and a couple of psi more at the back..
you may need to adjust pressures to suit your weight but after a bit of trial and error you will find the sweet spot.
you may have some fun and games sealing them ,inflating first time..but you wont regret doing this..
enjoy
 
OP
OP
ozboz

ozboz

Guru
Location
Richmond ,Surrey
None..
run them around 20...24 psi..front and a couple of psi more at the back..
you may need to adjust pressures to suit your weight but after a bit of trial and error you will find the sweet spot.
you may have some fun and games sealing them ,inflating first time..but you wont regret doing this..
enjoy

Sealing them, never thought of that , is it the same sort of process as a car tyre , some stuff pinted onto the rim ?
 
Just embarking on this myself. Have got a Stans Notubes standard kit but told I need only valves, tape and fluid if my rims are welded. So may be sending it back.

Only thing worrying me is low pressures being too squishy on tarmac sections.
Am running 40psi at the moment.
Have come from an old school MTB so still playing with setup.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
Just embarking on this myself. Have got a Stans Notubes standard kit but told I need only valves, tape and fluid if my rims are welded. So may be sending it back.

Only thing worrying me is low pressures being too squishy on tarmac sections.
Am running 40psi at the moment.
Have come from an old school MTB so still playing with setup.


the main reason for tubeless is to run low pressure..
reason for this is you wont get pinch flats like you do with a tube.
the low pressure allows the tyre to deform over roots and rocks so you get a lot more feel and grip.
its quite a revalation ...
big volume tyres like continental trail kings ..hans damph minions etc are where you get the most amaizing results..the deflection you have or get with 40psi is not something you will ever want again after a day on low 20's psi trail tyres..
But if you do lots of tarmac? It may be a waste of funds..
 
Location
Loch side.
Just embarking on this myself. Have got a Stans Notubes standard kit but told I need only valves, tape and fluid if my rims are welded. So may be sending it back.

Only thing worrying me is low pressures being too squishy on tarmac sections.
Am running 40psi at the moment.
Have come from an old school MTB so still playing with setup.
Don't be too quick in sending that kit back. A welded rim is not an airproof rim. Every spoke hole is a leak. Just abut all rims are welded nowadays.
You don't need the kit if your rim is a UST-certified rim and there are very, very few of those. UST is a Mavic invention and a standard, if you wish, for certifying that a rim is tubeless without the need for tape and sealant. For a rim to be tubless or UST-certified, it needs some very special engineering that drives the cost up significantly. Firstly, the spokes have to screw into the rim itself. The spoke screw socket has to be welded to the outside of a seamless rim etc etc. This makes the rim, spokes and hub proprietary and expensive.

Tubeless conversion kits are the way to go in my view. They are cost-effective and still leave you with a standard components that any bike shop can fit and repair.

Fitting the kit is not easy though. Expect lots of trial and error and don't attempt it if you don't have a compressor or some other source of bulk cheap air/gas. You could inflate it with CO2 first time if you don't have a compressor but then you can't put the sealant in in the first inflation since the sealant is not compatible with CO2.

I suggest lots of prior research.

Other than installation problems, tubeless is fantastic. For serious MTBers there is no other option.
 
the main reason for tubeless is to run low pressure..
reason for this is you wont get pinch flats like you do with a tube.
the low pressure allows the tyre to deform over roots and rocks so you get a lot more feel and grip.
its quite a revalation ...
big volume tyres like continental trail kings ..hans damph minions etc are where you get the most amaizing results..the deflection you have or get with 40psi is not something you will ever want again after a day on low 20's psi trail tyres..
But if you do lots of tarmac? It may be a waste of funds..

Thanks for the insight :okay:
My current favourite loop is 28 miles with maybe 2 miles on tarmac.
I came to tubeless mainly for puncture protection after running gunk tubes for years, but on some rougher sections I'd love to be rid of deflection.
The new bike is a hell of a lot faster than the old Scott and I've had a few 'moments'.
 
Don't be too quick in sending that kit back. A welded rim is not an airproof rim. Every spoke hole is a leak. Just abut all rims are welded nowadays.
You don't need the kit if your rim is a UST-certified rim and there are very, very few of those. UST is a Mavic invention and a standard, if you wish, for certifying that a rim is tubeless without the need for tape and sealant. For a rim to be tubless or UST-certified, it needs some very special engineering that drives the cost up significantly. Firstly, the spokes have to screw into the rim itself. The spoke screw socket has to be welded to the outside of a seamless rim etc etc. This makes the rim, spokes and hub proprietary and expensive.

Tubeless conversion kits are the way to go in my view. They are cost-effective and still leave you with a standard components that any bike shop can fit and repair.

Fitting the kit is not easy though. Expect lots of trial and error and don't attempt it if you don't have a compressor or some other source of bulk cheap air/gas. You could inflate it with CO2 first time if you don't have a compressor but then you can't put the sealant in in the first inflation since the sealant is not compatible with CO2.

I suggest lots of prior research.

Other than installation problems, tubeless is fantastic. For serious MTBers there is no other option.

I'm on WTB i23 TCS rims. Tubeless compatible it says but probably not the full monty.
The tyres are Vittorria Barzo folders. Not certified tubeless but Evans mechanic said to try them tubeless anyway.
 
Location
Loch side.
I'm on WTB i23 TCS rims. Tubeless compatible it says but probably not the full monty.
The tyres are Vittorria Barzo folders. Not certified tubeless but Evans mechanic said to try them tubeless anyway.
I know the WTBs well. Nice rims but as you say, not the full monty. The full monty is always some proprietary wheel, you can never buy just the rim itself other than for one Mavic rim I know of. The WTBs will convert nicely. I don't know those tyres at all. The trick with tubeless tyre is to look for a tyre with a thick sidewall and thick juicy beads. The jucy-er the bead, the better the seal. You have to squeeze a couple of different beads before you will grasp the concept of juicy. Super lightweight tyres rarely convert nicely and always leak air. By definition a tubeless tyre will be thick. Have a look at a UST-certified tyre to get an idea of just how much rubber there must be on the tyre before it seals properly.

It is a bit flippant for the mechanic to suggest you try them anyway. If you dont' have experience with these things you can make so many mistakes that still having the added burden of an unknown tyre on top of that, makes the experience frustrating.
 
Location
Loch side.
Maxxis Minnions , tubeless ,are they ok ? , ive never had tubeless tyres on a bike , are there any major drawbacks ?
Yes, there are several drawback.

1) If the setup is not fully UST you can expect to lose pressure from the tyres and you have to keep on topping it up even if you don't use the bike all the time. That's because once the pressure is lost, the seal is compromised at the bead and re-inflating essentially becomes a re-installation.
2) Tubeless installation is messy and ideally requires a compressor. You need a good whack of quickly-dumped air to make the initial seating. I've seen some people make themselves an air reservoir from fire extinguisher canisters fitted with valve attachments. It works nicely but requires a trip to a compressor each time you empty it.
3) The two types of sealants - latex and non-latex all have their benefits and drawbacks.
4) Most sealants are not compatible with CO2 inflation.
5) Sealant, especially latex sealant has a limited lifespan, particularly in summer.
6) If the sealant/assembly fails in the field you have a hard time recovering from that. If you want to fit a tube in the field it is extremely messy and you first have to clean the tyre on the inside from any thorns still protruding in there but which the sealant took care of. Sometimes the tyre on the inside looks like an inverted hedgehog and is obviously not tube-compatible in that state.
7) At very low pressures the tyre can burp and lose even more pressure. A burp in a hard turn equates to a fall.
8) The tubeless valves are expensive and unreliable. They also block with the sealant and getting a type with a removable and replaceable core is important.
9) The Stan's tape is problematic. It is difficult to install and must be stretched into place. This can only be done effectively on a sturdy wheel truing stand like a Park or such. You can work around it but then you need more hands.
10) The tape lifts with age and the sealant creeps inside, eventually leaking out.
11) The sealant, once it has leaked into the rim cavity, pops out the spoke holes and makes a glorious mess.
12) Some sealant corrodes the rim to the point where it can no longer be sealed. It eats right through the anodizing and then quickly attacks the aluminium.

Those are the only drawbacks I can think of at the moment.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I have a couple of tubeless mountain biking mates who would endorse the posts by @meta lon and @Yellow Saddle.

Seems to me it comes down to weighing up the riding benefits against the extra fettling.

Another mate gave up on tubeless, loved the ride but got fed up with topping up sealant, pressure loss, replacing valves/tape etc.

The last straw for him was a puncture the sealant didn't fix - messy business, sealant squirted all over the bike and him.

Tubeless would also make changing tyres complicated, a nuisance if you like to use different tyres in different seasons.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
Have to dissagree @Yellow Saddle ..
my tubeless wheels..ust hold the air for months..
i change the sealant every yr or when changing tyres..
i use a track pump..no probs..
no corosion..
no punctures..

Just good grip and no worrying about flats..
poor instalation may cause many probs and the wrong tyres..
 
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