Tyresome talk - All things tyres

steamsey

rizzodun wrote: »

I’ve converted two wheel sets to tubeless, it’s not that difficult in my opinion.

Getting the right tyres does help, Maxxis tend to have a tighter bead.

It's not difficult at all. Once you have the right bits. it's one of the easiest upgrades you can do at home. It's just that if your rims (and tyres of course) are not tubeless compatible, there's a fair chance tubeless won't work reliably and you'll be pulling your hair out in no time.

I remember going tubeless with some really **** Mavic rims years ago. Tyre rolled off the rim on a berm one night at Ticknock. Apart from the crash, I then had the pleasure of trying to put a tube in with everything covered in Stans fluid and pine needles. Minging work and just not worth it. Went back to tubes with that wheelset. Next bike had more modern rims that were tubeless ready and never had an issue with them.

Essentially to go tubeless you need rim tape, Stan's presta valve, Stan's fluid. That's it. Cost is probably €40 for two wheels. Once you know how to do it - probably takes 15 mins per wheel - something like that.

rizzodun

I should’ve clarified, I’ve converted two non tubeless wheelsets to tubeless.

Gorilla tape, and valves from a tube, plenty of sealant, and an air compressor.

Alek

I've converted 2 non-tubeless wheelsets (19mm int. width) and non-tubeless sets of tyres (2.4'' and 35mm) with the ghetto/split tub method.

I find it as good as dedicated tubeless setups I run today, when it comes to reliability - the tube goes around the bead and offers additional sealing.

One of them is still being ridden by the new bike owner and all he needed in a year is to top up the sealant through the valve once.

Note I'm far from being an aggressive rider these days, so don't really throw myself in corners like there's no tomorrow. But I never had an issue in my cyclocross racing days, well, one single burp in the whole career, in a small crash

steamsey

Well there you go OP - two users who have converted non tubeless to tubeless successfully using the ghetto method - sounds like it's worth a go

xxyyzz

nak wrote: »

3 years for me and not a single puncture. Have heard people who race downhill found the grid casing a bit weak. New Butcher with black diamond casing is tougher.

Yeah it was the grid compound I was using.

Macy0161

steamsey wrote: »

Well there you go OP - two users who have converted non tubeless to tubeless successfully using the ghetto method - sounds like it's worth a go

Yeah, watched a couple of videos on it last night, might be the weekend project alright.

emeraldmtb

My Enduro bike currently has a Maxxis Shorty on the front and a Maxxis Aggressor on the back. I tend to run that all year round. I have run a Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic combo before but found them a little less supportive in the slop, although the HD would probably have less wear on it than my Shorty does after the dry months this year.

On the tubeless note, I converted my first set of rims 4 years ago, and never had an issue with any, although I do think all the rims I've used were listed as tubeless ready/friendly/etc.
I've found going around the rim with the tape multiple times creates a nice well for the tyre to sit into. And use plenty of sealant to coat the inside of the tyre, especially the first time. Maxxis tyres have always gone on without issue for me, Schwalbe tyres have been harder to get seated and take more work/muscle.

steamsey

Yeah I mean the ghetto conversion defo works, and people are saying it works on a non tubeless intended rim so that's good to know. I tried it years ago - it was non ghetto so to speak (so all official Stans stuff) on a non tubeless Mavic rim and it was a disaster in my case. I nearly sold the bike until I went back to tubed and then eventually got a bike with proper rims.

I just think that if I'm going out on the bike, and especially racing, I want to know the tyre is as close to 100% as it can be and not going to burp off. I'd do ghetto method, but only on a tubeless intended rim.

Never had an issue seating Schwalbes - Hans Dampfs, Magic Marys, Nobby Nics... the key is a really bloody good tyre iron

Gerry

I've done ghetto tubeless twice, once on dt Swiss rims which seemed to work really well, and more recently on my giant pxc2 rims . That has been a bit tougher, I've not been let down on a spin or in a race but sometimes after being left for a while they've lost seal and had to be retaped probably three times between the two wheels.. That bike will be treated to some new rims anyway. The difference on the enduro bike which has proper tubeless rims (wtb i25) was shocking, took serious effort to remove the tyre from the rim when changing.
Re setting up I found most filling stations no longer have suitable compressor so I bought an airshot - it just works