# Tubeless conversion



## Crackle (25 Feb 2015)

When I built my bike a year ago, for reasons of budget and being a bit slow to take on new things ( I know it's not that new), I stuck to inner tubes but having just gone into the garage to get the bike out and discovered another deflated punctured tyre I may be re-considering. This is about the fourth and due to a wonky knee last year, I've not used the bike all that much.

So researching it again, it seems reasonably straightforward and Stans stuff seems to be the best regarded but I know there are others as well as doing it yourself via 20" tubes stretched on, aka @Panter 's technique he shared with me some time ago. I know you need to top up every few months but what else. Other comparable kits, other methods, what disadvantages are there, is it worth it for only using the mtn bike maybe once or twice a month or should I just get better tubes/tyres.

I really haven't decided yet and it's not the first time I've thought about it.


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## Panter (25 Feb 2015)

I can't really add any more, I've not been on the MTB's for a long time now, they're both running tubed tyres.
The "ghetto" conversion did work brilliantly. I literally went from having an average of 1 puncture every two rides (that's a rough average, some rides I'd get 3 punctures, others none) to changing tyres when they wore out and that was the only time they left the rim.
I did. though, have an unpleasant experience with one tyre that let go in spectacular fashion, although that was a dedicated downhill tyre and probably not really suited to the conversion.

When I start MTBing again, I'll probably have a look to see what kits are available now, but I'm out of the loop (no pun intended) as to what's out there now.
Given the budget, I would definitely just go with new tubeless wheel and tyres. OK, the tyres are a lot heavier, but so much easier to set up. But, of course, it's a very expensive option.

Different tubes/tyres isn't really an option where I ride. The problem here is brambles and arrow like flints. I didn't find any tubed tyre that could resist those, there wasn't an M+ MTB type tyre available at the time.

Biggest disadvantage for me of the "ghetto" tubeless was that I couldn't keep chopping and changing tyres. The trails down here vary so much throughout the Year that being able to swap relatively quickly is a big advantage.

Good luck, I'll be interested to see what's available these days as I'll definitely be dusting off the MTB's this Year.


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## Yellow Saddle (25 Feb 2015)

Tubeless is fantastic, but there are a few iffs and butts.

Your tyre has to be just right. If you want official "rightness" go for a UST and place that on a UST certified rim. UST - Universal System for Tubeless (or whatever the real French wording is), is Mavic and Hutchins invention and specification that's available to others in the industry provided they play nice and stick to the spec. The standard or spec, calls for a tyre and rim system that will seal without the use of a tube, or tape, or rim strips or sealant. This does not mean that it will not deflate when punctured. That's what the sealant is for. But for UST the sealant is not required to keep the tyre inflated on the rim, sans tube.

Now, many variations of tubeless, other than UST exist. For instance, you can use a UST tyre on a standard rim and just tape up the rim. You could use a non-UST tyre in the mix or, you could use one of the non-UST tubeless tyres/systems which are generally called tubeless ready. The Tubeless Ready guys are the ones that don't want to pay a license to the French to put UST on their tyres or, who won't get UST approval because of one or other issue.

It is a bit of a minefield.

Many tyres work but they must have thick sidewalls that aren't porous. If you can see the cords through the sidewall, chances are good that the tyre will not seal, even with sealant. Some sealant is better at sealing up thin porous sidewalls than others but for a beginner, with so many variables in the mix, this is a no-no. Choose a tyre with a thick, juicy bead, not a thin hard bead. The juicy bead seals better on metal than a hard bead with a thin layer of rubber over it.

When it comes to sealing the spoke holes, you have many options but also issues. You obviously need a tubeless valve, which works a bit like a car valve. Getting these to seal on rims not really designed for them is a book's worth of writing, but generally, you want to make sure that as much rubber on the valve contacts the metal as possible. Sometimes you have to enlarge the rim's inner hole to get more rubber in there. Generally these valves have a conical rubber foot that needs to wedge tightly and seal. Some companies have "systems" of matched rim and valve foot profiles. These are the best, but obviously of no use to our vanilla brand rims.

As for the spoke bed sealing, you have to issues to consider. a) The tape or strip has to resist the force of the air pressure inside the tyre and not stretch and pop through. b) the strip must sit tightly and not come off when the tight, juicy bead slides over it during installation. Here, the Stan's yellow tape is somewhat good, but far from perfect. The problem is that the tape has to be hard and pliable. It must be pliable so that it follows the rim's inner contours but it must resist popping into the holes. It must also resist the sealant sloshing around over it from lifting the ends and causing sealant creep underneath. This is a disaster if it happens. Long story by itself. I have had success with self-vulcanizing silicone tape. The term vulcanizing is a bit misleading because only rubber can vulcanize, But you get my point.

Then, you have to decide on the appropriate sealant. This stuff - horrible, all of it, comes in two broad varieties. Latex-based and glycol based. The former is preserved with ammonia and corrosive to naked aluminium. It seals well, has a short life in the heat (not a problem in the UK) and is incompatible with CO2 inflation. Glycol sealants work best on thick UST type tyres because its sealing mechanism is not a glue that cures but a carrier with rubber crumbs inside that blocks the hole.

Getting the tubeless to seat the first time is quite a story and you need six hands, a compressor and a bucket of soapy water.

The 20" tube method you mention is called the Ghetto method. It seals very well but you have to fit a new tube each time you take the tyre off.

In operation, tubeless is wonderful. It is not perfect though and can burp when cornering or bumping through. In the field, if you have a total deflation, you have to fit a tube. This is messy and tricky because your tyre now looks like an invented hedgehog inside from all the thorns in there. You have to remove them all before fitting the tube.


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## Crackle (25 Feb 2015)

Yellow Saddle said:


> Tubeless is fantastic, but there are a few iffs and butts.
> 
> Your tyre has to be just right. If you want official "rightness" go for a UST and place that on a UST certified rim. UST - Universal System for Tubeless (or whatever the real French wording is), is Mavic and Hutchins invention and specification that's available to others in the industry provided they play nice and stick to the spec. The standard or spec, calls for a tyre and rim system that will seal without the use of a tube, or tape, or rim strips or sealant. This does not mean that it will not deflate when punctured. That's what the sealant is for. But for UST the sealant is not required to keep the tyre inflated on the rim, sans tube.
> 
> ...


Your post summarises why I decided not to do it last time. I'm only thinking about it again because I'm determined to use the bike more this year. I should say neither my rims or tyres are tubeless ready and the tyres are folding Schwalbe Nobby Nics, rims, Superstar XCX. If I can't make it work with my current combo it's not going to happen.


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## Motozulu (25 Feb 2015)

Good posts but having run tubeless for a year now - I will never, ever go back.

Nuff said.


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## Panter (25 Feb 2015)

What system do you use @Motozulu ? Is yours UST?
I certainly don't intend to remain on tubes, not when I start riding regularly again. Your post reminded me just how much I was blown away by the tubeless conversion, as I thought exactly the same!


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## Crackle (25 Feb 2015)

On the subject of compressors.… I've watched a few vids now just using a track pump, is a compressor necessary?


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## Panter (25 Feb 2015)

Speaking purely from my conversion point of view, it depended soley on the tyres. 
The first set I ever fitted went up easily with a track pump, 2nd set was far more of a struggle, the 3rd set (Maxxis of some description) were hard work to seal even with a compressor! 
I had some success using a CO2 inflator, but it's an expensive way of doing it and a bit of a heart in mouth moment when you have to release the CO2 after its seated and replace with air. 

No idea how easy the kits are, I imagine they go up far better than the ghetto conversion (I'd hope, anyway!)


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## Panter (25 Feb 2015)

Should add to that, as a bit of balance, my regular riding buddy has UST tyres and rims. He has no problems whatsoever just using a track pump.


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## Yellow Saddle (25 Feb 2015)

Panter said:


> Should add to that, as a bit of balance, my regular riding buddy has UST tyres and rims. He has no problems whatsoever just using a track pump.


In my experience, only UST systems will inflate reliably (i.e.) every time with a track pump. The trick is to not try, if you don't have it all just right. What happens is that your confidence is too high, you set yourself up in the kitchen, fill the thing with gorilla snot and then fiddle. Usually it is a mess. Then, the wheel that's now full of slime, doesn't transport very well to the garage.

One more trick, the first time you seat it with a compressor, remove the valve core so more air can shoot in and kick the tyre in place.


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## screenman (25 Feb 2015)

Lighter fuel is quicker than a compressor for inflating. Do not use too much though.


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## Motozulu (25 Feb 2015)

TBH the bike came with the wheels (DT Swiss m1700) already taped up but with tubes in for transportation. All I did was remove the tubes, pop in the tubeless valves supplied , wipe the bead and rim with soapy water and inflate with a track pump. Once it had gone up and sealed I let em down and added Stans fluid with a syringe, up they both went first time and sealed. Hans Dampf tyres.


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## Shadowfax (25 Feb 2015)

Just run on higher pressures .... you know where that came from !!! Although he's been converted to 650b lol


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## Crackle (25 Feb 2015)

Shadowfax said:


> Just run on higher pressures .... you know where that came from !!! Although he's been converted to 650b lol


Should make him a bit taller then.


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## Shadowfax (25 Feb 2015)

Crackle said:


> Should make him a bit taller then.


ha ha pmsl he went across a cattle grid 2x 3punctures broken spokes dinged rim work that one out !!!!!


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## Shadowfax (25 Feb 2015)

Shadowfax said:


> ha ha pmsl he went across a cattle grid 2x 3punctures broken spokes dinged rim work that one out !!!!!


woz on the fixed mind.... am I making excuses ? nah !!!


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## Crackle (26 Feb 2015)

If I go for it, I'll probably go for the Stans kit, about 45 quid. This chap makes it all look remarkably easy but I suspect it's all in the rim shape and tyre fit as to how well it works. I'll have a look over the weekend when I fix the puncture and see how it looks as i think I now know what I'm looking for.



I don't have a compressor but this looks fun to make if I need one http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p


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## Pale Rider (26 Feb 2015)

Converting a previously tubed tyre to tubeless will alter the tyre's handling.

You might like/not like/not notice the new characteristics, but it is something else to consider before going ahead.


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## Crackle (27 Feb 2015)

Pale Rider said:


> Converting a previously tubed tyre to tubeless will alter the tyre's handling.
> 
> You might like/not like/not notice the new characteristics, but it is something else to consider before going ahead.


Most people say positive things about it but yes, it may well change the characteristics a bit but I've not got many miles done on this bike yet, so I'll probably adapt.

Repaired the puncture today, another thorn and had a look at the rim which has a good lip on it. The tyre has a reasonable lip too but it's all quite loose and I can remove and put back without tyre levers, so I guess it'll be a case of building it up under the lip with the Stans tape and converter belt to make it a better fit.







I think I'll do it once I'm fit and riding regularly and as part of aiming for some mtn bike rides which I had to put off last year due to a knee injury. Struggling to get back right now, with a few bugs and still some knee niggles and not so motivated to ride on the road in winter.


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## Panter (27 Feb 2015)

Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how you got on once you're up and running. Much as I loved the ghetto system, I'm all for a life of minimum faff these days.
I do remember using foam tape to build up the profile of a rim to better suit a tyre with the ghetto syatem. Again, it worked well but was additional faff.

Re the handling characteristics, I didn't personally notice a huge change. Although, I still ran mine at relatively high pressure (for tubeless, anyway) so any effect was probably far less pronounced. 
They did seem noticeably "grippier" on hard ground. I suspect that was due to the tyre being able to conform more easily to uneven shapes without the additional thickness of a tube being present, but that's all purely guesswork and may even have been purely psychological. Certainly didn't notice any negative changes, anyway.


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## Pale Rider (27 Feb 2015)

As @Yellow Saddle pointed out earlier, your tubeless conversion will have more chance of success if you have dedicated tyres for the job.

The sidewalls of some ordinary tyres are too thin, and all but porous before you start.

As you plan to wait a while and will get some wear from your existing tyres in the meantime, it would be well worth buying tubeless ready tyres for the conversion.


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## Panter (27 Feb 2015)

The Jones XR's that I did my first conversion on were unbelievably porus, the entire surface was fizzing with bubble when I first seated them with fairly liquid and the track pump.
Amazingly though, the Stans sealant did seal them completely and they were the best, and easiest, of all the tyres I did! Certainly far better than any of the Maxxis which seemed of a far heavier construction. 
Only snag with UST tyres is that they are very heavy, and certainly rule out any weight saving from converting to tubeless. Saying that though, as per the above, I'd certainly go the UST rim & tyre route given chance. They just seem to work without any fuss which is more important to me than any weight saving.


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## Pale Rider (27 Feb 2015)

My mate Chris the mountain biking bike mechanic has tried tubeless and gone back to tubes.

He reckons the main benefit, rather than fewer punctures caused by sharp objects, is for those who like to run very low pressures because you cannot get a pinch flat in a tubeless tyre.


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## Yellow Saddle (28 Feb 2015)

Where I used to live, mountain biking reigned supreme and specifically the cross-country discipline. To give you an idea of its dominance, 9/10 of all bikes sold there were mountain bikes. The country hosts dozens of multi-day MTB stage races each year and there you would not find a single bike that's not running tubeless tyres. I feel pretty confident saying that the only tubes you'll find there were ones added on as _en-route_ fixes. Our workshop also reflected the same statistic but get this. Because MTB was so dominant, people would install narrower road tyres for two very large road events each year. This had a huge impact on our workshop because during that particular week all the customers would come in, bring their road tyres from last year or purchase new tyres, and ask us to install narrow tyres for the one race. Come Monday, it is the reverse again, back to tubeless. There I learnt a lot about tubeless in a commercial environment. There you cannot afford to fool around with dodgy tyres that may or may not seal. More importantly, you can't afford the accusations after the race that the installation wasn't up to scratch because it failed. The rule was, if it doesn't say tubeless/tubeless-ready/UST, we wont touch it. Then, you had to pay for a complete installation, including new tape, valve the lot. Our experience was that just removing the tyre can move the tape (which is probably already compromised), and cause a leak. Once the sealant has leaked into the rim's cavity, you have problems. The workshop looked like war zone after those peak events.

I hate tubeless. But I won't go back to tubes myself.


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## Cubist (28 Feb 2015)

It's worth doing a bit of research around which rims will take a TLR tyre and valves. A surprising number of rims will convert readily without the need for rim strips. For example, my lad's DT EX 500 just needed Stans Yellow tape and valves to fit a TLR tyre. The yellow tape does nothing except create an airtight seal across the spoke holes. It is not designed to "build up" the well in the rim or create a tighter fit. If you need to do that you might as well use electrical tape once the spoke holes are sealed, it's much cheaper. . 

The world has moved on from UST tyres a bit. Two factors being that they are unnecessarily heavy compared with Tubeless Ready, and secondly they are designed to fit rims without sealant, and that in itself defeats the puncture aspect.... they won't self-seal if breached by thorns or small splits. 

So that brings us neatly back to using TLR tyres, tubeless valves and sealant. Tubeless ready tyres tend to be folding tyres with compliant beads, usually with kevlar reinforcing. Wired tyres are cheaper, but tend not to be as compliant and so take a lot more effort if they fit at all. I'd steer clear. TLR tyres can be porous, some more than others, but this is overcome by the sealant soon after fitting. 

Tyres don't need to be a hugely tight fit. As long as you can get a lot of air into the tyre quickly, they will find their way onto the rim. If they are baggy or deformed around the bead though, you may well be wasting your time. A tyre that doesn't fit well enough will simply burp air on the first square edged hit, or enthusiastic landing. Similarly, paper-thin walled XC type tyres will be compromised in the wrong riding environment and tear on the first rock you find.

So that leads us to the ideal formula for tubeless tyres for XC and trail riding. A tubeless ready rim, ie one that will hold a TLR tyre in place without burping. Stans NoTube rims are the market leaders for a reason, but plenty of current Mavic, Superstar, Hope, DT Swiss etc will all work, you just need to do the research. @Crackle, just post a question onto Singletrackworld asking whether anyone is successfully using your particular rims with Stans Yellow tape, valves and sealant. You'll soon get your answers. Use the right terminology though, as Stans tape is not the same as a rimstrip. All you need then is yellow tape from Stans or Superstar Components to seal the spoke holes and joints, a pair of Stans or Superstar (half the price) tubeless valves and a bottle of Stans sealant. Tape the rims as per the Stans videos, and add the valves as per the instructions. 

Treat yourself to a new pair of TLR tyres. I personally favour Schwalbe Snakeskins. They fit really well on my Stans rims, and have reinforced sidewalls. Fit the tyres onto the rims and use a compressor or CO2 cartridge to blast them into place using plenty of really soapy water on the tyres to lube them. Do this with the valve cores removed to increase the flow of air. If they are going to seal you'll hear them bang into place as the beads seal in the bead hook. Once you are satisfied they have sealed and hold most of the air, take off the inflator to deflate the tyres. Try not to disturb the beads, they should hold at this point. Now inject 60ml of sealant into each tyre through the valve, replace the valve core and reinflate to 40psi.

Now the fun starts. You'll see bubbles of soapy water forming where the bead seats, so you need to hold the wheel horizontally in front of you and swirl it to make the fluid contact every part of the bead, flip it over and repeat. Eventually the bubbling will stop, and you can leave the wheel horizontal for a few hours. During this stage the beads will seal by the action of the fluid. The tyre may lose pressure while you're waiting, but his isn't a problem, it's just air escaping through any porous parts of the sidewall etc. This will stop as soon as you start riding, as the fluid is distributed over every surface inside by the wheel's rotation.


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## GrumpyGregry (28 Feb 2015)

Cubist said:


> It's worth doing a bit of research around which rims will take a TLR tyre and valves. A surprising number of rims will convert readily without the need for rim strips. For example, my lad's DT EX 500 just needed Stans Yellow tape and valves to fit a TLR tyre. The yellow tape does nothing except create an airtight seal across the spoke holes. It is not designed to "build up" the well in the rim or create a tighter fit. If you need to do that you might as well use electrical tape once the spoke holes are sealed, it's much cheaper. .
> 
> The world has moved on from UST tyres a bit. Two factors being that they are unnecessarily heavy compared with Tubeless Ready, and secondly they are designed to fit rims without sealant, and that in itself defeats the puncture aspect.... they won't self-seal if breached by thorns or small splits.
> 
> ...



^This.

As ever @Cubist knows of what he speaks


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## GrumpyGregry (28 Feb 2015)

Pale Rider said:


> My mate Chris the mountain biking bike mechanic has tried tubeless and gone back to tubes.
> 
> He reckons the main benefit, rather than fewer punctures caused by sharp objects, is for those who like to run very low pressures because you cannot get a pinch flat in a tubeless tyre.


Spot on. Looking through the other end of the telescope tubeless is an enabler

The main benefit, rather than fewer punctures, etc., is for those big units like me who want to run very low pressures on certain terrain for the improvement in tyre conformity and, thusly, the improved grip this gives, because you cannot get a pinch flat in a tubeless set up (well you can if you try hard enough, and you'll probably wreck the rim in the process. Do not ask me how I know this)


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## Cubist (28 Feb 2015)

@Crackle Are your wheels 29ers?

I've asked the oracle:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/t...ne-using-them-tubeless?replies=1#post-6736792


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## Pale Rider (28 Feb 2015)

Given how tubeless tyres work on cars, tubeless on bikes - however it's done - appears to be a mega bodge and faff.

One piece wheels - moulded or cast - is the obvious answer.

I've seen them on some bikes, but I'm guessing most are horrid to ride.

Does anyone know if any progress is being made in that direction?


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## GrumpyGregry (28 Feb 2015)

small wide and fat vs tall thin and narrow innit?


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## Crackle (28 Feb 2015)

Cubist said:


> @Crackle Are your wheels 29ers?
> 
> I've asked the oracle:
> http://singletrackworld.com/forum/t...ne-using-them-tubeless?replies=1#post-6736792


Yes and Ta. Way better than I could have phrased it


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## Crackle (28 Feb 2015)

I am mainly thinking on this for the punctures. I'm running generally at around 30psi, maybe 25 sometimes. That may sound low but these are big volume 29er tyres.


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## Cubist (28 Feb 2015)

Looks like it will work fine with your rims. Just tape valves and sealant required.


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## Cubist (28 Feb 2015)

Crackle said:


> Yes and Ta. Way better than I could have phrased it


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## Crackle (28 Feb 2015)

Cubist said:


> Looks like it will work fine with your rims. Just tape valves and sealant required.


Excellent. I noticed when I blew the front up yesterday it popped onto the rim, so that is potentially very good news. I'm encouraged to try this now.


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## Crackle (28 Feb 2015)

Just looking on the Superstar website and there are alloy and brass tubeless valves. I presume the difference is the alloy comes in fancy colours?

I'm also unsure of what tape width I need. My rims are 18 and Superstar do a 19mm tape. Is that suitable?


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## Cubist (28 Feb 2015)

Crackle said:


> Just looking on the Superstar website and there are alloy and brass tubeless valves. I presume the difference is the alloy comes in fancy colours?
> 
> I'm also unsure of what tape width I need. My rims are 18 and Superstar do a 19mm tape. Is that suitable?


They're pretty good at responding to queries via phone or email, so I'd ring them to make sure. And yes, the alloy valves are just bling colours.


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## Crackle (2 Mar 2015)

Hah! Superstar said they wouldn't recommend setting the XCX rims up tubeless because they're not tubeless compatible. Fair enough I suppose.


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## Yellow Saddle (3 Mar 2015)

Crackle said:


> Just looking on the Superstar website and there are alloy and brass tubeless valves. I presume the difference is the alloy comes in fancy colours?
> 
> I'm also unsure of what tape width I need. My rims are 18 and Superstar do a 19mm tape. Is that suitable?



Assuming by alloy, you mean aluminium, I must warn against those. They break off incredibly easy. Yes they come in pretty colours but it is these colours that contribute to their weakness. The colour is attained by anodizing the valve stems, which causes little cracks in the nipple thread. The slightest bit of mishandling and they break off, leaving you truly stranded. Brass is best.


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## Jody (3 Mar 2015)

Crackle said:


> Hah! Superstar said they wouldn't recommend setting the XCX rims up tubeless because they're not tubeless compatible. Fair enough I suppose.



I wouldn't give up yet. My standard Giant rims aren't tubeless compatible but still ended up converting them. I got away with tape, valves and sealant but needed a compressor. They have only dropped 3 PSI in 2 months.


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## Crackle (4 Mar 2015)

Jody said:


> I wouldn't give up yet. My standard Giant rims aren't tubeless compatible but still ended up converting them. I got away with tape, valves and sealant but needed a compressor. They have only dropped 3 PSI in 2 months.


I'm still going to do it. Had a few distractions this week, so will probably get the stuff next week.


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## Piemaster (17 Mar 2015)

Ok, I'm interested. Went out for a ride this morning, put bike in the car and by time I got home 20 minutes later the front was very flat. Must have happened within yards of the car as it was fine when I took it off to get it in the car. Not great as that took it up to a grand total of of around 40 miles since I bought it.
So, any idea if it will it work? Tyres are Maxxis Ardent but I can't identify the rim,can anyone help?. Bike is a Voodoo Hoodoo 26


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## Crackle (17 Mar 2015)

Piemaster said:


> Ok, I'm interested. Went out for a ride this morning, put bike in the car and by time I got home 20 minutes later the front was very flat. Must have happened within yards of the car as it was fine when I took it off to get it in the car. Not great as that took it up to a grand total of of around 40 miles since I bought it.
> So, any idea if it will it work? Tyres are Maxxis Ardent but I can't identify the rim,can anyone help?. Bike is a Voodoo Hoodoo 26
> View attachment 82735


I'm a fat lot of help here, having not done it yet (everything is in the basket though, i forget what I've forgotten) but are they wired tyres, as per Cubist's earlier post?


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## Jody (17 Mar 2015)

Is the tyre tubeless ready? It also depends on the rim construction and the channel down the middle. Some rims leak where the inner and outer skin are joined.

Cheapest way is to tape a rim, pop a valve in and see if you can get them seated. From there it will be sealant and see if they leak or hold pressure.


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## Yellow Saddle (17 Mar 2015)

Piemaster said:


> Ok, I'm interested. Went out for a ride this morning, put bike in the car and by time I got home 20 minutes later the front was very flat. Must have happened within yards of the car as it was fine when I took it off to get it in the car. Not great as that took it up to a grand total of of around 40 miles since I bought it.
> So, any idea if it will it work? Tyres are Maxxis Ardent but I can't identify the rim,can anyone help?. Bike is a Voodoo Hoodoo 26
> View attachment 82735


The rim is a standard non-tubeless rim that can be made tubeless by converting it. Plenty of methods listed in this post. The tyre is one of Maxxis' lightweight tyres that will almost certainly ooze from the sidewalls. Their ability to become tubeless tyres rests entirely on your patience and perseverance. The best advice I can give you with those tyres is to only try with latex type sealant - the white milky stuff.


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## Piemaster (17 Mar 2015)

Thanks for the tips all.
Think I'll give it a try as I've just found my patched tube has failed. The patch seemed a bit hard and it was the last squeeze of a tube of solution.


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## Piemaster (21 Mar 2015)

Stans conversion kit ('cos it was easy) and off I go with the front wheel.
Theres no way I could have done it without the compressor (couple of HP and a 25ltr tank). Main problem being persuading the beads to seat on the rim as they were going into the centre channel when on the rim. Even with a presta-shraeder adaptor and the car tyre inflator on it I couldn't get enough air into it to seat the beads. Solved eventually by removing the valve core and sticking the air duster gun nozzle in the hole.
Beads seated ok, problem now being I've got my finger over the hole keeping air in and if I take it off the air leaks out and the beads unseat to the centre of the rim again . Couple of practice runs at getting the valve core back in and car inflator on, then a go with the fluid in.
It's sat on a bucket inflated with no signs of leaks at the moment in the garage. 

I'll assess it tomorrow sometime and if I'm happy do the rear wheel.

PS. I had tried just sticking the air blow gun down the valve hole a couple of days ago when fixing the puncture. Tyre inflated and beads seem to sit ok so was quite hopeful it would work.


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## Jody (21 Mar 2015)

^ Exactly how I did mine. The air duster nozzle works perfectly without the core. A couple of taps with my hand and they seated. 

Well done. Hope they hold pressure


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## Piemaster (22 Mar 2015)

Front was ok overnight. No noticeable pressure loss on the track pump gauge, so I did the rear this afternoon. Similar story to the front but a lot quicker due to the experience with it.
Hopefully I'll get out and ride them in the next couple of days.


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## screenman (22 Mar 2015)

Lighter fuel can be your friend, be careful though and do it outside.


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## Crackle (22 Mar 2015)

Must get round to this, it kinda dropped down the priority list a bit.


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## Piemaster (28 Mar 2015)

60k on it yesterday. A LOT more than I'd intended, due to mostly to some..James May...type navigation. No problems at all with the conversion.


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