thinking about going tubeless on my karate monkey.
it is a pain getting the rear wheel in and out (you will know if you have one).
any heavy blokes running tubeless. any problems….any recs please.

16 1/2 stone 6ft 5, will never go back to tubes. And I run "flimsy" Nobby nics or big alberts when rocky.

Hi Ton – I weigh in at 17.5 stone (also a Nic rider like yourself). I've run the Stans system for three years now on my trail bike and I have tried the UST system on my DH bike. Here are my experiences:

Stans Flow rim, stans rim strips with integrated valves (not the yellow tape), Maxxis 2.35 High Roller & DHFs, in both wire and kevlar. No problems at all with this – zero issues, zero burping, no punctures for two years but all on trail riding on the surrey hills. First fast run in the Peak though and I punched a hole in a brand new tyre.

Same rim and rim strip with Spesh Purgatory folding tyres and also no problems so far having used them a dozen times.

Spesh Roval Traverse with Stans rim strips and the same tyres – very mixed, about 50% of rides i would blow the tyre off the rim.

Mavic 823 with Maxxis High Rollers, Minnions and Swamp Things dual ply 2.5s – nothing worked. Each run down I would burp air then pinch the tyre so it became useless. This was always on hard pack fast DH courses though like Cwmcarn. Might be easier on woodsy, loamy rooty courses.

Hope this helps mate.

Ps how's you FR?

15st, light compared to you I know, and never had a problem with proper UST tyres – I'd certainly suggest them at your weight, Ton.

Oh yeah, all UST tyres.

Can't comment on the weight thing but I ghettoed the KH rim that was on the Alfine I had off you and it's worked well. ( presuming you're using KH's on the Monkey)

gee…..sold it… 😥

stu, either kh or alesa sputnik.

Hi Ton,

After many many rear wheel snake bite punctures on my (your) old summer season, i went for a belt and braces and more braces solution with wider rims, 2.4 tyres and ghetto tubeless.

The only problem I had was when Innerleithen ripped my sidewall to shreds on the DH course.

20" BMX innertubes sliced open to seal the rim and Stans stuff to seal inside the tyre. my kenda's were fine until I removed the tyres in prep for an Alps trip last year when i put 2.5 high Rollers on instead of the Kenda's and when I swapped back a few weeks after returning home I found 2 balls of rubber stuff in the High Rollers. I can't imagine how it happened but am sire the rubber balls wouldn't have sealed a puncture.

I went back to tubes after that and have avoided all the faff associated with tubeless.

I did put some Stans into my tubes though….

Ton how come – it looked like the perfect bike for you (I saw a picture of the man mountain recently and the bike and you looked made for each other!)

Run UST since 2002 on mavic 819s with basically zero problems. I recall my first ride I had problems with air burping, fixed it when I got in with latex, and in the 8 years since have had literally zero problems. I weigh 16 stone.

Great idea that is, and has been for years, a complete no-brainer on my bikes. I never get punctures (can't remember the last time) – but am pretty routine in my riding. Tend to stay local at the Pentlands, GT and Innerliethen, so it could be that those trails are kind to UST I guess. They seem pretty typical, rocky, UK trails though.

The 7 million threads on the internet about people giving up in dispair with tubeless used to mystify me – I can only assume that the DIY efforts are subject to a lot of variance. I understood it when, in a moment of madness, I got a wheel built on something other than an 819. DT swiss 5.1 with a rim strip. Total ballache, hard to just get the tyre on the rim, superhard to get it inflated with a track pump – felt like I went 12 rounds with it and it still never worked well.

I'd say make sure you get tyres with a fairly tight bead – NOT panaracer, for instance.

One thing to note is that there's a max pressure of something like 45psi ish I think on some tubeless systems. Doesn't sound like much but of course you're running tubeless so 45psi should easily be enough to support a fat bugger.

I'm a mere 14st, but I have noticed that with lightweight tyres (ie speedking 2.3s) at about 35psi which would otherwise be fine to ride on they can squirm a bit in corners, like they would if you had a puncture with tubes. Normally of course you run lower pressures tubeless but you may find that with light tyres the squirming needs higher pressures. I've run 30-35 on kenda nevegals on my patriot and pushed it twice as hard, and neve rhad any problems though.

UST might be best for a really big fella, giving you loads of support.. but the tyres are so heavy!

gee, saving my pennies for a mansize version……. 😉

Ton – Ran tubeless on the BlurLT (Mavic XM719's), no problems at all but make sure you run UST ready tyres as the side walls are thicker, non UST just feel squirmy with us bigger guys on board. Was running them around 40psi.

Am tempted to run tubeless on the Pdx as have Bonty ACX's already but can't work out which rim strips to get for the Halo Freedom rims, think I'm just being thick 😕

I'm 16st I've got Mavic crossland tubeless rims with a Mountain King tubeless on t' back and Mountain King supersonic on the front,both with stans stuff inside. the bloke in the bike shop tried to talk me out of the supersonic, said I'd never get it to pump up let alone hold air (fair enough there were so many tiny white dots of sealant it looked like a whitewall)no more flats

17st. Run Stan Flows with single ply Maxxis. Run 321 ghetto'd with single and double ply maxxis. Run 823s with LUST and UST maxxis and Conti's.

I've pinched the Conti Vert UST hitting a waterbar at mach3. Shit tyre anyway. Would never buy another. Fast but flimsy and randomly washed out. Wrote off one LUST High Roller when a knobble ripped off and opened up the tyre beneath it. All the rest are faultless. Still running tubes on one bike but not for much longer.

i've just made the switch. gone from 729 rim on the rear and a sun something or other on the front to mavic 823 (not bad to build) and the new michelin rubber. i saved nearly a pound on the back wheel, similar but different rubber.
the first ride was bonkers. the bike felt quicker to accelerate and i was riding in a higher gear most of the time. the ust has been great, soapy water round the rim and the tyre and then a track pump bang bang bang and the tyre was up.
the only thing i found was running the tyre at a nominal thumb squidge produced twist marks around the sidewall, like dragsters have. so i invested in a digital tyre pressure gauge and i was a mile from what michelin recommend, way too soft. anyhow i've now pumped them up to what they recommend and will try them, it'll be interesting as i've been used to running tyres quite low so we'll see what they're like rock hard. it'll be ok on my full sus but i wouldn't like em that hard on a hard tail.
oh i'm 16.5 stone ish.

Tubeless on Mavic St's here. About 100kg plus kit, camelback etc etc. No problem at all with Nobby Nic or Racing Ralph. Many overseas Alps etc trips using this. Cope with Scottish rainbars fine. No snakebites or dinged rims. Go for it.

16st, stans flow with Kenda Blue groove up front and nevegal out back, no issues and been running them since June last year on an Orange 5, 30psi at the back and 26psi in the front

I'm 115kg and ran tubeless for ages without an issue.

The only faff is if you want to run different tyres for different conditions as cleaning sealant off is right pain but as I'm a fit and forget sort of geezer it was never an issue for me

17 st – UST proper works great and has done for me for 4 years. Managed 2 yrs without a puncture and then had 3 months of sidewall tearing frenzy, literally every ride- the sealant didn't sort it. Recommended. Bit heavier than Stan's rims – but somewhat more robust in my experience.

Stan's rims – I have found them a bit more sensitive to impact damage meaning the tyre has blown off mid ride. Not for me and rebuilding hubs onto UST proper.

Mavic rims and Stan's tubeless sstrips – frustrating. Gave up, gave them away having covered my cellar in latex once too often.

Mavic rims and Stan's tubeless sstrips

I use those with Speedkings mainly. No problems but CO2 is essential – cannot be done with a trackpump.

16.5 stone ish – used to pinch flat all the time. SInce going tubeless (ghetto and then Stan's Flow rims) not a single problem (including – as I like to bring up at every opportunity – doing the Mega) 🙂