Not being what you might call an ‘early adopter’, I’m coming round to thinking about going tubeless.

So, let’s assume I have some 26″ wheels (natch, none of this new fangled 2950B+ nonsense) with WTB rims from probably before tubeless was invented and some reasonably new Mountain King and Nobby Nic tyres, what do I need to do to tubelessise it all and how do I do it?

Link to Wiggle

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCun_ZXTPog[/video]

You’ll need to be wearing your special pants. Glitter is very on trend.

http://www.notubes.com/detailed_kit_instruction.aspx

Couple of handy videos on yourtube.

Isn’t that cheating? Aren’t I supposed to use insulation tape, an old inner tube and some black magic?

I’m also quite clueless with tubeless, and i’ve just ended up with a pair of tubeless set up wheels in my possession.

I want to change tyres, that means I need more sealant right to throw in there? Will any tyre go up with this or is this only for tubeless ready tyres?

Also, if I want to remove said tubeless set up, is that a right faff?

You *can* do it the ghetto way, but buying the bits of Stans isn’t that much more expensive and you know it should work.

those bits in that picture up there ^ look like inner tubes to me.

I went tubeless for the first time a few weeks ago.

I had: tubless tyres, mavic non tubeless rims, a track decent pump.

I got: Golrilla tape, valves from superstar, Stans fluid.

I watched a stans video and went for it. Cleaned the rims properly, took my time and followed the video instructions and it worked a treat first time. I was surprised how easy it was.

Go for it.

ghetto, with a bmx tube, get’s you a tyre that bonds with the tube ( a bit ) which can be more resistant to burping.
fit inner tube to wheel. i buy mine from merlin, schwalbe ones that have removable cores.
cut around the outside diameter of tube and flap it open.
wash off the chalk powder.
wash the tyre out ( soapy water ).
fit tyre over tube so you have the tube hanging over the side of the rim.
do your best to get the tyre spread.
remove valve core and spaff a load of air in there fast – compressor or ghetto inflator device of some sort.
let it down slowly.
squirt stan’s sealant in through the valve.
spaff a load of air in there fast.
stick valve back in ( don’t have the valve at the bottom ).
wave tyre around a bit, flip it over, bounce it around. some tyres may need to sit for a bit as the walls seal.
if you have to open the valve at any time to put more air in, don’t have it at the bottom of the wheel where the sealant can run to it. put it at 9 or 3 o’clock.
carefully trim around the rim with a scalpel.

buy:
schwalbe sv6 inner tubes.
stan’s sealant in volume of your choice.
some method of squirting sealant through valve ( small stan’s bottle is re-useable ).
SHARP blade.
spare valves ( these can be pinched off spare tubes ).
weldtite tubeless repair kit for if you get a big hole ( keep you thumb over the hole until you can get a plug in there ).

don’t run super light tyres, unless super light yourself. 🙂

OK Hijack here. So I have dt swiss x430(?) disc rims on my latitude and std conti tyres. They say not tubeless ready.

Will this diy tubeless kit work?

Yes. You can tubeless pretty much any rim with ghetto. Jared graves won the enduro world series using ghetto tubeless… if it’s good enough for him…

Only ghetto I’ve had to give up on was cheap rim braked wheel with really old Smallblock 8’s.

^ what i figured.
biggest challenge for the newbie is getting a decent volume of air in there fast.
fortunately for me, i have access to a compressor.
you may call me a cheat. 😀

Thanks Del, that’s really useful.

tredz have a good price on the quart of stan’s.
good luck!

I did ghetto tubeless for the first time eva (my first attempt at tubeless) the other week. Used the valves off a couple of old inner tubes – cut down so only a tiny ring of rubber was left around them – used one wrap of duct tape around this, then 3 wraps of electrical tape. All went up okay, no probs. Couldn’t see what the fuss was all about really. The tyres were non-tubeless too. Ghetto to the max. Easy.

… Okay, well two weeks on (both wheels still as yet unridden) and tyre one still has tiny pinpricks of goo coming out, while tyre two appears to have developed a mysterious slow overnight deflation issue (it held up fine for days, then suddenly decided it wouldn’t hold air overnight). I think I’m gonna have to open both tyres up again and reconfigure with some lovely pink sparkly glitter!

if you’re embracing the Ghetto philosophy, you really need to go all the way…

someone had to…

Okay, well two weeks on (both wheels still as yet unridden) and tyre one still has tiny pinpricks of goo coming out, while tyre two appears to have developed a mysterious slow overnight deflation issue (it held up fine for days, then suddenly decided it wouldn’t hold air overnight). I think I’m gonna have to open both tyres up again and reconfigure with some lovely pink sparkly glitter

Just ride it.

I had the same problem. One tyre sealed fine, the other kept going flat. A few miles in the woods to bounce/splash the sealant around and now it holds air like a tubed tyre*.

*better really, because of the lack of punctures, but you know what I mean.

My tubeless set up current leaks through the sidewalls – will this ever stop? Maxxis DHF and DHR II tyres.

Also, how often does a burp occur? is a regular thing or?

Burping is apparently caused by using silly low pressures – which are apparently all the rage these days. Personally, I’m a 30-40 psi XC mincer, so I can’t see any of this being a problem for me.

Thanks for the ‘just ride it’ tip! Will do that – just as soon as the bike is fully built up 😐

Should’ve done the tubeless bit last :eyeroll:

Oddly enough did a Stans kit job last night and this morning it was still up…

Used a track pump and got a bit sweaty but wasn’t that bad, previous attempts on other wheels with a compressor ended up a lot more messy…

no_eyed_deer – Member

Burping is apparently caused by using silly low pressures – which are apparently all the rage these days.

Not really. Burping’s entirely about how good the rim/tyre connection is. If that’s not very good then high pressure can compensate but if it’s good then it’ll work even with pretty low pressures. Mostly it’s a symptom of bad parts or bad setup.

My tubeless set up current leaks through the sidewalls – will this ever stop? Maxxis DHF and DHR II tyres.

I used Maxxis tubeless ready on my last setup and they leaked through the sidewalls after a few rides and continued to do so for the life of the tyres.

I think it’s the solvent in the sealant coming through, never affected the setup beyond putting a bit of air in every few rides and redoing the sealant (and removing the solid lump remaining) every 2-3 months.