Bought a set of 29er ZTR Arch wheels off here. Added tubeless valves.

They already have a smooth yellow strip on the rims (oem) so do I need anything else to run tubeless other than a tubeless tyre?

You need airtight tape, not a strip. Gorilla tape from screwfix is brilliant.

If it’s Stan’s yellow tape you’ve got in there then that’s all you need apart from some sealant (like Stan’s fluid).

You need airtight tape, not a strip.

I think he’s trying to say it’s got yellow tape fitted.

If it’s a yellow airtight tape, you’re good to go. Just stick a tyre on and pump up, you don’t even need a tubeless tyre most of the time.

I wouldn’t say it was tape in there. Looks just part of how they must make them, but looks airtight.

Well can you see metal and spoke holes? If not, there’s something in there.

Is it smooth, waterproof, stuck in place and yellow? If so it’s been taped.

If it’s not stuck in place, it’s just a rim strip.

No spoke holes. No metal. Bloody good job though if someone’s taped it. Do the Stan’s normally come like that?

Good choice. Got these rims (26″ inch EX version) and they’re brilliant – strong and light. Running tubeless with tubeless Rubber Queens and reliability has been 100% from day one after around 40+ hours of riding.

Arch run with normal tyres you’re supposed to fit a rim strip aswell as the yellow tape. I run one with a UST tyre no strip, been OK so far, dunno about “tubeless ready” tyres.

Arch EX no rimstrip needed just tape.

Arch run with normal tyres you’re supposed to fit a rim strip aswell as the yellow tape

No you aren’t, just the yellow tape.

olympic arch and flow use bst 1, run rimstrips.
crest and the EX rims use BST 2 which is a larger diameter, no rimstrip needed.
Was what the nice chap at JRA told me.
But there’s variation in tyres anyway so it’s a bit trial and error anyway

No you aren’t, just the yellow tape.

+1

Done this for years on Flows, even done this on a new Roval rim and it’s been fine, with a huge variety of tyres, none of which were tubeless. 15 stone rider, never lost air.

NoTubes website says:

Fully tubeless compatible with the 25mm yellow tape and valve stem.

http://www.notubes.com/ZTR-Arch-26-32-Hole-White-P331C21.aspx

stan says “One layer of Stan’s Yellow Tape and 35mm universal valve. For riders with loose fitting tires that burp air remove the valve and add the Olympic rim strip over the tape.”

I’ve never had a tyre burp in about 3 years on Archs, even a fairly loose kenda, so for starters the tape is the way to go.

The strips are about the same weight as light tubes, really crap solution and I’d be surpised if you needed them.

What do I need to run a Stan’s rim tubeless i.e. rim tape, rim strip?
Whether running with tubes or tubeless Stan’s rims require yellow tubeless tape. Stan’s mountain rims require one layer of yellow tape (21mm for the Alpine & 25mm for all others) plus a 35mm Universal Valve Stem.

fair enough, I sought advice after a standard tyre blew off a flow and the subsequent rock damage made the rim useless for tubeless (I was travelling at speed on a rocky trail). An expensive way to try out a tyre/rim combo. FWIW I’ve used olympics with TR tyres no probs and prior to the blow out I used the flow with a different none tubeless tyre without issue – all without rimstrips.

I guess it just depends whether you want to err on the side of caution or not.

Probably how hard you ride, or don’t as well 🙂 Nothing much more than a foot or so drop for me, mainly trail center with the odd bit of mincing around the peaks. Zero issues ever though.

Some sealant like Stans, CaffeLatte or JRA Wheel Milk.

Get a tyre that says tubeless-ready on the side for a best results although you can get good results with any tyres that have sturdy sidewalls to minimise burping, and a tight bead to aid inflation. If your tyre fits very easily and is flimsy, expect trouble down the trail. YMMV.

First put some soap suds on the rims and fit the tyre. The beads on tubeless ready tyres might be difficult to stretch onto the rim, which is a good thing, so use tyre levers. Inflating with a track pump should be easy if you used tubeless-ready tyres. If it isn’t, more layers of tape in the rim helps take up the slack and aids inflation. Once the tyre is nicely on at 60psi and hissing around the bead, just let it deflate.

Now unscrew the valve from the valve stem with some pliers and squirt plenty of sealant in with a syringe (buy from Boots), replace the valve and re-inflate.

Hold the wheel upright, slosh back and forth vigorously, rotate it a bit and continue sloshing, going full circle, or until you think it’s stopped leaking. Leave it lying on one side. It might go down after a while, in which case just repeat the sloshing and lying down until it stays up.

Set the tyre pressures you want for riding. As a rule-of-thumb, drop 5 psi from what you usually use. With sturdy tyres you can go surprisingly low which all helps improve grip, comfort, compliance and reduce rolling resistance on the trails. Too low and they will squirm in corners and peel off the rims with a horrid burp, possibly sending you into the bushes. It’s trial and error.

Perhaps 3 weeks after initial tubelessing, you might need a sealant top-up. The main thing is to get used to sloshing the wheels before a ride to make sure they never dry up completely.

I’ve never needed or wanted a rim strip in my Flows, using standard tyres- good enough for downhill racing on spesh and maxxis dualplies. I think the Olympics would be better with one, maybe- I knocked a (non tubeless) nevegal off mine but then I was really pushing my luck with tyre size (2.5) and pressure (almost nothing) so I can’t fault it.

It might help more with tyres with slack tolerances- your classic panaracers etc.

Once the tyre is nicely on at 60psi

or the maximum pressure written on the rim, which for mine was much less than that!

Perhaps 3 weeks after initial tubelessing, you might need a sealant top-up. The main thing is to get used to sloshing the wheels before a ride to make sure they never dry up completely.

Why would you do that , don’t you think riding the bike sloshes the sealant around ?

If you can hear sealant sloshing while riding, your bike must be very quiet! If you shake the wheel and don’t hear sloshing, it’s dried up. Top it up right away. It’s a good habit.

Whist I always carry a tube on the trail, plucking 10 thorns out of a tyre that I forgot to top up is almost as much of a pain as running tubes.

If you keep topping up the fluid wont you get to a point where you have half a pound of dried latex stuck to the inside of the tyre?

Is it a good idea to scrape the old latex out at some point?

Just stick a tiny amount of sealant in personally, far less than it recommends, 40ml per tyre or so maybe? It’s always lasted the lifespan of the tyres, so topping up has never been an issue.

Once again, might be due to mincing though 😛

Scraping the latex out is a massive pain in the arse, I’ve tried to swap back to tubes on some tyres, gave up and just had sticky tyres.

My jizz did dry up once, after 6 months over summer. I’ve been changing tyres more often than that since though so it hasn’t been a problem. I squirt half of one of the wee bottles in if I’m off on a long bike trip and it’s been a while, for peace of mind.

“half a pound of dried latex stuck to the inside of the tyre?”

It does build up and add weight to the tyre. It is a pain to clear. You’ll probably have to do this half-way though the lifetime of the tyre. I’ve been told that Stans dries out slower than Wheel Milk, but struggles to seal in sub-zero temperatures.