Looking at some 355's and have been advised that tubeless is the way to go. Know nothing about it bar the 'supposed' benefits of comfier, lower pressures, fewer punctures, lighter.

So, is tubeless a big +ve difference for XC?
And what does this entail with setting up? I run Conti Explorers in summer and Trailrakes in winter (both folding) – can I use these tyres?
Does the sealant need topping up / maintaining? What sealant is recommended?

Sorry to be such an ignoramus!

Cheers

I just got some Stan's flow rims and the tubeless setup was a doddle. You need the yellow tape and valves, but once they are installed you're done really. I have mounted non-tubeless tyres and they inflated right away with a track pump.

I used to get loads of punctures and since running ghetto tubeless before getting the Stans rims I haven't had a single flat, including doing the Megavalanche. I can also run much lower pressure which makes for much better grip and therefore much more fun on DHs.

Most people seem to recommend Stan's sealant – I have used that and the JRA stuff with no problems.

By the way there is a video on the Stans site which shows you what do to – it's really easy though.

you could do worse than do a search on my threads dood 🙂

just started with tubeless myself and have asked looooads of questions, and also been given good advice when things didnt go as planned.

id defo give it a go tho if i were you. i started with my 29er which has stans rims, and used non tubeless tyres. yellow tape, 2 valves and stans sealant. and theyve been perfect.

i then decided to try my old 26 wheels and go ghetto. had a little more trouble that way as i didnt use the 'split inner tube' to start with, and used kenda tyres. this didnt give me any success at all.

so i sold my tyres and bought some schwalbe 'normal' tyres. and a couple of 20" inner tubes, and tried again only last night.
at first i couldnt get the air into the tyre, but once they were up, they stayed up. i hope im not speaking too soon, as im going to go into the garage in a bit to check them out. probably inflate them a bit more, then try them out on a short ride.

any questions, please feel free to mail me, altho youll get far more answers on here 🙂
(theres also videos of 'ghetto tubeless' on youtube)

best of luck

Go for it.

Changed mine a couple fo years ago. Also Stans 355 and Stand fluid.

Lower tyre pressures mean more grip but strangely they roll better too.

2 years without punctures. Check tyre pressures evry 4 – 6 weeks and occaisionally top them up a bit.

Excellent solution for lazy incompetents like me.

You can practically tubeless any rim using Stans rim-tape/valves and liquid, or use UST rims, or Stans rims (which I've never used).

And use most tyres; I've Schwalbe Nobby Nic's, Maxxis High Rollers, Schwalbe Racing Ralph UST's and Bontrager Jones TLR's all on various rim combinations. Easiest is UST tyres and UST rims with Stans Liquid (50ml per tyre).

As said top up the latex every-so-often.

"Know nothing about it bar the 'supposed' benefits of comfier, lower pressures, fewer punctures, lighter."

An awful lot of people who think that their tubeless setup saves them weight are either comparing with very heavy tubes, or just haven't checked the maths at all and just assume that it's lighter because Teh Internets says so.

Schwalbe XXlight XC tube plus standard rim strip = 101g, without being too fragile, basically as tough as any other XC tyre I've used.

Stans rim strip- 56-60g
2 oz of Stans sealant (for a 2.0 tyre)- 56g

Done with a proper tubeless ready rim you get a different picture of course. And tubeless gives other benefits too. But check the maths 😉

"Schwalbe XXlight XC tube plus standard rim strip = 101g"

Most normal tubes and rim strips are more than double that, but the main benefits are not weight saving.

Idiot's guide you say?

Download this guide then.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't say otherwise- I run tubeless myself. Just the weight myth does annoy me. My tubeless is lighter since I have UST ready rims, but if I was using Stans or a BMX tube, I'd be heavier than my tubes, is the point. And yeah, those are light tubes but they're not silly light, I used a pair as trail tyres for the last year and they basically performed in use exactly how my old, 200 gram tubes did- no more flats than before. And they seemed happy enough on the fort william wc downhill, at least those parts I dared ride 😉

Been running ghetto tubeless for a few months now! Using standard dt 5.1 rims & wire-bead high rollers, stand tyre sealant, duck tape & an old inner tube valve. Only problem I had was on tyre went down over night so pumped it back up did a bit of shaking and it was fine! Only cost me £13 for the sealant so notmuch investment if it didn't work but it does very well!

I was a massive fan of ghetto tubeless until June this year. Stuck some High rollers on for an alps trip, ghetto'd them and then when I got back to Blighty and got my ass into gear put back my original tyres and found a ball of rubber stuff in each tyre. The fluid had gone hard. I'm sure that it would over time but 2 months!

Fat lot of good that would have done if I'd got a puncture.

which sealant were you using dood? stans or JRA?

I was a massive fan of ghetto tubeless until June this year. Stuck some High rollers on for an alps trip

I reckon being out in the heat of the alps for a week or whatever will probably make the sealant dry out much quicker than it would here. The stans stuff says it will last much longer in cool conditions.

Also, if you didn't get a puncture then what are you whinging about? 😛

… then when I got back to Blighty and got my ass into gear put back my original tyres and found a ball of rubber stuff in each tyre. The fluid had gone hard. I'm sure that it would over time but 2 months!

was that two months with the wheels sitting around while you got your ass in gear? If so, then of course it settles and solidifies. Provided the wheels are in use, the sealant will stay liquid for a lot longer. I've had some last nearly a year, but six months should be about average.

Have tried both Ghetto and proper UST Tubeless rim/tyre setup and both worked well. Survived puncture free for a week in the Alps this year, despite predictions of ripped sidewalls from locals.
With Ghetto it is important to get the right tyre – I was recommeneded to use Contis as they have stronger sidewalls. A set of standard Nobby Nics I tried were way too thin, they inflated fine but spat sealant out of the sides.
Northwind is right, if you want to save weight you have to do the maths – some tubeless tyres are very heavy…

Stans – 2 years with the occaisional top up. Haven't botherred taking out the little balls that form. Probably heavier that tubes but I don't care

I sieve my Stans to take out the microgranules, saves 25g of rotating weight.