I had another attempt at converting my wheels to tubeless at the weekend and it appears to have worked, but I am worried about the long term durability/reliability of it.

I did it like this:

– Removed the blue Spesh rim tape from the wheels (DT420SL rims), cleaned the rim & replaced with electrical tape (red, as it's faster). I ran it around one side as close to the edge as possible and then the other side to try & seal the spoke holes.
– I then used ptfe tape around the base of the removable valve and secured this in place.
– I put the tyres on, inflated and stuck them in the bath to check for leaks. There appeared to be none on the front tyre & a hole on the rear tyre from a thorn at the Enduro6 but otherwise no air was escaping.
– I stuck the sealant in and re-inflated the tyres, sloshed the sealant around and stuck them back in the bath. Both tyres were now leak free.

I checked them regularly and they didn't appear to be going down so yesterday I did 25 miles on them and they help up fine.

But – is the electrical tape likely to hold over time? I'm taking the bike to Spain in under a fortnight and don't want to find that they stop holding air a few days in? Or am I being paranoid?? I don't really want to take a load of electrical tape & sealant with me to re-do them, if I can help it.

Your thoughts/experiences would be appreciated.

I've run ghetto tubless for over a year with no problems. There's no reason why the tape around the rim will wear. The PTFE around the valve might but the sealant should solve that. Personally I'd take some sealant with me 'cos if you get a few punctures it will start to be used up. Oh, and a couple of innter tubes – I've ripped two tyres which the sealant couldn't fix so had to revert to tubes on rides.

I went ghetto tubeless (using 20" tubes) in Dec 2008 and Mud-x. Worked straight away and lost little air over the following months.
In April 2009 I changed the Mud-x for Kenda SB8 re-using the same tubes the the Mud-x were on. Tyres where a little more tricky to seat and one required topping up with air each weekend but was basically fine.
November 2009 I swopped back to the Mud-x and again left the same tubes on – no issues whatsoever.
April 2010 put the SB8 back on again re-using the same tubes – this time they inflated better and are barely losing any air at all (maybe because I've changed from JRA fluid to Stans sealant).

So, given that the same two tubes have worked for the last 18 months and will probably continue to work for quite a while yet I don't really get why some people use electrical tape which I would have thought is more likely to leak.

I hope it works for you but I presume you're taking tubes out with you anyway.

i would have used a few layers of electrical tape/rimstrip for a tight fit to prevent air burps or tyre rolling off (i don't know how tight the fit was though?). i would bet if you have no problems in two weeks it will probably last quite well, but put some more sealant in before you go. just take some tubes with you and if it fails use them instead. tubeless is a bit hit/miss with some rim and tyre combinations and a learning curve for you starting now.

The electrical tape will be forced into the spoke holes over time. I've just changed the tape on a set I've not touched for three years, and I'd say the protrusion of tape into the holes was about 8-10mm. Thats with as you've done the tap, and then a single layer in the middle of the rim bed for good measure.

I changed it 'just in case' but it hadn't sprung a leak.

Hmmmm, perhaps I should have out a bit more tape in……particularly a re-inforcing layer around the centre over the spoke holes. I probably rushed it a bit as I wanted to get it done.

Oh well, it's done now and I'll just see how I fare.
I was planning on keeping the pressure up so hopefully the tyre won't burp or roll off the rim. The main reason I'm doing it is to prevent punctures from all the pesky thorns; grip/traction isn't really an issue in Spain as it's so dry….

I think i will take some sealant & tape with me just in case I need to re-do it, but I was trying to pack light this year.

I will be taking tubes with me for back-up!

Just need to ride them as much as possible in the next two weeks to get some confidence. Only thing is, I need to start taking the bike to bits as I've not got much spare time between now & when I go.