Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Trek & Bonty Tubeless ready Q
  • chubby_monk
    Free Member

    Hi all

    I got a Trek EX8 from my lbs at the end of last summer. Wheels said tubeless ready. Guy in bike shop stated all I needed were valves and sealant.

    The rear wheel seems to have a plasticy rim strip in there, but the front hasn't. After a high number of punctures per ride and me getting fed up of breaking tyre levers (even steel ones) with the ridiculously tight tyres I decided I might give tubeless a go. I spoke to the bike shop a few weeks ago and he said both wheels should have this plasticy strip already and told me to bring it in for a look. So I took it in today and after looking blankly at me for a while they told me only the tyres are tubeless ready and the rims mean its easier to convert because the bead sits better.

    To their credit, when I asked why does the back rim appear to be set up already they phoned up Trek who said they stopped doing that in 2009, so the bike shop said I was basically lucky to have a rear rim set up already.

    Is this right – a tubeless ready sticker on the rim means you still have to convert yourself so it's not exactly tubeless ready?

    Cheers

    Chubby

    njee20
    Free Member

    Well Bontrager do the pre-formed black plastic rim strip, which is presumably what you have in the back? They give a far more marked profile than Stan's setups and are designed solely for the Bonty rims.

    It pre-dates Stan's conversions, the rims are designed to be converted to tubeless, but they're not UST, ergo 'Tubeless Ready' seems pretty reasonable.

    chubby_monk
    Free Member

    Cheers fella – that makes more sense – wish the bike shop could have told me that.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    thomthumb
    Free Member

    you need a rim strip and a valve for each wheel (about a fiver each)

    some tlr tyres (or ust/ lust etc)

    some sealent.

    HTH

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    Yes you are right. I reckon that you could have Trek under the trade's description act over their "tubeless ready" claims. You need the full Stan's tube conversions, only the tyres are ready which makes them a PITA when you aren't running tubeless.

    On the same thread I reckon that the original spec tyres on my EX8 were the worst tyres I've ridden for years.

    chubby_monk
    Free Member

    Maybe, but I'm not particularly a complaining type – I just needed clarification on TLR and what it meant – and I love my EX8, so Trek are still ace in my book.

    As for the tyres – I'm too slow to particularly notice bad tyres. What I do notice though it that they are so very hard to get off the rim, which is why I thought of going tubeless. I even had to have a rest once – I've never had this on any previous bike.

    Rim tape, valves and sealant ordered. As a mechanical muppet, this could be interesting and messy…

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    Yep my Ex8 is absolutely great and once I bust a couple of tyre levers getting off the tyres, then binned them for something better, I've been completely happy with it.

    imp999
    Free Member

    I love the Bonti set up and the tyres as well(Not the juice, though).
    Are you sure the tyres are tubeless ready? Trek (and others) sometimes fit shit OEM tyres that look the part but are made of plastic.
    I can't understand this as I am sure it puts people off buying their brand of tyres period. First impressions and all that.

    Should pump up easy with a track pump especially if they have been on the rim before so have a good "shape".

    You can use the rimstrips and valves on other rims too as long as they are wide enough(WTB Lazerdisc Trails).

    Also I have had a couple of real tight tyres – I bust the bead in one.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

The topic ‘Trek & Bonty Tubeless ready Q’ is closed to new replies.