A couple of weeks back I bought a Genesis Caribou fat bike.
I already quite enjoy riding it and intend to use it for very muddy local conditions in the woods in winter, towpath blasts to the pub and probably some bivi-biking stuff too.
I promised myself, of course, that it would be ridden as Genesis intended and that I wouldn’t spend any money on the bike itself, beyond basic maintenance.
That of course has already gone down the tubes, with ( perhaps reasonably) mudguards, an extender cog to keep it 1×10 but a little easier on the steeps and a wide flattish bar instead of the M shaped one supplied.
The guys I bought it from, told me that running tubeless might be a no, no , due to low tyre pressures causing unseating issues. I’ve noticed that despite running at the moment at about 11 psi, the tyre bead seems almost unaffected, even though the tread deforms over stuff.

Just wondered what the STW fatty owners take on this might be ? Any tips, thoughts, methods , dos n donts ?
I ask this because I’ve just had a couple of spare Halo tubes arrived in the post, which ( dunno what I expected really) seem really quite heavy.

It can be done depending on rim/tyre combo, using gaffa/duck tape etc. I bought some Stans Hugo rims, which aren’t cheap, and got some OO floaters up tubeless first go with a track pump!

I ghettoed mine using this method.

The foam strip made fitting the tyres difficult, but did seem to improve the grip on the bead.

Don’t suppose you fancy selling off the bars you took off do you ?
I’ve been looking for something about the dims of that bar.

Tubeless…I ghetto tubelessed a 3″ Knard on a 45mm Dually rim, with an opened out innertube as a tyre liner.
Its been down to some really daft pressures & not been an issue.

@ takisawa2

Drop me an email at …………….edit……..ref the bar.

EDIT…. Just about to email you !

Depends on the rim/tyre combo, OnOne floaters on OnOne rims were a pig to get up tubeless, and burped too easily for my liking (problem is when they burp, there is not enough pressure to reseat the tyre.

Ghetto with 24″ split inner tube, feels nicer than with a tube.

That’s one of my concerns, that and whether the pressure is sufficient to disperse sealant to thorn punctures etc.
Volume of sealant too. Was thinking couple of scoops of Stans and go from there.

Not used it on a fat bike but I’ve been running ghetto tubeless on all my MTBs for a while now and it’s pretty bombproof tried to get a DH tyre off my non-tubeless Mavic rims last week end and it was almost impossible so I can vouch that when done right it reduces burping to almost nil.

ghetto tubeless here – split 24″ inner tube.

First go lasted 8 months – not a single issue – & run about 10psi.

Note to self – must be due to redo it.

i have a large carbon beargrease which i ghettoed tubeless myself ( dillingers on Holy darryls), i used a 3 litre soda bottle and gorilla tape, still up and going strong

i also have an one fatty in large which was set up tubeless by my lbs contour cycles in stevenage ( floaters on on one rims)
the rear of the on one i have to top up occasionally

im selling both btw 🙂

Nextie 80mm carbon rims, Stans yellow tape (3 wraps due to the width of the hole spacing – might have got away with two) and a 9psi floater at the back with a 5psi Bud at the front.

No burping, no punctures in a few months of riding.

Lots of sealant went in initially though.

Went up with a track pump.

Downsides? Well even after you take “all” the air out getting the tyres off the rims is very difficult.

Not tubeless but I’m not using fat bike specific tubes. My beargrease came with some kenda 2.5 inner tubes and they seem to be working just fine. I’ve got a spare “fat” tube and as you point out it’s very heavy.

I’ve got Dillingers on Marge Lite rims and once they are seated they’re pretty tough to get off again so I imagine tubeless would be possible and I do know of people who’ve been successful.

My experiences… This was a little over 2 years ago and I have now bought a compressor to make it easier and save £ on gas cartridges. I also now use the Kuroshiro rims which don’t require rim tape, just sealant. The long term verdict on the method below was that it was perfect. Would recommend leaving the tube in overnight to squash the tape down thoroughly. Getting the tyres off is quite hard, and on the Kuroshiros it feels like the rim might just bend… You have to really pull the bead off the bead hook.

Decided to go tubeless on the fat bike tonight. I’d squirted some sealant in the tubes in the mean time, but as the tubes are so enormous the weight was considerable. Before I started the weight was 29.7lbs on the scales.

I used 3 layers of gorilla tape on each wheel, then refitted the tube, inflated to 25psi to seat the beads, then very very carefully let all the air out, removed the tube keeping one bead seated (this took a couple of tries), the fitted the valve and 150ml of tubeless spooge (Nuts! I usually use 50ml). The technique which seemed to work best was to lay the wheel down with the loose bead facing down to force the tyre into the well of the rim under its own weight.

Hanging the wheel like you do with a normal bike just didn’t work as the tyres are so heavy they pull down and open up a big gap between the rim and the tyre.

I then used a gas canister to get it seated and finished off with a track pump. Seems to be holding air fine, was a little weird when I rode it round the road as the bead seemed to be leaking air under load – never had this before with tubeless so will leave it to seal overnight and see what happens.

The weight was 27.9lbs on the same scales when I’d finished – happy days! It is really noticeable on the fat bike as that’s 1.8lbs off the wheel weight.

Getting the tyres off is quite hard, and on the Kuroshiros it feels like the rim might just bend… You have to really pull the bead off the bead hook.

Can you put it on the floor (on wood/newspaper/silk pillows) and use a spade, like you’d do with a motorcycle tyre bead?

mine: Hugo, Dirt Wizard (so not fat just big-boned), wrap of gorilla pulled tight, sealant, compressor. Done 1st go, been good for months.

Gaffa tape & stans valves on LB 38mm carbon rims here.
Knard front/Fat B Nimble rear.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/yDEzgC]20150910_120539[/url] by marcusandcath, on Flickr

The good thing about the Hugos is they have a centre like a standard narrow rim, which takes 27mm tape, with channels either side. The tyre sits in the channels so when inflated the beads have nowhere else to go but pop into position.

I haven’t even taken the tyres off mine yet. 80mm Weinmann rims apparently . Nowt flash !

Tubeless…I ghetto tubelessed a 3″ Knard on a 45mm Dually rim, with an opened out innertube as a tyre liner.

Why would you ghetto a tubeless rim???

I had no tape or valves. 😀

cakefacesmallblock, best service ever.
Parcel dropped off in person.
What a bloke.

No bother at all takisawa2 , managed to fit it in nicely with today’s work .