After a record 6 punctures in about 15 minutes last week (2 bikes, canal path, hawthorn hedgerow, recently trimmed) can somebody explain the options for tubeless without tubeless specific rims pls (*I seem to remember one where you use a inner tube and slit it up the middle:
– how expensive is it – ie what do you need to buy
– how difficult is it
– have you done it and has it proved ‘successful’ in your opinion

Ta

You can buy a complete stans kit with rim tapes and fluid ,last time I bought one it was about £50 not cheap but worth it for no more punctures

Google ghetto tubeless, 1st hit shows you everything you need to know.

You could put sealant in your tubes if cost is an issue.

Joe’s no flats rubber rim strips are only a little more than 2 20″ tubes and work a treat. CRC do them and they work brilliantly. Add some Stan’s or whichever jizz floats your boat and you’re on your way.

I converted my Mavic 719s with Bonty Mud XR (tubeless ready) and they sealed quite happily using a 9p compressor bong:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p

I went with schrader valves for convenience (big valve with removable core to reduce clogs).

I’ve ridden these pretty hard at 26-28psi (jumps, drops etc) and they’ve not burped/rolled/exploded. Being cautious I chose the larger size strip for my rim width to give the maximum rubber to seal with, I’d go with the smaller (but correct) size if I was to do it again.

Easy with the bong and my combination of parts, something to kink the bong hose to build pressure helped a lot so I could use both hands on the pump. I used a spare QR swap-out, works like a charm.

Go for it 😀

i’ve also wondered do you really need ‘tubeless ready’ tyres? what will happen if you use standard tyres, nobby nics for eg?

Some tyres work really well, tubeless or not. Maxxis seem to work really well.

Tubeless ready, UST, 2Bliss etc… tyres work really well. Go up very easy.

Hardest part is getting the tyre to seat on the rim. I either use a air compressor if Im home, or CO2 cartridge.

Note: CO2 causes stans solution to dry up, so once the tyre is on the rim, I deflate it, insert stans, then re-inflate with air.

[/quote]i’ve also wondered do you really need ‘tubeless ready’ tyres? what will happen if you use standard tyres, nobby nics for eg?

I used the cheaper performance Nobby Nics and Fenwicks sealant and it would not seal the tyre wall. Still had loads of tiny bubbles when submerged in water after days of shaking wheel and laying on each side so in the end I gave up washed it out and bought Stans fluid. Put it in pumped tyre up gave it a shake round, done. 6 weeks in and no pressure lost.

What rims do you have now? That will determine what you need to buy.
Setting up tubeless properly is easy (and I’m crap at most bike mechanic stuff), the difficulty comes in when you do anything ghetto – then it might or might not work.
I would say use Stan’s stuff (tape & valves or strip depending on your rims, sealant, injector and valve core remover). It all just works, yes it’s a bit of a rip-off and bodges/cheaper brands are available but it’s still relatively cheap and a small extra price to pay for faff-free set-up.
Use tubeless ready tyres as well, yes some standard tyres work fine but a lot don’t. Even the ones that work will likely involve more hassle getting them inflated and sealed.
I’ve never needed anything more than a track pump to get a non-ghetto tubeless setup inflated.

If your tyre beads are a fairly tight fit into the rims, it will probably work. If you can get your tyres off the rims very easily, it probably won’t.

IIRC full on UST tyres tend to be heavier, many racey tyres have flimsy (porous) sidewalls and tubeless ready or whatever the brands version of this tends to have a little extra rubber at the bead, like a little fin and slightly thicker sidewalls. Schwalbe Snakeskin is meant to be great as the tyres are thin, light and strong…but not cheap 😥

I’ve read some people have managed to get standard wire beads to seal on strips which I may try if it ever warms up.

Ghetto here, standard tyres, split bmx tube, I used jra wheel milk, use plenty of water with washing up liquid went up no problem

20 inch bmx tube (conti or schwalbe, they have metal stems) slit up the middle. Either cut before mounting with scidssors or cut after with a scalpel or similar. If you don’t need 2 tyre levers and a bit of effort to get tyres on and off, you need a layer of double sided foam tape under the ghetto rimstrip. To keep the rim sealed and ‘tidy’, put a strip of self adhesive rimstrip on first.
If tyre is tight enough, a track pump (with valve core removed from valve to help with airflow) will inflate. Go on a long ride immediately after installing in order to get the fluid into every nook and cranny. Take a pump, the tyres will probably slowly deflate at first.

Cheers

sounds like stans, I’ll do some internetting but seems like it’s worth a try

Some great tips there, thanks guys.

I’ve got one joe’s rimstrip for sale if you want it.
30mm wide, presta valve, was used with a 19mm internal width rim, but would fit with something a little wider also.

£7 posted, or there abouts.

I used the cheaper performance Nobby Nics and Fenwicks sealant

Fenwick’s is very tyre dependent, and a bit useless really. Stans better – although I have mixed the two together successfully, which I hope means that it’ll cope with bigger holes. Fenwick’s leaks out of some sidewalls, and can be very messy to get going in the first place.

Non UST tyres & non UST rims – strip + tape + milk
UST tyres & Non UST rims – Strip + Tape
Non UST tyres & UST rims – Srip + Tape + Milk
UST tyres & UST rims – Tape!

Milk in tubes won’t work as the tube is under tension, the milk will just squirt out and not seal.

UST tyres have a butyl lining and when inflated, the lining is still under compression so they can seal themselves without milk. Some non UST tyres will be **** if you put milk in, as there is some chemical reaction.

I have a UST tyre on ‘tubeless ready’ FLOWS, with stans tape no strip and no milk and they are mint. I honestly believe that milk is a gimmick.

how will you tyres seal without the “gimmick” milk when punctured??

UST tyres and UST rims – Tape!

Didn’t need any tape in my Mavic UST rims. No valve holes.

No valve holes.

Must be a sod to inflate then?

INFO HERE

INFO HERE

Didn’t need any tape in on my Mavic UST rims,
UST ready rims don`t have valve spoke holes.

FTFY

Depends on your level of patience. Last week I put rips in the sidewall of three tyres, including a Conti Black Chili job. I swore a lot.

Always do your research beforehand. Common or garden Contis are a pain in the backside to do as they have holey sidewalls. Maxxis seem to work well, for best results I’ve used Specialized 2Bliss Control tyres – don’t use S-Works as the sidewalls are paper thin.

If you don’t go for a ghetto inflator then buy a compressor, it’ll save the usual *pump*-“Bastard!”-*pump*-“Bastard!” etc performance.

I’ve found that you don’t need a compressor (once you have tightened the bead with foam tape – see my previous post above). Just a constant high volume, low pressure air feed. Use one of those crappy 12 volt pseudo tyre compressors for cars or a pump sold for inflating guest mattresses. Do the initial seating inflation without the valve core (I always use Schrader) and constantly turn and tip the wheel and squeeze the tyre to help the rim seat. I inflate like this until I get it seated then quickly switch to a track pump and put about 60 psi in. The bead really pops on at this pressure. Then I quickly whip the pump head off the valve stem and screw in the core, then reflate to 60psi once more. Once you’ve got a decent seal, go for a ride!
This method has worked for me for about the last 10 years. I started with latex carpet adhesive and worked up to Stan’s fluid.

Depends what tyres and rims you have.

Assuming your tyres will work then my method is:

Cut a valve with a thread on it out out an old tyre, leave 2-3mm of thick rubber arround the stem.

Wrap the rim with electrical tape, building up 2 or three layers making sure it goes from one bead to the other. The exact amount of tape depends on the tyre and rim, i’ve just done some stans rims and they only needed one layer (on top of normal fiber rim tape to stop it bulging though the spoke holes), some DT rims needed about 4 layers, my mavics needed almost a roll each (still only about 20-30g)!

Put the valve in, and do the locknut up. It might need to be done up with pliers to get it tight enough to seal the rim.

Now try and inflate your tyre without a tube. If it wont go up at all make sure it’s definitely over the valve so the air isn’t just pouring out. If that still doesn’t work add more electrical tape. It’ll probably go flat in well under a minute, you just want to see if it works.

Once it goes up once, take a small section of and pour in some stans fluid before re-inflating. Give it a good shake, ride round the car park, etc, to get it sloshed round good and proper. It’ll prossibly leak round the valve, if it does tighten the lockring up (gently with pliars might help) and shake fluid round that area.

Hpefuly it’ll now work.

Been Ghetto tubeless for years on my main bike. Hardly ever have to pump the tyres up but I am guessing the sealant has turned into rubber balls now.

It’s dead easy to do, just watch the Ghetto tubeless videos on you tube.

Also, if your current tyres are well-holed (which they could easily be) they could consume a lot of ‘juice’. Usually easier with new tyres.