I think I’ve decided to go above budget and buy myself some Hope Hoops using Stan’s Crest rims. However, as I’ve got no more cash, I wasn’t planning on running them tubeless yet.

Aside from not making the most of their potential, is there any other reason why I shouldn’t do this? I’ve read that tyres can be a real pain to get on, and so can only guess that this’ll be even harder with tubes in there too. But, they must be designed to accept a tube for trailside repairs when sealant fails or tyres tear or whatever, right?

Any help on this one would be much appreciated…

All you are talking about are 2 valves, a roll of yellow tape and some sealant – £25 all in.

But you can of course run tubes, kinda defeats the objective of Crests…

They’re fine for tubes or tubeless.. your choice..

Haven’t had any problems getting tyres on (either with or without tubes) but I think some tyres are maybe a bit tighter than others anyway. Just make sure you do one bead at a time and ensure that the first bead is sat down in the ‘dip’ to give you maximum slack to get the other bead on.

Before you buy, check these out – Stan’s rims on Sun hubs. 15mm might not suit, but if it does, it’s a bargain.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=63316

Thanks for the suggestion. Those Sun wheels look excellent value, but I need standard quick release.

I’ve kind of talked myself into something with Hope hubs anyway, I’ve wated some on and off for the last fifteen years or so, so now’s the time – Christmas present to self and all that…

So, If I just go ahead and go tubeless anyway, is this all I need?:

this

It just states that it’s for Flow and ZTR355 rims, but I can’t find an equivalent anywhere that’s specifically for Crest rims…

Yep, worked on crests for me. The 25mm tape is a shade wide for Crests, so make sure you stretch it well (look at the video on the Stan’s site).

Oh – Winstanleys have the crest rear for 167 and the front for about 90, cheapest I’ve seen them

also get a Presta-Schaeder adaptor, needed for airlines/compressors etc

They are fine with tubes but tubeless is a doddle on Crests with just a trackpump.

Yup tyres go up dead easy on Crests, I use yellow tape on mine.

I’m still living in the past and using tubes on my 29″ Crest rims with no problems 🙂

The Sun Ringle wheels are a licensed Stan’s design but doesn’t say what rim they’re based on?

The Black Flag rims are like the Arch but with eyelets.