I am getting a set of wheels made and thought I would get a tubeless rim for XC. So whats the flavour of the month?

Mavic 819 is you're only genuine tubeless choice. everything else involves rim tape and faf.

Stans 355 or olympics

819s if you don't care about weight.

ZTR Crest or Alpine (replacements for the 355 and Olympic respectively) if you do.

I've run Mavic 819s with Hope Pro 2 hubs built by Merlin Cycles for 18 months now and they are awesome. Good strong wheels and I never had a problem mounting tubeless tyres.

Mavic 819 is you're only genuine tubeless choice. everything else involves rim tape and faf.

ztr crest or alpine or flows if you want the wide tyre profile, they are still light rims.
running a piece of yellow tape round a rim and poking a hole where the valve is while drinking a glass of red and watching TV is hardly taxing.
or if you can't multi-task and have trouble with your motor-skills get your lbs to do the job.

How does the 819 differ from a normal rim to make it tubeless without a rim strip?

I can't get my head around how the spoke hole seal.

"Mavic 819 is you're only genuine tubeless choice. everything else involves rim tape and faf. "

Someone hasn't actually used a Stans rim, there's zero faff. Fitting the tape is about as hard as putting sellotape on an envelope, and thereafter it just works.

Stans are IMO the obvious choice, generally lighter than the Mavic equivalents. But exactly which of their rims would be best is a different question.

Rip – there are no holes in the rim well, and the spoke nipples are held by ferrules that need to be screwed into the rim on installation.

nipples!

819s if you don't care about weight.

Only if you're racing though, mine built onto a Hope XC rear and a generic 20mm front are still just shy of 1800g for the pair, so it's not like they're massively heavy. They are a bit of faff to build though,as the inside of the rim is sealed (obviously) you can't use a driver, and you need to buy the mavic tool to screw in the seats for the nipples. Nice wheels once they're built up though, and with UST tyres, a whole bunch easier than conversion kits.

Not too sure what this says about the reliability of the Mavic UST rim 😀

anything mavic starting with an 8xx seems to be fit and forget, love my 823's 🙂

Only if you're racing though, mine built onto a Hope XC rear and a generic 20mm front are still just shy of 1800g for the pair, so it's not like they're massively heavy.

Really? 355s on Pro 2s are still over 1700g IIRC, I think your scales are a way out, that or you used silly spokes and nips!

I'd personally use Stans every time, 819s are also a bugger to build on because of the threaded inserts, difficult to get spoke lengths right too.

I've got Stans and 819s and the Stans are far less faff imo.

a whole bunch easier than conversion kits.

as is running a bit of yellow sticky tape round the rim.

The problem with the stans is that they have no eyelets, the spokes are tensioned into a nipple which rests directly onto the rim rather than having the force spread by the eyelets. I dont like this design, it does save weight, but does put stress on the spokes and nipples and can cause the rim to crack.

Have you ever seen one crack? I am genuinely interested, as I've not. Everyone was worrying about the lack of eyelets when they first appeared, but it doesn't seem to actually matter!

I have had XC717s and Crossmax rims crack, in fact it was a real problem on older X517s, with eyelets!

I'd like to ask those of you saying stans are no faff how you do it?
i've got both stans and ust.
ust with ust tyres go on first time every time with just a track pump. even if they burp you can get them inflated again with a mini hand pump.

mounting stans with track pump for me is very hit and miss, ended up using compressor last time.

can't say i've used co2 canisters but doesnt that get a bit wasteful if you're someone who changes tyres a lot? (i dont)

Really? 355s on Pro 2s are still over 1700g IIRC, I think your scales are a way out, that or you used silly spokes and nips!

Nope they're 1653g's on normal Pro II's just picked up a set yesterday 😀

Check HERE

One question, does the gaffer tape ghetto style work with non ust tyres?

It depends on your tyre choice. If you use rim strips then you'll find most tyres will go up with a track pump. UST tyres will also inflate more easily, if that's a top priority then just use UST tyres, you'll still save weight over UST wheelsets.

I'm planning on using Schwalbe Nobby Nics with Joes sealant as I've read Stans doesn't agree with Schwalbe tyres.

Just watched the vid on youtube, looks simples 😀

I'd like to ask those of you saying stans are no faff how you do it?

Yellow tape fitted – put a tyre on, whether tubeless tyre or not, inflate with track pump.

Sorry Steve, my previous post was in response to Dens.

I find Schwalbe work really well with Stans, never had any problems with any of their tyres, I've used Black Sharks, Nics, Rons, Ralphs and Freds, all of which I can seal with a track pump. Never had any sealant related problems either.

My stans don't inflate easily even with a compressor. The lack of eyelets is no problem tho.

"I'd like to ask those of you saying stans are no faff how you do it?"

Just exactly like it says on the tin. Except that I don't bother with soapy water, never found any need for it, just fit and inflate. The one thing that seems to make a big difference is to have the wheel suspended, ie not sat on the ground, I didn't used to do that as it didn't seem like it would make any difference, turns out it does. Oh, that's using non-tubeless tyres, various kendas.

Really? 355s on Pro 2s are still over 1700g IIRC, I think your scales are a way out, that or you used silly spokes and nips!

Probably, it's just a set of kitchen scales!

I've never got Schwalbe to inflate properly with Stans. Maxxis no worries. How random is that?

I'd like to ask those of you saying stans are no faff how you do it?

fit yellow tape, fit tyre, put tube in to seat tyre, remove tube, fit valve and insert jizz then inflate with track pump.
i find it helps to pinch the sidewall between fingers and pull the bead closer to the rim especially near the valve.
not had any problems getting the tyres to seat.

only issues i had were with non ust rubber queens with very porus sidewalls that needed another half scoop in to seal all the holes, obviously with maxxis or ust this wouldn't be a problem.

I've 2 pairs of 819 rimmed wheels, they are not particulary light, but they are strong and no faff at all – but if I was buying a new set, I'd try the Hope Hoops and 355's.

I've run Stans equipped 4.2/5.1 and 317/717, no real problems with them either.

But I do have a compressor, and do need it.

So… I can fit Stans yellow tape to any standard rim to make it tubeless? (plus the appropriate valve etc. I guess)

Anyone use Sun Ringle rims? EQ27 looks a nice size.

Though after my smartarsedness I just failed to fit a new rubber queen. Left it out in the garage with a tube in to stretch out to shape, guess I should have done that first.

Voodoo-rich, that may or may not work but standard rims may give you more bother and won't have the "lip" which locks the tyre into place. Another approach is just lots of electric tape or similiar. I used a BMX tube when I did my 717s up as tubeless but it was always a bodge, maybe I could have made it work better but I couldn't be bothered 😉