[Closed] Stans No tubes - Can't be bothered with the faff?

I did think tubeless was great up until today 😐 One flat tyre, loads of sealant sloshing around. Removed sealant and tyre then found a rather large thorn.

Gone back to tubes on that particular wheel 🙄

Hope you feel better after your moan!

stans flow rims here - 2 wraps of yellow tape and the valves they come with. Normal (none tubeless) folding kenda nevegals. They go up with a hand pump and stay up. 100ml of wheel milk - job done. As easy as a tube. No need for drilling OR rim strips IME

1000ml of milk?
that's an armful!

Simon,

You are being lazy mate.

eh?

I can't be bothered with the whole tubeless thing either. Just seem like something else to go wrong.

Flow rims = yellow tape, Olympic valves, any tyre (ust seem to work better)bit of sealant. Get it sorted. tell you what, if you're anywhere near me, pop over and I'll do it for you!

Cg, did you not just yank out the thorn and let the sealant do it's thing

M6TTF - fair point but it was a good size. As it was, it took quite a bit of effort to remove anyway.

As much as I love tubeless (get my lbs to do it which obviously costs money), I miss being able to change tyres depending on where I'm riding.

CG why can you not change your own tyres?

You are being lazy mate.

yeah baby!!

ralph - I can change my own tyres with difficulty. I am technically imcompetent so would not be able to set up a tubeless system. Women and bikes eh? 😉

lol
can you use a hand pump if so you can do it!!

ralph - I would rather be riding than faffing 😆

It is a faff with Stans to start with but if like me you use the same tyres(Kendas) all year then you can have 6 months of riding without a flat.

nice edit of the extra '0'
if the tyre sidewalls are not porus it's quite straightforward. currently have a set of rubber queen 2.2 with black chili compound and they are very porus. took ages to seal them.
were easy to inflate with a track pump with just one layer of yellow tape.

tubes are more of a faffing pain,
.... ever had 2 or more punctures when your out?
my worst nightmare
tiny, impossible to find thorn punctures?
worse still when its muddy and wet!
so get on with it

Funny you should think that. I looked at all the tubes hanging up in my garage and thought "what a faff they are" gonna have to change all my bikes tubeless.

Why would you want to remove the thorn from a tubeless tyre?

Its acts like a plug, making it easier to seal.

Just to reiterate that I've been very happy with tubeless but I can't do it myself and don't have a compressor.

Previously I used Flataways (kevlar-type inner liner) and that managed to hold off most of the thorns.

I really want to be able to change tyres when [b]I[/b] want to, rather than the current twice a year, as I ride in varied terrain.

Wimmins's logic innit 😉

TBH if you are going to use tubeless properly, you need to buy extra wheels. But at least in the long run you spend no more on tyres, 'cos they last longer. And wheels always come in handy.

And nothing is worse than punctures when its cold/wet/muddy - especially when its others you ride with, who can't be 'bothered' with tubeless...

Agree about extra wheels. I have two bikes with identical wheels but then I decided to go for a thru-axle fork on one so have adapter fitted. Nothing is straight-forward!

I seem to wait for enough people with punctures so they can just wait for me now! Will amuse them too when they watch me faffing 🙄

BH if you are going to use tubeless properly, you need to buy extra wheels

WTF, why? see even more faff and not too mention expense! I once had my tubeless tyre get a tear in it at a cold and wet windy Coed y brenin (sp?) . It sounds like i am anti tubeless, im not, just struggling to get my head around the Stans faff (word of the day is faff)

What would you have done if you had had a tubed tyre that ripped?

nowt different, is that not the point?

I haven't had much luck with non-UST tyres on my Flows.

UST Rubber Queen worked beautifully with a bit of Fairy Liquid, "tubeless ready" ones are so loose they keep falling off the rim while I'm trying to inflate them.

I will get some yellow tape and give it a go, nowt to lose.

Running UST tyres defeats the main point of Stans though as UST tyres are a fair bit heavier than normal tyres?

While I am a disciple of weight-weenie-ness, there is something dependable about UST tyres - I ran a Racing Ralph UST / Crossmark UST combo with latex on 819's all (except racing/enduros) throughout the summer.

The extra security you get is quite pleasant, and one less thing to worry about.

Have you tried running Bontrager TLR tyres, I've been running Mud X's for these last few months - well sealed and reasonably light (say 500g actually 580g).

While I am a disciple of weight-weenie-ness, there is something dependable about UST tyres - I ran a Racing Ralph UST / Crossmark UST combo with latex on 819's all (except racing/enduros) throughout the summer.

The extra security you get is quite pleasant, and one less thing to worry about.

Have you tried running Bontrager TLR tyres, I've been running Mud X's for these last few months - well sealed and reasonably light (say 500g actually 580g).

I have also been running Mud X through the winter, not tried them on the Stans rims tubeless but will give them a go.

Two weeks on and i'm still trying to get my head around the drilling, taping and 1/2 innertubes(not to mention the £60 odd cost) on a set of rims that are marketed as tubeless ready.

While I am a disciple of weight-weenie-ness, there is something dependable about UST tyres

Yep, I wanted a UST on the rear wheel for peace of mind, happy to risk a thinner tyre on the front.

[i]Two weeks on and i'm still trying to get my head around the drilling, taping and 1/2 innertubes(not to mention the £60 odd cost) on a set of rims that are marketed as tubeless ready. [/i]

I thought with Stans rims, you just stuffed the valve in after tapping out the hole a smidge and then rolled a length of yellow tape around it?

you do with stans

probably bought DT swiss guff that needs *expensive* half inner tubes to work

must say real stans is the least faffy system ive used - ive had mavic real ust and nagasaki tubeless ready tires (comp 24 and 16) which were ok but tight as **** to change tires ! , rim strips in dt swiss (garbage rims and tubeless system ) and stans 355s which have been ace !

just swapped from hope bulb/xc/xm321/michelin AM 2.2 to hope hoops sp on flows with 2.2 rubber queen (non ust) use yellow tape not rimstrips.

have saved a whole kilo in weight. gained puncture protection and more grip/faster rolling. worth every penny imho.

use tubes. call me old fashioned.

Only problem with non ust tyres is that they're sometimes made of cheese, and sidewalls etc. may take a while to actually seal. I add 25% more sealant for this reason - and even though it may take a week or so to finally settle down and hold air it's really worth it. Less weight, better traction, less chance of a puncture (glass etc. aside!) and more confidence. Stans is the least faffy solution there IMHO - well worth it, and reasonably cheap if you shop around!

for stans you kust put yellow tape round and then put a valve in. no drilling required.

I run mud-x on flows for at least 6 months of the year. They are brilliant - the tubelessness lets me ride from home where all the hedges normally puncture my tyres every ride. The flow rim also gives them a nice wide base so they can be run at comically low pressures too.

love em.

Tried it, hated it it.

Fitted the yellow tape today, just need to fit some tubes to settle it down and then find some tyres tht will seal.

might keep the wheels after all...

"Am i the only one that thinks Stans is a ball ache"

It's a ballache once, in the warm and dry of your garage/kitchen/living room. It's not a ballache in the pouring rain once or twice every ride fixing yet another pinchflat.

Mine (two bikes) have failed once in 12 months (1/2 inch cut). Just took out the rimstrip and put a tube in.

I've been very impressed with tubeless on my Evil. I am a serial pinchflatter and this reduced my average flats from 2 per ride to none for a year and a half (and counting)

I haven't converted any of my other bikes though as I don't have problems pinching on them (I guess the difference is the terrain / how much the Evil turns me into a hooligan 😀 ) that and thorns seem to be a non-issue here

I hear the comment about changing tyres but if you have a year round tyre solution (as I have) and struggle with flats then tubeless seems to be a nobrainer to me.

also, the faff wears off the more sets you do as there are tricks to seating the bead

Update time

Spent 2 days trying to get maxxis Ardents to seal! I had a little success, 2 layers of yellow tape and the thing inflated after much huff and puff, then realised i forgot the sealant! Popped a bit of sealant in and now the damn thing wont go up! I think i need a compressor....

This tubeless lark should not be this painful!

Just screw the valve core out and insert the sealant afterwards using a syringe. I prefer to do it this way as I find it less messy.

Is it me,or is there still a place in the market for a faff free tubless solution......?

Unless you go the full UST tyre and rim route and accept the weight/price peanlty........

Huh? Stan's Flow rims are entirely faff free - No drilling or rim strip or soapy water or compressor or anything required.

Once the yellow tape was on, which is no harder than putting on normal rim tape, my non-tubeless Bontrager tyres inflated a treat with a track pump, and have been fine. Didn't even need sealant though I have put some in anyway.

I really don't know how people manage to make it so difficult for themselves.

819 with UST has been faultless over 7 years IME.

819 with non-UST tyres has been easy enough but had to cut the tyres off as the latex had dried out and sealed them totally after 2 years.

Now have 2 wheels with Stans. Flow with UST tyre - went up easily, stays up, no problems. Arch with Racing Ralph 29er non-UST & rim strip - err, went up easily, light as you like, no problem.

But ... a mate has a set of Hope Hoops with Stans 355 & UST Schwalbe Furious Freds. One just won't inflate - gets to 25 psi and air escapes. Just can't get it working.

IME tubeless is great if you don't want to change tyres frequently, like others have said. Until the recent Furious Fred debacle I'd have blamed user error, but as I have failed to get it to work that can't be right 😉

Success! Used some CO2 and it went up just fine. It may be my track pump is a bit rubbish.

I was a 819/UST user for years and they were trouble free. Now i have my Flows inflated i think they should be fine.

cant see the advantage of stans over ghetto.

if i upgrade from ghetto it will be to 819 on current thinking.

Yeah,
Stans is a ball ache on normal rims and tyres.Bit hit and miss.Am using 819 and ust on my trail bike and tubes with sealant on my race bike(so i can change tyres regulary).Would like to try Stans rims to lighten up the trail bike but past experiences have put me off! UST has been great,reliable,bombproof and easy to fit.Think i'am happy to put up with the extra weight.Now if Mavic could build some lighter UST rims that would be good!
Tanx Max