Thinking about going down this route now. Setting up seems ok to do. But what happens and apologies when I get a puncture or do I not get punctures, do I just pump up the tyre every now and then and all should be good?
you get punctures occasionally, you need one of the fix kits that lets you shove a strip of rubber in the hole with a special awl and then reinflate the tyre (CO2 can help as it inflates tyre quickly and lets you slosh sealant around to plug the newly filled hole). have a look on the jra site for repair kits.
always carry a tube or two though.
and amke sure sealant is 'fresh' (if you can't hear it sloshing it's probably dried out and needs replenishing).
Assuming you're putting sealant inside the tyre, it should seal any small punctures you get. Depending on the seal of the tyre bead and how much air escapes during punctures prior to sealing, you'll probably need to give them a bit of air now & again. If you get a nasty hole in the tyre that the sealant can't handle (as I did this morning 🙁 ), then just stick a tube in & off you go.
Making sure your sealant is topped up is a must.
If you get lots of punctures try tubeless
If you want to lose weight from your wheels try ghetto tubeless
If you like faffage try tubeless.
If none of the above apply don't bother.
my tyre recently went flat (found the hole but it would'nt seal)
bought some more sealant and put it in and bingo fixed!
the sealant does dry out or work its way out - pop some new stuff in there every 3 months
Depending how you decide to do it, tubeless can be easy or a total pain in the arse.
Cheaper DIY options tend to be the faffier end, but some work very well.
Its a sliding scale from there for both increasing price and reducing faffage, up the the ease of a full UST system.
If you get lots of punctures try tubeless
[s]If you want to lose weight from your wheels try ghetto tubeless[/s]
If you like faffage try [b]ghetto[/b] tubeless. (but you can make funny shape with your hands while saying ghetto, wear jeans round your arse, say "naaah'a'mean" a lot and maybe pursue a career in rap)
Weeeeeell scaredy I just dropped getting on for 200g from my wheels. admittedly 1 ust rim, 1 stans rim and 2 "tubeless ready" tyres.
UST is pretty easy but still more faff than tubes.
my nobby tubeless ready went on a dream and have been fine (just top the pressure up every ride and pop new sealant in every few months
UST = less faff if you have real UST rims and tyres. Only the bodgers have problems. Great for low pressure grip and say good by to rolling resistance. Never going back to tubes. Changed my front tyre recently and smiled at the number of thorns still stuck in the tyre 🙂 But no punctures since I started UST over 18 months ago.
say good by to rolling resistance
and say hello to stupidly overweight UST tyres
donk - what weight/vol of jizz did you put in ? were you on DH tubes before ?
You will get punctures.... but you'll just get far fewer of them.
For me, tubeless has been far more resilient than tubes.
Only got caught out the once by not refilling the jiz soon enough. Learning process complete. Won't do that again.
I bought some Flows and went tubeless after one particularly problematic day out when I suffered three pinch flats in a single descent of Garburn. What a difference with tubeless. Like night and day!!!
I still carry two tubes though, 'cos if, on the rare occassion I end up resorting to sticking a tube in, I can almost guarantee that I'll pinchflat that within a couple of miles. 🙁
On that basis, I'm a tubeless fan 😀
The only way I have found you can save weight on tubeless is if you go beyond ghetto and do 'full pikey tubeless'.
Duct tape the rim bed, cut an old presta valve out of a tube (leave the rubber base on it, but cut it to fit the bed f the rim), rubber sealant on the base and crank it down hard with the retaining nut topside, then another strip of duct tape over the top of the valve & poke a little hole in the tape for the air to get in.
Even then it's debateable if its worth doing for the sake of less than 75g on a decent tube.
I'm still new to tubeless. I really like the ride you get from it though, really noticeable. You can run low pressures, get lots of grip and not feel like you're riding through glue like you do with tubes.
Scaredy 2x150g tubes removed, a cup (stans measure cup) and a bit of sealent per tyre, 2 valves, yellow tape on the stans rim, was already using the tubeless ready tyres (mud-x) with tubes. Seem to remember weighing a cup of sealent at 30g so reasonable guestimate would be 100-120g for sealent and valves.
=180ish saved.
Edit I mainly just run tubeless on the rear of FS bikes to prevent pinching, the above was for a lightish bike to shed a (little) bit more weight.
My experience turning from tubes to tubeless........
Pikey tubeless doesn't work unless your rims are really flat, the tyre has to seal even when off the bead/rim so most rims need a lot of rim tape/lecy tape.
Starting point
-165g 'thin' tubes (specialized 2.35 thin)
Ended up with:
30g electrical tape
50g stans strips (used a cut down BMX tube (30g) in the other, but needed more lecy tape so weighed the same)
70ml sealent in the new high roller tyre (SPC, kevlar, 2.35, maxxpro)
100ml sealent in the used one, and it still leaks through the pores in the sidewall!
Weight saving is practicaly nill, certainly will be when they need another 30g adding to top them up in a couple of months, however it feels a lot lighter as theres much less rolling resistance, running 5psi les front and rear and theres much more grip and still feels quicker uphill. If you dont believe the hype about rolling resistance, go ghetto tubeless on one wheel, inflate the other with a tube as normal to the same pressure, and try and fold over the side nobbles to deform the tyre. Tubeless gives much much easier, although it doesn't seem to make the tyre lose grip like normal wobbly siewalls/knobbles would, cornering is now on rails!
As a practicaly no cost upgrade its a no-brainer!
already using the tubeless ready tyres (mud-x) with tubes
Fair enough then
I changed from non-UST to tubeless ready so gained a bit of wt there and reckoned I about broke even on the deal. I guess most tube users will move to slightly thicker casings if they move to some kind of tubeless tyre (or they could be proper gangstas and to ghetto using ordinary tyres, where the faff really comes in)
Proper UST is pretty easy but only of use if you flat a lot. More money, a little more faff, little or no weight saving, still get thorn punctures unless you add sealent (more faff) but for pinch artists like myself (5 flats in 1 ride is not fun) worth it.
Weight saving wise does anyone factor in spare tubes? Normal tubed setup I carry 1 spare tube and a puncture kit. Full tubeless you'll be needing 2 tubes in the highly unlikely even you trash both tyres. Yes you can plug USTs but I've had mixed results, manage to flat a normal tyre with sealent and your in trouble without a tube.
As far as I'm concerned, tubeless running strips or ghetto has the following pros:
No Pinch Flats
Less penetration punctures~ of ones I've been aware of 80% have been self sealing with a bit of a jiggle
More comfortable ride (less arm pump)
More grip
and cons:
can be a pain to get tyre seated in the 1st place
If you get a major hole or tear in the tyre on the trail (which would likely result in an irrepairable tube in a normal set-up), you will have to fit a tube.
Most of the time weight savings will be neglible, though they can be an added bonus.
Agree with jivehoneyjive. Weight saving if using Stans or Joes no tubes + sealant must be negligable. However, being able to run lower pressures without having to worry about pinches swung it for me.
TBH I've only had 1 puncture seal and 1 not as far as I can tell in the space of 4 months use.
Proper UST here.
Run with sealant = bit of faff.
Run without sealant = little faff but more punctures.
Run ghetto with regular tyres and sealant = whole world of faff and lots of swearing.
Weight saving wise does anyone factor in spare tubes?
Errr, you'd need to be pretty retentive! I've never weighed my camelpack for starters! Any any puncture capable of destroying a tubeless tyre is going to destroy your tube too.
Run ghetto with regular tyres and sealant = whole world of faff and lots of swearing
After this stage, and adding the 30g of extra electrical tape to fill the rim up, it goes up first time every time, even with a hand pump.
Done right, ghetto is, IME, little more difficult that the kits. The trick is learning what works for ghetto setups - and it'll often take different techniques for different tyre and rim combos.
Some people are prepared to go through this learning curve to learn the principles to get it to work, whilst the number of haters on STW show that a great many aren't.
Some people are prepared to go through this learning curve to learn the principles to get it to work, whilst the number of haters on STW show that a great many aren't.
Personally I'd rather be riding my bike than cackling like a madman in my tubeless tyre lab, trying to work out what will work ghetto. 😉
I know the one tyre I've wanted to run ghetto (because it isn't available UST) didn't seal at all, after several attempts (on UST rims too). That in itself put me off the whole ghetto thing, especially as there's a slightly heavier option that is practically guaranteed to work.
I fancy a bash at this; planning on going ghetto on X338 rims with Mythos XC tyres ... will I die ? 😀
there is a bit of nonsense and some total drivel on this thread
but
More comfortable ride (less arm pump)
have a biscuit!
Me too pimp. Its not a slight against you or anyone else, merely a statement of fact as I see it.
[i]cackling like a madman in my tubeless tyre lab[/i]
I like this - suits me I think. 😯
I fancy a bash at this; planning on going ghetto on X338 rims with Mythos XC tyres ... will I die ?
Undoubtedly. Horribly. But very stylishly (in a gooey white explosion) 😉
😀I like this - suits me I think.
AFAIR My mythos had beads that were possibly slacker than a panaracer - On that basis I'd not recommend it!
I have dabbled a few times, usually getting fed up and packing it in after putting a hole that won't seal in a tyre while riding somewhere rocky.
Current attempt going very well though - normal 1-ply Maxxis Minions on Stans Flows with Stans rim strips and Joes sealant (just because I got a big bottle cheap).
Don't know (or care that much) about weight difference, but I've had no punctures for more than a month despite the local brambles going mad lately.
you don't have to use UST tyres
I'm using std Continental MountainKings with no bother at all
stans rims, tape, no rimstrip, jizz and old valves cut from old tubes
top up sealant and air every once and a while job done
might worth clearing out old sealant after a while too, I've done mine once after over a year of use and top ups, took out a whole bunch of thorns at the same time too
oh and I've got one of the repair kits but haven't ever needed it, bit if sealant and air has sorted any issues I've had
Hmm - bagginess could well be an issue - if they are a bit slack it sounds like the perfect opportunity to buy some newer/better tyres 🙂
possibly 😳 just reminding people you still need a spare tube and 2 is advisable tho as you say that's possibly retentiveErrr, you'd need to be pretty retentive!
I'll politely disagree here, in many years of using tubes I've only managed to irreparably (slits too long to patch) pinch a tube once or twice on pretty hefty culminations of speed, drops and big big rocks. In a couple of years with tubeless I have managed to irreppairably tear a UST on not very extreme stuff at all, quite a few times. Last time (and this is typical) the hole in shoulder of the tyre tread plugged with sealent the teeny tiny hole on bead wouldn't plug and I wouldn't have been able to fix trailside. I've had this trouble with holes on the tyre bead before, difficult to patch and then normally end up leaking soon after, too much flexing/deforming/whatever in that area. If anyone knows of a way of fixing these I'm all ears.Any any puncture capable of destroying a tubeless tyre is going to destroy your tube too.
For trailside fixes tubes are a lot more feasible.
After repairing about 20/30 thorn punctures in the 1st half of this year I decided to try tubeless. It has been a totally painless experience. First using Stans rims & bontrager tlr tyres & then as it had worked so well some xt wheels with various tyres normal & tubeless ready. No repairs to make since & only one burping incident on a rocky/tough (for me) ride on Dartmoor.
I've been running tubeless for a few years now, had to go back to tubes for a couple of weeks as I couldn't get a tyre seated on a ghetto setup - [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p ]Solved by this[/url], hated it after getting used to tubeless. It's not really about weight for me it's about grip, you can run much lower pressures than with tubes and the tyres deform and grip better than with tubes in - although not sure if this is a function of lower pressures or not. Never going back to tubes.
Well thanks for all your responses. Made good reading, ended up with tubes for ease and quickness but will go tubeless in a non ghetto way after payday as money is low after the new build. Pics coming soon. Thanks again
Blimber
I pump mine to 40psi when I first put them on and leave over night before reudcing to 20 - 25psi. This makes them really 'snap' in to the right position. You will hear them seating. This may stop burping. Never had it happen to me so fat on XT and ZTR rims and maxxis (which are great UST tyres).
really 'snap' in to the right position
some do this some dont, I had some conti UST tyres that wouldn't seat properly at all despite being easy to inflate, current (standard) maxxis tyres occasionaly pop on, othertimes they go on silently.
Anyone else find tubeless noisy on the road? Putting it down to the tyre being more 'hollow' with less rubber/layers to deaden the noise, but it's really quite loud!