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Thinking of going tubeless and would just have to use the rimstrip with a ust tyre of my choice without the hassle of using sealent etc. Can anyone explain the advantages/disadvantages of the above. Your opinions please...
only worth it if you do use sealant.
you still get punctures even through UST tyres, and would need to stop and repair the tyre and then re-seat it, or stick a tube in.
you don't need to run much sealant at all, especially with proper UST set ups, but thorn type punctures would cease to affect you.
the only one i've had since going tube-free in january was last week, after i'd done the classic ''do i need to top up the sealant? no, it'll do one more ride...'' when i opened it up to stick in the spare tube, there was none left liquid...
thorn punctures where the driver for me changing - was getting 2-3 each ride locally (lots of hawthorn hedges, clippings hang around ages). the other benefits are noticeable, and most welcome, but it's puncture thing that keeps me going - it is a bit more faff changing tyres, worth it though
the extra weight (30g in UST?) of having the sealant in there is deffo worth it for me
Socketpuppet been told that I don't need to use sealant if I choose to use other tyres rather than bontrager as you would need to use their liquid if I did....
afaik, that's not the case: you can use whatever sealant you like in any tyres. i'm on wheelmilk from JRA atm, but different folks like different types.
the bontrager stuff is a bit different - never dries out completely iirc, but doesn't seal as fast. some, like stans, have little shreds of rubber in them to help seal bigger holes, but tend to dry out faster and ball up inside the tyre.
some even just use art latex, but not sure how effective this is.
irrespective of brand of tyre, or type of sealant, i'd still use something!
Yes you can use UST rims and tyres without sealant and they will stay up (I'd be surprised if rims converted with strips stay up without leaking with no sealant though).
However, what's the point?
Without the sealant, you'll still get punctures and thus lose most of the point of a tubeless setup. Also, it only takes 30 seconds to put some sealant in there anyway.