So having had a bit of a puncture fest recently, mostly due to not havign had any for ages and the spare tubes going at the valve or splitting on the seam, I’m considering going tubeless for the first time.

FIrst up, is a set of Mavic Crossmax wheels – easy-peasy, set of Mavic valves and away I go? Yeah? Any issues with using existign part-worn tyres? Or receommendations for sealant?

None of the other wheels are technically tubeless compatible, so will need rim-tape and valves. Any valve recommensdations for universal fit? Rim tape – I’ve heard that insulating tape works? Or should I just bite the bullet and get something specific? Again, any issues with re-usign non-tubeless tyres?

Are any tyre brands particularly difficult to set up? I’ve got some Geax tyres on one bike that never pop onto the rim bed properly.

Is a compressor really necessary? If so that seems a bit OTT and may well rule me out!

Any advice/thoughts/hints/tips?

THanks all!

Tesa tape off ebay to suit the internal im width, stans sealant, I find STZY valves are very good and proper tubeless tyres and you’re away.

Don’t use electrical or gorilla tape, the former will come away with the moisture in the sealant and the latter will make a right sodding mess of your rims and also degrades over time.

Different tyres suit different rims, but Vittoria (geax of old), Continental, Spesh and Bontrager are all great in my experience – I’ve been tubeless for over 10 years and never had a problem

For your Mavics, yes any tubeless valves, tape and sealant and away you go. The Peaty’s valves are good, as is the Muc off Tape. For sealant I use Stans, which seems fine. I have never needed a compressor or boost pump etc, but I use inserts which help a lot. Re-using old tyres will be fine. Unless they are very old, they should be tubeless ready. If they’re not, you may find the sealant leaks through the sidewall. This usually sorts itself out after a day or two though. If the tyres are a bit knackered, might be worth changing anyway to save yourself some potential hassle.

Don’t use crappy tesa tape. I was using it, but tis so unreliabel now that I switched to duct tape and its perfect.
If your rims are taped alreay then you’ll be good.
I am happy using non tubeless tyres, but it sometimes takes a few days of pumping and riding to block up all the sidewall pinholes with milk.
In the end you’ll move over to tubless tyres as they are tougher.

I would use Stan’s sealant – never had a problem with it.

I don’t think valves hugely matter which ones – I’ve used DT Swiss / Stans / Rimpact / Hunt and they’ve all worked fine.

Tape – I’ve used DT Swiss / wtb (the same as the yellow Tesa and Stan’s) / Joe’s and they’ve all done the job. I’d say the DT Swiss stuff goes on nicer – seems more sticky – but it’s a bit pricy.

Tyres – all my tyres have been used tubeless from new. I imagine you might get a bit of seepage with older tyres that have previously been punctured but not used tubeless. As long as the holes aren’t too big they should seal – spin the wheel once the tyres are on / beads are popped in to let the sealant find its way all round the tyre.

Popping beads on – I’ve never managed it with a standard track pump. Maybe the 2 I’ve used haven’t moved enough air quick enough. I’ve got an air shot and that works well every time.

To add when taping the rims make sure they are warm. I usually do it in the garage and heat the tape / rim with a hair drier. Pull the tape really tight so you’re almost stretching it on.

Don’t use duct tape, the proper stuff works best but you have to be careful applying it, make sure everything is clean and do it slowly. The tape needs to be 2-3mm wider than the inner width of your rim. When inflating, spray the tyre bead with soapy water as it helps seal and seat the tyre much better than when dry. Decent tubeless ready tyres will make life easier but non tubeless can work.

FIrst up, is a set of Mavic Crossmax wheels – easy-peasy, set of Mavic valves and away I go? Yeah? Any issues with using existign part-worn tyres? Or receommendations for sealant?

If they are Mavic UST (no spoke holes on the rin bed) then yes, just valves, sealant and go.

Stan’s is the only sealant I have found to be decent.

None of the other wheels are technically tubeless compatible, so will need rim-tape and valves. Any valve recommensdations for universal fit? Rim tape – I’ve heard that insulating tape works? Or should I just bite the bullet and get something specific? Again, any issues with re-usign non-tubeless tyres?

If the rimes aren’t tubeless ready, then running them tubeless can be a pain, needing additional wraps of tape and the like. I have had tyres blow off non tubeless rims, which is not fun.

Gorilla/Insulating tape will work, but not well – it’s either porous (gorilla), won’t last as sealant gets under it (insulating) and a pain to remove, leaving horrible residue (Gorilla) Proper tape is a much safer bet. Muc Off tape I have found good recently, Stan’s tape also.

Are any tyre brands particularly difficult to set up? I’ve got some Geax tyres on one bike that never pop onto the rim bed properly.

WTB tyres tend to be on the lower end of tolerances, so tight on some rims, can be a right pain on the wrong rim, like Stans’s who size their rims on the upper side of the tolerance. Neither company recommends the other’s products. Never had an issue with Maxxis.

Is a compressor really necessary? If so that seems a bit OTT and may well rule me out!

I have used a Lezyne High Volume floor pump for years now, never had a need for a compressor. If you are messing with non tubeless rims, yes, you might need a compressor.

Any advice/thoughts/hints/tips?

THanks all!

Tubeless ready rims. tubeless ready tyres, decent tape – no issues.

seating – I’ve almost always had success with a normal track pump. unscrew the valve core and pump using the schrader end of the pump. Then quickly pull it off and get the valve back in.

taping – heat helps. in the colder months, ive even used a hairdryer to warm the rim, helps the adhesive to stick.

compatibilty – tubeless has been the norm for how many years. even ones that dont say tubeless compatible on them, are.

I’ve always rated maxxis for “trail” and xc type tyres (switchedto schwalbe for double casing though). I’ve put a new maxxis straight out of the folded packaging, onto a stans rim, completely dry, no sealant, and left it overnight. Still holding air the next morning. Thats how well they seal.

I use these

https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/mavic-ust-rim-strip-21-mm/136238949/p?products_search%5Bquery%5D=mavic%20rim%20strip

They don’t seem to be that common, so I guess they’re too expensive/out of fashion, but worked perfectly for me for years)

But to be fair I found ones that were specifically for my mavic rims, (it’s a rubber strip that fits your rim, with a hole for the valve)

Stans works for me (*spray the valve core seal bit with silicone spray each time you fill it up, see eBay for syringe kits with tube that fit inside presto valve so stans refill is easy – valve out, silicone, inject new stans, valve in, done)
Most tubeless valves seem fine, but note the shape of your rim as some tubeless valves are round and same are sort of oblong at the valve fitting.

If you get a leak at the valve – DO NOT FARMER TIGHTEN IT, take it out, get an old stool thick rubber puncture patch, drill a hole in it and use that as a washer, if that doesn’t work I would use a small blob of silicone sealant on the patch, that has always worked.

Have a bit of stiff wire in your toolkit, (that fits thru the valve), you can use it to poke sealant blockages out of the way.

Oh yeah, I’ve got a bontrager flash pump (air tank), you’ll need something like that/air shot/compressor etc to get them to seat

For minimum hassle get the wheels set up at a competent LBS. Many things can go wrong leading to wasted rim tape and sealant.

Once set up changing tyres and adding sealant is easy to do yourself.

So many people doing Gorilla tape wrong. It works perfectly and takes seconds to apply. You put electrical tape around the rim first to prevent the gluey mess of death. You can do 2 wheels in 2 minutes and it comes off just as easily.

So much better than messing with expensive, non-stick, plastic tubeless tape.

Worth a look perhaps?

Talking About: Tubeless

Beto tubeless thing very good, had two tyres that airshot just couldn’t get sealed. Beto did them both first time, plus just better designed, decent base and just easier.

ayjaydoubleyou

I’ve always rated maxxis for “trail” and xc type tyres (switchedto schwalbe for double casing though). I’ve put a new maxxis straight out of the folded packaging, onto a stans rim, completely dry, no sealant, and left it overnight. Still holding air the next morning. Thats how well they seal.

Same here – bought new wheels & tyres for a frame, put them together without sealant, waited five months for the frame to arrive, tyres still inflated when the frame arrived.

Thanks All,

What I failed to mention is that they are 26er MTB wheels… So finding new/decent tyres can be an issue…. And I have a pre-existign stock of 26er tyres to ideally use before I go spashing cash on anything new.

I think I may just stick to tubes for now. Perhaps give the Mavics a go, and see how that works out. then maybe try sorting the others out if it seems worthwhile/relatively painless.

Ta

I’ve got to say, I haven’t experienced too much bother with either electrical tape or gorilla tape.

I had some gorilla tape on for several years with no issues. Same with Gorilla tape, although it did leave a bit of sticky residue behind. That took about 10mins to clean off with tar & bug remover that I use on the car, so no big deal. I think GT85 works too.

Last time I set my wheels up I used Uberbike valves which seem very good & some Tesa tape, seeing as lots of people on here rave about it.
The tyres went up OK, but it was a pain getting the tape on, as it doesn’t really stretch or conform to the rim.
That was having heated the reel of tape & the rim in front of a heater & then applying the tape inside while still in front of said heater.

I use a pump/inflator jobbie to pop the tyre onto the rim.

I think GT85 works too.

Not tried that, I find WD40 is good for removing stickers etc…

sharkattack

So many people doing Gorilla tape wrong. It works perfectly and takes seconds to apply. You put electrical tape around the rim first to prevent the gluey mess of death. You can do 2 wheels in 2 minutes and it comes off just as easily.

So much better than messing with expensive, non-stick, plastic tubeless tape.

Never had a problem with rim tape not sticking, but I always scuff up with fine sandpaper and clean with alcohol first. Using two different types of tape (one which absorbs sealant) is in no way a good alternative. Gorilla doesn’t come in rim-friendly sizes either. And tyres don’t slide into place as well on it. It’s a bodge at best.

Yeah on second thoughts I guess my decade of first hand experience isn’t true.

I’ve used gorilla tape a few times, eventually when removing tyres, the bead of the tyre sticks to the edge of the tape and pulls it off the rim. Cleaning the glue off is a pain. Whenever I’ve used proper tape it has just worked and not moved after multiple tyre changes. It’s also lighter and less messy. The only benefits I can see are it’s slightly cheaper and faster to install, both of which are lost once you have to replace it more frequently.

Fwiw, I’ve used cheap CRC tape with no issues (lifeline/prime) so you don’t have to spend too much.

If you use Tesa Tape….(Cheap as chips from Viking Direct or others online) it is worth warming the rim with a hairdryer/ hot air gun on lowish setting. I give it a quick waft as i wind the tape on too. A little heat makes tape more compliant and sticks like the proverbial to a blanket!

Muc Off valves work well and look good and Stans sealant is reliable. I’ve not had a puncture in around 3000 miles off off road riding. Well actually I’ve had loads of punctures but none of them have made the tyre go flat!

What I failed to mention is that they are 26er MTB wheels… So finding new/decent tyres can be an issue…. And I have a pre-existign stock of 26er tyres to ideally use before I go spashing cash on anything new.

Using used tyres is hit/miss and TBH if you’ve managed this long on tubes, don’t bother until you buy new tyres.

I couldn’t get the Mavic valves to seal up properly on my Crossmaxes. Think I used DT Swiss/stans in the end, which were fine.

I think you can get tubeless ready Minions in 26″ still. and on Mavic UST rims will go up with just a track pump.

I’ve got to a stage with this recipe that my tubeless tyres stay inflated for ages, often go on with just a track pump and (fingers crossed) never leave me stranded.

– Clean the rim with Isopropyl before taping, warm the tape.
– Tape with Tesa tape that’s a bit wider than the rim bed so that the tyre bead sits on the tape at the rim wall (it will probably still work if you don’t, but I find this generally gives a better seal). Heat up something wirey to melt a hole for the valve.
– Blow up a tyre with a tube, leave overnight to bed the tape onto the rim.
– Use a modern/new tubeless tyre. You will be able to get tubeless-ready or older tyres to work, but you’ll often need to be patient with the sealant initially to get them to stay inflated. Gets boring.
– Blow the tubeless tyre up on the rim without sealant – I find with modern tyres that they will stay inflated overnight or longer without sealant if all is good. Bit of judgement involved here – sealant will usually fix most issues, but the better they go up without sealant, the better they’ll be long term. Consider re-taping if you think you could have done better with the taping, Tesa tape is cheap. Water/washing liquid mix to help the seating for tight combos.
– You might have to use an Airshot or similar to get the tyres to seat. This is still 50/50 for me. Nice if they go up with just a track pump, but not a deal breaker if they don’t – some tyres are tight, and on the plus side once seated seem to stay inflated longer. I used a ghetto 2 litre bottle inflator for ages, but an Airshot is nicer. Always take the valve core out when seating.
– I’m back to Stan’s or Stan’s Race personally – doesn’t dry out too quickly, doesn’t leave too much residue on tyres, seals punctures well. Usually pour it directly into the tyre before re-seating, as I find that easier than squeezing it through the valve core, but YMMV.
– Get one of the plugging solutions for filling up holes that the sealant can’t seal without help. Anchovies are fine, Dynaplug etc nice and more convenient, but you pay for it.
– Carry one stout tyre lever and a tube should all else fail. Don’t forget to clear the tyre of thorns etc before putting the tube in.

I’m even getting good results with road tubeless now which I never thought would happen with the early MTB tubeless travails.

If you’re bodging old stuff get a swear box, this time next year you’ll be a millionaire

I would prepare for a bit of faffing/learning the hard way…or get a mate who has already cracked it to lend a hand.

I wouldn’t bother paying an LBS, you won’t learn anything. Better to learn when you have a spare afternoon, and then when you need to fix them in a hurry you won’t be learning under pressure.