Evening all,

I’m looking to buy a set of Light Bicycle (sorry i know this has been done to death already) road carbon clinchers that I intend to run as tubeless. My understanding is that you can request that they only drill spoke holes on the inside edge ie the hub side of the rim meaning that you don’t need to use stans tape.

This sound great but im slightly puzzled how the nipples attach. Presumably theres a secondary grommet that threads into the rim that the nipple then screws into?

http://www.light-bicycle.com/carbon-700C-25mm-wide-road-rim-clincher-35mm-deep-U-shape-tubeless-compatible-basalt-braking-surface.html#.VO9ZuHysV8E

Thanks

My understanding is that you painstakingly thread them through using a bit of thread and a bit of old spoke.

I’m eyeing them up too, for my disc roadie, as you can specify them without a braking surface. I’ll just tape them up though.

You need a steel nipple insert and drop them in through the valve hole and run them round with a magnet.

My understanding is that you painstakingly thread them through using a bit of thread and a bit of old spoke.

So each nipple is passed through the cavity/space exposed by the valve stem hole? That sounds like a proper ball ache for whoever has to build the wheel. I’m guessing It’ll be an even bigger ball ache if you need to replace a nipple.

Me thinks it might be best to go for a rim with traditional spoke holes and tape up,

If you can lace your own wheels it’s just gone ng to take a bit of time. It’s the way I’ll be doing my next set of wheels.

but what’s the advantage?

Well, I have had a flat on road tubeless where the 80psi in there deformed the tape to the point where it let go. That couldn’t happen.

I think they can drill the holes oversize so you can fit Mavic UST spoke inserts.

There was a video somewhere of how this is done – I believe you are supposed to insert the spoke with the string attached through the spoke hole, then guide it with a magnet along the outside edge to the valve hole. Once it gets there, you thread the nipple to the spoke bit and pull the string.
Once in place, the nipples need to be held with rubber bands.

I believe you will still need tape, though, otherwise you won’t get a good enough seal along the tyre beads.

Srsly?! Sod that.

I’ve taped up probably 20 sets of wheels now using 3M crossweave tape and not had any issues – road and MTB so all sorts of pressures and conditions. That’s a big enough sample for me.

Rules out alloy nips if your using a magnet too, i just cant understand the performance gain over taping.

That is not the case: the magnet pulls the (ferromagnetic) spoke bit / needle with the string through the valve hole, then you can thread an alloy nipple onto it and pull it back inside the rim and out the spoke hole.

I went for the solid rim bed option when I bought my wheels from LB. I got them to build them, and they didn’t charge any extra for the hassle of the solid rim bed, which I thought was a bit strange. I went with brass nipples, so hopefully they last for some time… I have built up a few sets of mtb LB rims in the past, but didn’t fancy the process of feeding the nipples through.

The rims work fine with the tubeless tyres I have tried.

That is not the case: the magnet pulls the (ferromagnetic) spoke bit / needle with the string through the valve hole, then you can thread an alloy nipple onto it and pull it back inside the rim and out the spoke hole.

So you’ve fed your string through your spoke hole, out the valve hole, then put a nipple on the string, dropped that back into the spoke hole… then what? You now have an unsupported nipple in the spoke hole, how do you attach the spoke? You can’t brace it from above as you normally would with a nipple driver or screw driver or owt. Surely the moment you poke it with a spoke it’ll retreat back into the rim? Do you have to hold it with pliers or something?

Jason’s solution of getting them to build them seems infinitely more sensible, particularly if there’s no extra cost.

The reason why that’s not the case has been covered, though I thought I’d add that no spoke nipples are magnetic – the alternative to alu is brass (referring to alu nipples as “alloy” is kind of silly given that brass is one of the oldest and best known alloys).

Technically im correct aracer as both options are alloys. 😛

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL-de9maci4[/video]

Sorry for the hijack, but I have just got a set of these rims.
What tubeless 25c tyres would anyone recommend?
Cheers

Schwalbe Ones from ze Germans or Bonty R3

They are indeed, but when you refer to one type as “alloy”, which ones do you mean? If you gave a metallurgist a jar of alu nipples and a jar of brass nipples and asked him to pass you the alloy ones, which ones would you get?

I have been using Schwalbe One tyres. Fairly cheap from one of the German bike shops – sorry can’t remember which one. Managed to get a huge cut in one after a few rides and had to bin it 🙁 the other one is still going strong.

If anyone thinks blowing string through a rim 32 times is a good thing to spend time on then go for it!
I’m just off to count the grains of rice in a jumbo packet to check Sainsburys gave me the right amount.

I have a set of far sport 38mm with exactly that, no holes so no tape. Coming up to 2 years of no issues