Mavic 719's – converting to tubeless

I have ordered a Stans kit and have a schwalbe booster. Will be fitting current purgatory bliss tyres. Anything I should know ? Some online vids suggest I may need to drill valve holes bigger ?

Thanks

Oh well 🙂

I used the video from Stan’s website which featured the man himself- it was really good! 🙂 I think they have taken it down now though and replaced it with another one- def worth checking out! 🙂

Thanks, do rims always need drilled ? and do I take off the original non tubeless rim tape before installing the Stans rim kit ?

Cheers

Try the valve in the hole first, you only need to drill if the hole is too small (which was a yes for me but this was 10+ years ago!)

Yes, replace original tape with the tubeless stuff 🙂

Drill the valve holes bigger? Why?

719’s have a little rubber spacer so presta tubes fit in nicely. If you take the spacer out, they fit schraeder (car type) valves. Why do you need the hole bigger? Just leave the spacer in, remove the rim strip.

I used to run 719s tubeless, they were a pain to get the tyres to inflate but once they were up they were ok. The booster should help there. No need to drill the rim. Leave the rim tape on under the stans strip to pack the rim out a bit and stop the spoke holes damaging the strip.

Thanks, some online vids suggest drilling inner rim, hence question.

Some years ago since I did mine but I had to drill the rims. I assume because the valve didn’t fit otherwise.

I did mine with a cut down bmx inner tube. Just removed the gromit to fit the Schrader value and left the existing rim strip in place. Can be a bugger to inflate tho.

It’s dead easy.

Firstly, there’s no need to drill the rim anywhere, but finding a couple of Schraeder tubeless valves will save you a lot of grief.

Simply remove the existing rim tape, add two or three layers of electrical tape (cunningly just wide enough to cover the rim holes) and bingo.

They can be a bugger to inflate, as the rim profile is quite narrow by today’s standards, so it’s a good idea to fit your new tubeless tyres with tubes until they lose the deformation they’ll have straight out of the box as they’ll have been folded.

Also, try to seat them first with soapy water before adding sealant via the valve, otherwise you will waste half your sealant as it’ll pour out.

Finally, my Purgatory tyres were a very tight fit to get them on the rim. Be prepared for a fight and sore thumbs. If you live anywhere flinty then I would urge you to use Specialized’s Grid carcass tyres as the Control carcass is simply too flimsy, especially on the rear. I’ve spent a fortune on tyres before I learned my lesson – there’s nothing worse than putting an inch long gash in both your brand new tyres on their first outing.

Thanks all, Stans kit is on the way anyway so will see how valves sit before drilling anything. Mixed opinions on whether to leave original rim tape on or not though…

I converted 717s no problem. 2 layers of electrical tape and then made sure the rim strip was nice and neat inside the rim well. I didn’t drill the valve hole. Went up with a track pump using Maxxis High Roller II TRs

Thanks Rich, did you leave the original rim tape on or remove and then put the electrical tape on ?

Removed the original tape

Great, worth a go by the sounds of it. Seems like many have had success with 719’s and my Purgatorys are bliss versions anyway.

I had mavic 719 with spesh purgs.
Left the original rim strip in and put the stans strip on top (theory being if you puncture and have to put a tube in the stans strip comes out so you still have a strip in to protect the tube)
Didn’t have to drill the rim. Just had to spend a bit of time getting the stans strip seated by the valve hole.
I was possibly quite lucky. I could get the purgs sealed and inflated with a track pump, indeed I was able to get them inflated (after breaking a little bit of the seal) with a mini pump.

Martyn, sounds ideal. I will follow that approach, although with the benefit of the Schwalbe Booster, thanks.