Hi All

It’s been at least 20 minutes since someone asked a question about going tubeless so I think I’m well within my rights to ask another one now 🙂

Seriously though, after a visit from the pun***re fairy at the weekend (rabbit bone / tooth – new one on me) I spent a good part of yesterday googling the pros and cons of going tubless and I’ve almost talked myself into.

I run Nobby Nic’s on Mavic 319’s both of which in theory should be ok however I’m confused as to what the rim thing does.

Is it there to simply seal the spoke holes or does it aid in the seating of the tyre? I have a set of road tubeless wheels and the rim bed has a weird profile that I assume helps the tyre on.

There seems to be a couple of methods used

• Stans tape and a valve thingy
• 20 inch tube cut open and laid into the rim bed
• A rim strip with a valve

If the purpose of the rim accoutrements are to seal the rim up is there anything stopping me from using these doofers I found in the spares box?

Any other handy hints / do’s and don’ts for a tubeless newbie

Rim strip seals spoke holes,

Them thingys seal valve holes. It’s what I use.. Stick em in and try…

Rim strips are good, but can come away with the tyre when changing IME – currently happy using electrical tape and valves like yours, but cut out of an old tube and maybe pushed through a little bit of cloth (for sealing) would (should!) be fine.

319 rim bed isn’t the right size/shape for tubeless the rim strips “bulk” it up so the tyre mounts better and less chance of burping.

All rims need yellow tape (or similar, some peeps are making plugs now) to seal the spoke holes
none tubeless rims need rim strips (or similar) aswell.

you could try using a load of duck/gorilla/rim tape to bulk up your rims and the valves you have and see how you get on.

BTW those valve look like shimano ones to me, they may or may not seal well with your rims, depends on the shape

I see from your life line your are due a large pie at 3:32 on a Thursday, nice.

Thanks all

319 rim bed isn’t the right size/shape for tubeless the rim strips “bulk” it up so the tyre mounts better and less chance of burping.

you could try using a load of duck/gorilla/rim tape to bulk up your rims and the valves you have and see how you get on.

Cheers Donk. Should I be aiming to give it any sort of profile or just fill up the space between the rim bed and bead hook?

I see from your life line your are due a large pie at 3:32 on a Thursday, nice.

I should have seen that coming!

I wrote a guide. Hopefully this link still works

https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/440e985d1c813ac9411972a8350c00cb20150110212021/886103

Should I be aiming to give it any sort of profile or just fill up the space between the rim bed and bead hook?

I’d guess just keep adding layers of tape til it works. I ran a CX rim that even with a rimstrip didn’t mount so I just added a couple of layers of tape (already had yellow tape sealing the rim) under the strip.
I also ran a flow (which should ideally have had a strip) with a DH tyre, couple layers of tape worked ok.

Google seems to think that tubeless rims have less distance between the rim bed and tyre bead to reduce the chance of burping. The rims also have a channel in the centre to aid with inflation too.

has anyone tried emulating this “shoulder” using duct tape?

Mavic 319s are just fine for tubeless, all you need to do is to buy some electrical tape and ensure that the spoke holes and rim bed is well covered. A few layers will help the tyre seat properly too.

Simply punch a hole where the valve is supposed to go and ensure everything is sealed properly. Personally, I hate Presta valves because they always break or pull through (the 319’s valve hole is sized for Schraeder) so I spend a little extra on Schraeder valves. Add plenty of washing up liquid and a tubeless ready/UST tyre of your choice and you’re good to go.

I converted a pair of On-one Reetard rims last night using Gorilla Tape and bolt in Schraeder valves, with a bit of homebrew sealant. Worked a treat.