I’m in the market for some new wheels and thought I might try going tubeless, but despite a bit of searching I’m still confused about exactly what I need.

These will be going onto a 2006 Orange Five (in the first instance), which I’m building up as a bit of an experiment and for general natural trail riding in Scottish mountains.

So, I thought Id go for these Hope Pro 2 Evo based wheels.

Wiggle Hope Wheel

First question is whether to go for Crest or Flow rims. I’m leaning towards Crest, but mainly because they come with 15mm adapters, which fit my RockShoxs Rev forks. But are they too light for general (AM) use? I like the idea of light wheels and don’t mind truing them (or even rebuilding them completely if needs be), but don’t want a wheel made of cheese.

Next, I guess I need a valve. These seem to fit the bill

Universal-valve-stem-35mm

But do I go for the 35mm or 44mm options, do I need to buy a core for it and if not will the core work with my pumps, which are all set up for presta valves (so I can use them on the road bikes as well). Finally, do I also need to by the valve core remover

core-remover

I guess I’ll need to buy a roll of Stans rim tape of the appropriate width for the rims and some sealant. Is this the gunk I need?

http://wstans-no-tubes-473ml-tyre-sealant

I’ll probably use Nobby Nick Evo Tubeless Tyres with this setup, unless anybody screams Nooooo.

Cheers,

Andy

I’d recommend flows for everything but lightweights riding real XC (kind of stuff that is close to XC racing).

Crests aren’t really designed for the highlands with the odd drop you might find up there!

Flows on Pro2’s will come with whatever adaptors you order. Mine came with QR at both ends and 15mm adaptors in a bag…

You should be asking Arch EX or Flow.

Thus if you are thinking crests over flow at the moment then I would say go Arch EX. Make sure they are the EX ones though. They are slap bang in the middle between Crest and Flow in terms of strength and have the updated width compared to the old Arch.

But if you are going to be doing lots of rocky bits and drops etc – ie hard riding then Flow.

Thanks.

The Wiggle deal says that you get 15mm adapters with the Crests and 20mm with the Flows. Obviously I could just buy the 15mm adapters separately, but some of the reviews suggested that Crests could take a lot of abuse and obviously lighter is better. Seems as though it might be a false economy though.

Cheers,

Andy

So long as you don’t tend to smash through rock gardens with the finesse of a hippo the crests will be fine.

Valves are complete and presta type, I’m not sure on lengths, looking at mine they are the 44mm ones. The shorter ones would be ok at a guess but mine don’t look too long.

The core remover isn’t essential but does make things easier, I’d get the syringe too, again not essential but makes things MUCH easier.

Tape, be advised by the Stans site, Do the neatest job you can then take a new stanley blade around the edges of the inner rim to get rid of any tape going up the inner ‘walls’.

Stan’s spunk is the best I’ve found, just buy the biggest/cheapest container you can.

Enjoy the lack of punctures 🙂

if you buy from somewhere else you will probably be able to choose the adapters.

the stans rims are designed mostly for using normal tyres tubeless

I used to use some LUST maxxis with my ztr 355s but they won’t go on to the wheel now it has been rebuilt with crests.

You may wish to consider tyre compatibility as some people don’t like using normal tyres and prefer UST or LUST types as the sidewalls are more robust – in which case you may prefer to use a UST rim rather than stans.

You can still use stans liquid.

Also consider straight pull or normal spokes – straight pull are more hassle when truing a wheel.

That valve will have a removable core – which makes putting the stans liquid in a breeze. Get some spare cores in case.

Inflating the tyres can require a compressor, a co/2 cartridge, or maybe just a track pump. My ignigtors and some UST fire XC pros went on the 355s with just a track pump, my Mudx need a cartridge, or maybe the overnight trick with the inner tube.

I am trying a

prestaflator

with a garden sprayer as i don’t have room for a compressor and wasting a cartridge each time annoys me.

the topeak twotimer pumps seems like a useful pump, although I haven’t used mine in anger on the trail yet.

twotimer

Roger Musson used to think Hope Hoops were built a little too tight – maybe consider prices on just riding alongs website

JRA

their custom builds allow you to select the axle size adapters so the overall cost may be similar if you will need to buy them otherwise.

I was looking into this recently for my 5 Spot.
I was considering Hope ProII Evo/Arch EX but noticed that actual weight was listed as 1800g which is more than my existing wheels, although I was looking to upgrade for a wider rim & a little weight saving.

So I may go for Hope/Crest eventually as suggested above, but also turned these up while looking – ZTR hubs make a claimed lighter build.

ZTR Hubs Arch EX £371

ZTR Hubs/Flow £250

that prestaflator is a bit expensive!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-TRUCK-TYRE-TIRE-AIR-INFLATOR-DIAL-PRESSURE-METER-GAUGE-COMPRESSOR-TOOL-L9-/260877388476?pt=UK_Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item3cbd810abc

+ a presta adapter. Job done.

Thanks Folks,

Seems to a slight difference of opinion on whether Crests are up to the job, but I’ve just spotted that Dave Hinde sells Arch EX rims on Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs and you can specify any adapter you want for front and rear, so that may be the way to go.

I see that the liquid only stays liquid for 2-7 months in a tyre. So, do you have to squirt more in every few months? If so, how do you know when to do this and what happens to all the old (presumably now solid) liquid?

Cheers,

Andy

Flow ex… fit and forget

Just ordered myself some Arch EX rims from Wiggle as they are on sale (£42 each).

for wheel builds check out:

Just Riding Along
Merlin
moonglu
Winstanleys

they all get mentioned regularly and people have good experiences and prices from them. There will be other places of course. Always search for anywhere you buy things like wheels from for bad experiences.

roverpig, google Dave Hinde before you order

^ 😆 just in case my subtle hint wasn’t clear enough!

Doh, sorry Andy – bit subtle for me

Ok, thanks. Maybe flows and some adapters might be safer all round then 🙂

Cheers

Andy

It looks like they are selling flows off at the moment as the new flow ex is out. Going on what is says on the stans site anyway. I am sure I saw a really good deal on flows yesterday but can’t think where. Might have been actionsports.de

Ref weights above my arch/pro 2 build is closer to 1700 than 1800 and thAts with a standard heavier arch on the back and ex front