[nohbody]

Yeah... I know zero about tubeless tires other than they exist. I just want some background info, or some handy linkey's on tubeless tires/rims.

Mainly, can I convert regular rims and tires to tubeless with some $$$ and luvin?

What are the usual performance gains associated with running tubeless over "normal" tire setup?

Are there any major pitfalls to using tubeless tires?

That is all.

 

[buildyourown]

www.notubes.com

or search for "ghetto tubeless" in th archives.

basically, you need a rim strip and some sealant. You can buy it all from stans for $30 a wheel, or you can make your own out of BMX tubes and latex. I recommend making your own strip and buying stans sealant if you are hard on $$$.

i'm still new to this too, but, the setup is way lighter. your suuposed to be able to run lower pressures, but i've found the opposite.
oh, and its messy and requires an air compressor.

 

[bullcrew]

It has less rotating mass better feel when cornering, quicker acceleration and you can feel the terrain and the bikes handing alot better.
I run the deemax ex729's with tubeless (stans rim strips and sealant) with either my Maxxis minions or kendas depending on the situation.
Both seal easy and reduce weight as well as make a big difference in the overall performance.
I ride DH and FR plus do urban hucking and have yet to burp a tire.
I dropped a 9' stair gap to road flat 2 weeks ago and no problem, I went stair to stair and no problem. I rode the grade at 45+ mph over doll head rocks and nasty goat thors from the cellular towers down to the river on a practice trail here and no problems.
Stans tubeless is by all accounts the best upgrade and performance item done thus far to my bike.
I have not had a flat since going tubeless, it gets a little irritating when I ride with my buddies though and they have flat tires. I have told them to try tubeless and still we waste time with them trying to fix a flat often.

 

[nohbody]

Basically what I've come up with so far is stans is the way to go.

Can you use any ole tire rim combo when using stans?
Once you've set up the tire/rim combo, how hard is it to switch tires?

 

[oly]

Basically what I've come up with so far is stans is the way to go.

Can you use any ole tire rim combo when using stans?
Once you've set up the tire/rim combo, how hard is it to switch tires?

I prefer stans myself, but even if you go with a true tubless setup you should still run a dose of stans sealant in the wheel.

Probably, but there could be combos that dont work so well (like hard to mount, hold pressure. I have had great luck with Maxxis tires on Sun rims, and also the azonic outlaw wheels.

Its not very easy. If you switch tires alot you may not want to do the stans thing. Once you get the hand of installing stans its not too hard to do, it can just take some time to get the setup to seal on a new tire combo, and the old install needs to be cleaned some off the inside of the rim..

I raced stans for a whole DH season and never had one problem. This year when i built my bike my stans goo had dried up in the tire and i could hear it rolling around like rocks in the tire.. So i put in fresh sealant and was ready to go. If you ride in real hot climates you should refresh stans once in a while, ive heard of it drying up and not sealing if you get a puncture.


Hope this helps some.....

 

[Ruprick]

This is a good tutorial on how to do a cheap tubeless setup with bmx tubes instead of the overpriced stan's strips. Been running mine for two seasons now with no flats using kenda nevegals.

 

[SuperSlow]

i also know a guy who shattered his full face helmet and jaw after his "ghetto tubless" strip peeled off the rim, causing him to lawndart into a big rock. The bmx tubes dont have the thickness to hold the tire in high g/speed situations. The only drawback to the true tubeless is the tires are heavier than a regular tire.

 

[nohbody]

eh.... I'm gonna give stans a shot later this summer.

 

[buildyourown]

i also know a guy who shattered his full face helmet and jaw after his "ghetto tubless" strip peeled off the rim, causing him to lawndart into a big rock. The bmx tubes dont have the thickness to hold the tire in high g/speed situations. The only drawback to the true tubeless is the tires are heavier than a regular tire.

I dont think you can blame the tubeless for that. The tire would still have to slip off the bead. With the ghetto setup, the bead diameter of the rim is effectively bigger, making it harder to blow out a tire.
I just dont think its any more or less dangerous.

 

[punkassean]

Steve Peat runs Ghetto tubeless FWIW. Also there are many tubeless tires out now that are no heavier than a regualr tire. I'm running these dope Specialized Enduro Pro 2.4 tubeless tires that are dual-compound, 120tpi casing and only weigh 980gm. They grip like mad and roll really well too. Awesome tires.