Tubeless question.

[Artie Fufkin]

Been thinking about going tubeless for a while, and one puncture too many has finally done it.
My question to all you tubeless boys and girls is-.
Can I feasibly get my tubeless ready tyres (Schwalbe Racing Ralphs) to go up tubeless on non tubeless specific rims (Mavic XM 319) Of course I will be using a decent tubeless kit, either the Scwalbe or Joes NoFlats. Also following instructions to the letter.
Has anybody attempted this, if so to what level of success, and if anybody has any top-tips that may save heavy tools being thrown around my garage in anger and frustration, they would be much appreciated.
Just trying to save the hassle and expense of either new rims and builds or new wheelset. Of course if all else fails we is gonna have to bite the bullit!
Many thanks in anticipation.

[ianfitz]

No experience of those rims but my understanding is that most will work if they are sealed with either yellow tape or a rim strip and you fit tubeless ready tyres. You'll need valves and tape/strip and sealer.

Most tubeless rims are less deep and I think that a rim strip is much thicker than yellow tape and removes some of the extra space.

I recently found several extra tubeless valves so can sell you a couple of spares if you want.

[Artie Fufkin]

Cheers Ian,
Was going to buy the whole kit which includes the valves, rim tape, adhesive rim tape and sealant. So should get everything I need.
Thanks for the offer, though.

[ianfitz]

A kit is the sensible way to go if you are starting from scratch.

Don't dispair if you find getting the tyres to inflate and seat to be a little tricky. It's one of those things that is something of a 'knack' also if your tyres have been on and off a few times they may be a bit baggy and be harder to get a seal.

Once you've found your way one tyre lever and and a track pump are all you need but early on a compressor makes it much easier and its possible to make one out of a large pop bottle - google is your friend there.

[Artie Fufkin]

Going to give it a go tomorrow.
Will report back.
Thanks for the advice.

[dlovett]

They can be a real pain to seat and more importantly unseat on non tubeless rims. My dusters are a mare and currently have a nobby nic stuck on it that two mechanics cannot remove. However on my stans rim I can put tyres on and pull them off in seconds. Any future wheels I buy will have stans or proper tubeless rims.

Good luck.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Only used Stans rims but some potentially useful steps - watch the Stans how to on web, seat it first with a tube (gets one side in), plenty of soapy water, warm the tyre up (particularly if it's been sitting in a garage / outdoors), stand well back in case it pops off, don't exceed the max pressure.

[BreninBeener]

STOP! go to screwfix and buy the 1" gorilla tape. It costs 1.50 and will do 4 wheels. Then buy dt swiss tubeless valves from crc and stans sealant! Its all ace!

[paramart]

all my bikes are tubless, i use any tyres with stans sealant i put in 1 red cup in each wheel, use bontrager/mavic valves the ones with a removable core are best, and use the cheapest electrical tape going 3-4 wraps of the rim, if tyres are tight washing up liquid helps blow them up to seat them with valve core removed then put stans through the valve pump up spin wheel whist tipping it to coat the tyre if not tubless ready, rims are mavic 719s

[Cheeky Monkey]

Oh aye, without the valve core, very good point.

[Artie Fufkin]

Cheers for the help, boys.
Managed to get both of them up first time this afternoon and rode home no probs!!!
I see what everybody says about the track pump being needed as you need that constant flow of air to make the seal, then good feeling as it catches and starts to inflate. Bit of "farting" and sealent leakage, but a few good shakes and we were there.
So now I have succeeded, is there any on going maintenance I need to be doing and what do you guys take out on trips? Tubes, sealent?
Thanks again.

[dlovett]

for the bbff, I'm bringing two tubes, a small bottle of sealant, a tubeless repair kit and some tubeless worms.

Here's to hoping I won't even get it out of the bag.

[paramart]

just take a tube if it,s cold/peeing down, make sure you check the tyre for thorns etc as these don,t even register with sealant and it,s amazing how many people put the tube in without checking, routine wise just pop the valve core out syringe a pot of sealant in every 3-4 months,
also take co2 cylinders then you can fix a biggish hole then wack it back up with co2