Tubeless!

Just mounted up two sets of Conti Mountain Kings (mkII) today, one SET ON A Mavix 317 set of wheels and the other on my home built Superstar XC-430 jobbies.

Both sets mounted up spot on, although all tyres were brand new.

Has anybody used the Specialized Air Lock sealant?

It has been in a 50% off sale in the Edinburgh Coop bike sale so i picked a few bottles up.

I did a test run (ghetto) with a spare cheap tyre and while it held its pressure fine, when i removed it today to check, the sealant had not spread around the inside of the tyre, almost like it was a bit too thick and gloopy?

The tyres i did today, i have added a small amount of water to each one to thin down the solution, not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing.

anyone done these on a mavic crossride trying to mount a MKII tyre, but the pressure from a track pump wont work, even 2 co2 canisters wont inflate the bugger!

am i best off with a compressor in this instance?!?

can take to work (car dealership) tomorrow if so...

I have tried with a track pump and got nowhere.

I can get them beaded up no problems with my 50litre compressor.

Managed to sort it out! Problem was the valve I was using had no removable core, so it wouldnt inflate. I changed for one out of a schwalbe inner tube and it's sorted!

The compressor in our workshop blew it up within milliseconds!!

v12jat":2wvoimpc said:

Thinking of going for a tubeless set up on my scott scale, maybe on my trek as well if it proves successful!!!! 1 for weight saving, 2 as I get a puncture every time I open my garage pretty much at the moment

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re: weight saving. On my WW bikes, I use Maxxis tubes = sub 90g. From the info about Stans, my calculation is that the liquid weighs in at 60 g plus approx 10g for the core; so the weight saved is 20 g.

So worth doing as it is rotating mass and is furthest point from centre of rotation .... but what is stopping me is what happens should the try go down and need a spare inner. Firstly there is the mess insuide the tyre when having to fit an inner and then trhere is having to carry two inner tubes to be on the safe side - I usually carry only one plus repair kit.

Maybe the Stans stuff is so good that there is hardly ever a puncture and UI am worrying too much :?

the other advantage is being able to run lower pressure = more grip due to larger tyre contact patch plus lower rolling resistance (I did have tubeless set up but cannot say I notice much difference on that one)

I had a 2mm hole near the bead on the weekend. With a lot of shaking the sealant managed to plug the hole. The most difficult part was reseating the bead, which involved lots of pulling and rapid inflating.

The question is now, do I leave alone, or do I stick a patch inside?

I'd patch if it was a decent sized hole, as this could open!

Been waiting for another tyre to arrive so i can do the rear on my Trek, this is another mavic Crossride.

Unfortunately the valve i was using wasnt holding much pressure in, so, i have gone for a stans rim strip as the rubber around the valve should create more of a seal.

ps. anyone ran a tubeless setup on a retro ride ie. pre 95?! or would the rims/ older skinwall tyres not be up to the job?

v12jat":3u4dygvl said:

ps. anyone ran a tubeless setup on a retro ride ie. pre 95?! or would the rims/ older skinwall tyres not be up to the job?

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Yes, on my 1988 Explosif but not with old school tyres though.
2.25" Nobby Nics on Mavic 261 rims, ghetto tubeless. Works like a dream.

At the minute though I have Trailrakers on it , which aren't good tubeless candidates, unfortunately.

stans sealant advice

im after a good quallity sealant for the fatbike, but with the bike having 100mm wide rims and 4.7'' tires im wary of going tubeless.

so, i have looked around on youtube and seen a few of these videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veB-MHb9B-k

can i simply uncsrew the presta valve, inject a load of sealant in and im sorted??????

Been tubeless on my cross, road and mountain bikes for a few years. I would not go back to either tubes or tubs.

There are a few things I'd add. Buy the reinforced cross weave tape. Better than insulating tape and much cheaper than stans. Avoid the geox sealant - it goes solid and clogs valves.

If you can stretch to it it's well worth while building up some stans rims. I believe there is a new range of stans imminent so that should mean some good deals on current stuff.

Also tubeless specific tyres tend to be reinforced so you're much less likely to get catastrophic tyre failure.