Retro tubeless?

[mattr]

standard tyres cannot be used as the connection between a standard rim and the tyre will not be secure and especially at high pressures can blow off the wheel.

Ignore this.

The whole concept behind the ZTR rim and stans conversion strips is that you can simply pop almost any tyre on and set it up tubelessly.
There is plenty of information out there about this.

The only caveat is that you don't run high pressures, but no one runs high pressures anymore.

 

[frank.youngman]

Use of a ZTR rim gives you half of what you need.After that the tyre itself has to be suitable eg every tubeless and tubeless ready tyre that I have used has a folding kevlar bead.Tyre sidewalls tend to be beefed up compared with the tubed equivalent.

Stans offers the following advice on tyres to use with its rims:

"all tubeless setups above 40psi must use a tyre specifically labelled for tubeless use"

For road tyres where pressures are higher they are even more specific:

"road tubeless must be specifically labelled for tubeless use.Road tubeless requires a special bead to maintain a secure fit with the rim"

I once tried tubeless with an ancient Mavic rim and modern Specialized Ground Controls which were labelled 2Bliss ready.It took much sealing strip and effort but eventually I got the rear inflated to 30psi and set off round Haldon.The first rock I hit burped the tyre which promptly disengaged from the rim all round on both sides and lost all pressure instantly.Lesson learned,the tyre might be suitable but the rim was not.

Having said all this tubeless done right is brilliant.I went tubeless on my Specialized Enduro in 2007 and between then and selling it this year I was never stopped by a puncture.Yes I got punctures but they all sealed leaving me free to carry on biking.Most of my biking now is on road bikes and every wheel/tyre combination I use is now tubeless.

 

[mattr]

ZTR rims didn't work that well with early UST tyres. a) the proper UST type beads are too big to lock into the rim (it's designed for normal beads) b) the bead diameter on a UST tyre is quite small, in some cases it might not snap into the ZTR bead lock, as that is slightly large, so conventional beads lock in properly.
This has got better, but there are still some combinations that don't work.

Does anyone run of 40psi for riding off road anymore? The guide from stans for "normal" sized 26" tyres is weight in stones x 2. Plus/minus a bit (couple of psi). So you'd be looking at 18-19 stone before the 40 psi limit is approached (and FWIW, narrower tyres will take more pressure before blow off is generally an issue). Most of mine run between just below 20 psi, up to mid 30s (when i have the trailer on).

Road tyres is a completely different thing, and i have no idea why you've brought it up. I'd not even entertain using anything other than a full tubeless set up.

Lesson learned,the tyre might be suitable but the rim was not.

not that simple, the tyre and rim combination was not suitable. I have multiple sets of "ancient mavics" set up tubelessly, with all sorts of tyres, and not had any burp ever. But then, i'm using a proper conversion strip and non-tubeless tyres. So it all works together properly. As i said before, the UST or tubeless read beads on the 2bliss tyre might not have locked into the old mavic rim (you did have a conversion strip in there din't you? Not just loads of rim tape?)

 

[munkey_bwy]

I tried to set up my wagon wheeler to tubeless but even though the rims are tubeless compatible my maxis ikons just wouldn't seal, so i went to liquid inside my tubes...now i'm bomb proof.
I am considering it on my retro rims especially on slicks.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Yes I and many still you 40+ PSI in tyres. I'd be pinch flatting and ramming the rims if not.
Just try running a Smoke Lite Comp at 20 to 30 PSI even if you managed to make them tubeless...

 

[mattr]

I've run plenty of older tyres at modern pressures, there's nothing special about them. Unless you're trying to run tiny skinny tyres. In which case, the safe limit is significantly higher. More like 50+ for something like 1.8.
The wildgrippers (1.95") i ran at about 35 from what i remember, no problems with that.