Specialized Tubeless

muzzmackay

I am interested in the Specialized FSR XC Pro and noticed that it has 'Tubeless Ready' tyres.

Can anyone tell me what I have to do to turn the 'Ready' into 'Yes Really'

I actually have the 'Stans Tubeless System' kit which I bought for anotherbike but some Nobby Nics on Alex rims just would not seat.

toasty

Do you have tubeless rims? If you had tubeless rims it would just be a matter of removing the tube, putting some solution in and pumping them up. If not you'll have to use your rim strip again, it's a bit of a fine art getting air into them sometimes though.

I didn't find 2bliss tyres any easier to inflate than Nobby Nics when using a rim strip to be honest :?

FunkMaster007

What are the advantages / disadvantages of riding on Tubeless wheels?

toasty

The main one realistically is punctures, you can get big thorns through your tyre without even noticing. There's a slight argument for rolling resistance being lower as well, I've not noticed any massive difference to be honest.

Tubeless ready tyres on tubeless rims generally have a decent weight saving over standard tyres + tubes or even over proper UST tubeless. I do find that they limit the pressure I can use a bit though, I prefer using tubes or proper UST on my rear tyre, tubeless ready is fine for me on the front though.

Converting standard tyres and rims using a tubeless rim strip gives you a similar result to using tubeless ready. Quite soft feeling tyres which can be a bit awkward depending on the running pressure.

ESHER SHORE

the Specialized "2 bliss" tires have an additional liner in the carcass which helps them stop leaking air with a tubeless setup

I've been using their 2 Bliss "Captain" and "Fast Trak LK" tires for the past 18 months with both sun singletrack and Stans ZTR Flow rims both with Stans rim strips (freeride strip on Singletracks and Flow strip on Stans rims) , and 2 cups of Stans solution, and can report they inflate MUCH easier than any other brand of tire I have tried (Syncros, Kenda, Maxxis, etc.)

with the 2 bliss tires, the setup usually inflates on the 1st stroke of the track pump, every time

I use my bikes with these setups for dirt jumping, bike park, freeride and trail riding, and run the tires around 30psi, and have never had any issues with tire roll, burping or leakage in all this time

muzzmackay

The rims are DT Swiss 445d but after googling I am still no further forward.

I thought maybe somebody had the FSR XC Pro with this setup and had gone tubeless. I don't have the bike but it is on my shortlist.

Fair play getting the Nobby Nics inflated. I took my bike down to the local garage and used their airline but I still could not get them seated.

toasty

ESHER SHORE wrote:

the Specialized "2 bliss" tires have an additional liner in the carcass which helps them stop leaking air with a tubeless setup

I thought the difference was the UST style beads which hook into UST rims properly with a normal carcass, designed to be used with a solution. They have far thinner sidewalls than proper UST tyres, infact proper ones you can inflate easily with no solution at all. By far the easiest I've had to inflate have been proper UST Nevegals, those things almost pop into the bead without even needing air, really thick rubber!

toasty

muzzmackay wrote:

The rims are DT Swiss 445d but after googling I am still no further forward.

I thought maybe somebody had the FSR XC Pro with this setup and had gone tubeless. I don't have the bike but it is on my shortlist.

Fair play getting the Nobby Nics inflated. I took my bike down to the local garage and used their airline but I still could not get them seated.

I inflated some non-2bliss Specialized Resolution on my old '07 FSR XC, it was the bottom end model though so didn't have the better DT Swiss rims. To be honest they inflated pretty well, very similar to the 2bliss Captain tyres.

FunkMaster007

WOW ... very interesting conversation spawned about this ... I am very new to MTB so thanks for all the opinions, I'll just have to read into it all a little more and try what works for me.

Cheers guys

ESHER SHORE

best trick to inflate any stubborn tubeless setup, if a track pump, air compressor and swearing has failed, is to use a CO2 cartridge - works every time

toasty

http://messageboard.notubes.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=66

Careful though, it's not recommended. Think I'll stick to Fairy liquid and vicious arm destroying pumping, I've never failed to get a tyre up so far The second the bead takes you've won!

muzzmackay

I decided to try Specialized Customer Care to get the definitive answer on whether the 'Tubeless Ready' tyres are ready to go tubeless on the bike that they are putting them on.
Here's the response:

If your tires say tubeless ready, then you are good to go as far as tires, you will also need to check your rims to make sure that they are tubeless compatible. I would check with your local Specialized dealer. They should have everything you need to go tubeless.

So I'm still not sure

FunkMaster007

Well I just got a specialized bike today and on the spec, on the website, it mentions that it supports tubless, so I guess it means that my rims support it, but whats on there now is still a tyre with a tube.

muzzmackay

FunkMaster007 wrote:

...so I guess it means that my rims support it....

That's why I expected the Speccy Support guy to say something like.
Oh yes, just wip out the tube and put in some Stan's rim strips and gloop.

But he didn't seem sure. That said, if I get the bike I will be trying it.

FunkMaster007

Well based on some responses on here, I am not actually sure if I will go tubeless. For the mean time, since the bike is new, I'll just ride it till the Stock Tyres need replacing and then take it from there .....

In terms of the Support from Specialized, personally I went to www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk and got in touch with the bristol branch as I found the advice from there is the best. (for some reason, the site is down) so PM me if you want their email address.

botanique

Just thought I'd add something to this thread - I've been using slime tubes in my The Captain S Works 2Bliss tyres until I made a small rip on the sidewall of my front tyre. So I decided to try tubeless. Using bonty Super Juice I tried to inflate with a track stand, no go. Then tried using a CO2 cartridge, still no go. Finally drove over to my LBS and asked them to inflate it using their compressor. That worked. Been two days now and the tyre still loses air overnight. Maybe it will seal up with time.

The tyre is mounted on the Roval Controlle XC wheels that came with the bike which is a 2008 Stumpjumper FSR S-Works Carbon.

A sweet ride I never tire of....

stu8975

If your rims aren't ust/tubless then you will need one of the stans rim strip kits and some sealant (or you could try ghetto tubeless), 2bliss tyres are tubeless ready (im running fast trak control 2bliss on ztr olympic rims) so they go straight onto a ust/tubless rim with the addition of sealant. For a standard rim like the Dt 445d (OEM) you will need one of stans rimstrips and sealant to make it tubeless.

toasty

botanique wrote:

Been two days now and the tyre still loses air overnight. Maybe it will seal up with time.

Yeah, you just need to ride it, it'll graaaadually slow down, riding it really helps as the wheel milk stuff gets properly distributed around the wheel. Use your track pump so you know what pressure you ride at and pump it up every ride. My Captains took a few weeks to properly stop, my Fast Traks have been leaking for even longer now, the back one still goes down over about 3-4 days, the front is just about there though

It'll stop, eventually. Proper UST don't leak like this, it's only because they're tubeless ready, I'd rather this though than have 200g heavier tyres.