Tubeless... any cheaper kit?

ugo.santalucia

I have a set of Alpha 340, already taped with one layer of yellow Stans... I want to go tubeless with a pair of Vittoria XN PRO and the Stans Cyclocross kit costs 50 quid... any cheaper but as effective solution? I am happy to pay 50 quid if that's the best option, just wondering if I am missing something

Monty Dog

No need for a tubeless kit IMO, particularly the rip-off rim strips. Make your own using a split BMX tube - trickier finding a suitable tube with presta valves , plus a bottle of Stans sealant. Been running some 29x3" Knards at 10psi on my MTB using this technique through the winter burp-free.

chrisvanderkaap

I don't really get why you would need a (conversion) kit with these rims?
Just add another layer of yellow tape two tubeless valves will set you back 8 quid and a big bottle of stan's liquid latex another 10. if the bead is tight it's good (use soapy water if necessary).

ugo.santalucia

Thanks... I somehow figured out the rubber strip was essential for a tight fit

russyh

Ugo, superstars components sell the tape and valves pretty cheap, use them for my mtb rims, as good as the stans kit

Link
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/index.ph ... bom24ts9e2

arthur_scrimshaw

I got the tape and valves from Superstar, the liquid from my lbs as I was impatient, much cheaper than the kits.

bigdaveskinnytyre

On Stan's rims you only need the yellow tape as they are tubeless specific. If you are converting non-tubeless rims then the rim strips are required to get an airtight fit.

ugo.santalucia

Thanks everybody.. got the valves and sealant... 24 quid for Stans... half the initial budget... happy with that

Monty Dog

The trick is to make sure the bead is a tight fit on the rims - try fitting the tyres with regular tubes first to check how tightly the beads seal on the rim ledge - inflate and then deflate and pinch the tyre to see if the beads remain tight in position - add another layer of yellow tape if the bead doesn't stay put.

ugo.santalucia

Good tip Monty

ugo.santalucia

The front is tubeless... ATM no burping and it seems to hold the pressure well.... tomorrow I'll do the rear and road test it

ugo.santalucia

I am tubeless... am I supposed to notice any difference?

The ride is exactly the same... on the up side, the bike is lighter and after 48 hours from pumping and 2 hours of riding, mainly on stones and gravel, the tyres have only gone from 60 to 55 PSI...

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/con ... conversion

ride_whenever

depends on the tyres, they should be slightly smoother. However the big advantage is lack of punctures.

ugo.santalucia

When they take a hit they sound different, more hollow, but they feel the same...

ride_whenever

are you faster??? I suspect that you should have a bit more grip.

ugo.santalucia

ride_whenever wrote:

are you faster??? I suspect that you should have a bit more grip.

Acceleration seems a bit nippier, but that can be the lower weight on the rim...

Monty Dog

55psi on a CX tyre? I consider 35psi too high for a CX tyre and 20psi too much for MTB - let some air out and enjoy the grip.

ugo.santalucia

Monty Dog wrote:

55psi on a CX tyre? I consider 35psi too high for a CX tyre and 20psi too much for MTB - let some air out and enjoy the grip.

I'm trying to find the best compromise for Roubaix... I still need to do 100 miles of tarmac... :roll:

tgotb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

55psi on a CX tyre? I consider 35psi too high for a CX tyre and 20psi too much for MTB - let some air out and enjoy the grip.

I'm trying to find the best compromise for Roubaix... I still need to do 100 miles of tarmac... :roll:

I've found 50-60psi with "all-round" tyres (Vittoria XG Pro) to be pretty good for a mixture of tarmac and hard trails (towpath, Richmond Park etc). In the season, if I'm training after work, I'll ride to/from the office at 50-60psi and then let them down to 18-20 for the training.

Riding back home afterwards can be a bit "interesting" if I can't be bothered to pump them up again and then forget I'm riding at race pressure...

ugo.santalucia

That's my experience too... under 50 PSI they get a bit draggy for the tarmac

philscook

Ugo,

How you getting on with your Alpha 340 tubeless? I had my LBS build me some last week. Mounted Clement PDX tubeless at the weekend. This is my first experience of tubeless and expected a faff-on which they were. My mate who's run tubeless for years helped along with his compressor.

I know these tires aren't sold as tubeless compatible, but have done lots of research and people have ran them tubeless without problem.... Once I got the tires seated and sealed, all seemed great. Tires kept pressure only loosing a few PSI a night.

I've been putting some miles on them to try them out just on my local commute to the office, say 50 miles. Well this morning a put a little more pressure in them before I set off, 50PSI max. About 2 miles into my commute the tire blew clean of the rim and splattered everything withing a half mile radius with sealant. Lets just say I was late to work.

I have heard of road clinchers blowing off at high pressure, but 50PSI? I'd appreciate your comments you might have.....

Cheers

ugo.santalucia

The fact that you needed a compressor and it was a faff suggests the tyre was a loose fit. Once the bead stretched further upon use, it was probably too loose.
Using non tubeless tyres is a trial and error thing, I found the XN work flawlessly (over 400 miles now), so I am going to stick with Vittoria for the time being, until something better comes up

philscook

That's what I was thinking. The tire was very loose and I had to increase the layers of rim tape. I take it your Vittoria XN were a tight fit? I need a tire with more tread than the XN for a mixed surface event in June. Guess I'll need to try something new.....

ugo.santalucia

philscook wrote:

That's what I was thinking. The tire was very loose and I had to increase the layers of rim tape. I take it your Vittoria XN were a tight fit? I need a tire with more tread than the XN for a mixed surface event in June. Guess I'll need to try something new.....

No, the XN are pretty loose, but I managed to put pressure in with a track pump, so probably tighter than yours... Vittoria makes the XG TNT, which are tubeless ready and probably more what you are looking for... get those

marcusww

Monty Dog wrote:

No need for a tubeless kit IMO, particularly the rip-off rim strips. Make your own using a split BMX tube - trickier finding a suitable tube with presta valves , plus a bottle of Stans sealant. Been running some 29x3" Knards at 10psi on my MTB using this technique through the winter burp-free.

Hey, just looking to go down this 'Ghetto' route, someone I know uses a 20" tube on his 26" mtb in this way, what size inner tube for 700c CX wheels. Also can you put the sealant in before you pop the last bit of the tyre on.

On_What

Ugo, how do you find the XN on the road?

ugo.santalucia

On_What wrote:

Ugo, how do you find the XN on the road?

They are nice... I've done Pairs-Roubaix with them and they have been outstanding... at 60 PSI you probably lose 5-10% over a top end road clincher
They don't last long though... the file thread at the back flattens in 2000 Km

Monty Dog

marcusww wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

No need for a tubeless kit IMO, particularly the rip-off rim strips. Make your own using a split BMX tube - trickier finding a suitable tube with presta valves , plus a bottle of Stans sealant. Been running some 29x3" Knards at 10psi on my MTB using this technique through the winter burp-free.

Hey, just looking to go down this 'Ghetto' route, someone I know uses a 20" tube on his 26" mtb in this way, what size inner tube for 700c CX wheels. Also can you put the sealant in before you pop the last bit of the tyre on.

I used a Michelin 20" BMX innertube for the split tube method on my 29er (700c rim size). They have presta valve but without removeable cores - I cut the valves out and fitted tubeless ones, or you could simply slosh the sealant in before popping the bead. I prefer the less-messy route of removeable valve cores and injecting the sealant with a plastic syringe. Plenty of fat bikers use the same technique - give the larger tyre carcass and lower pressures, there's far greater pressure on a fat bike tyre bead than a skinny CX one.