Stock Voodoo Bizango - Going tubeless

victorwilliams

Hi guys, thinking of upgrading my voodoo bizango to tubeless. Is it possible to go with the stock wheels and tyres or do I need to upgrade. I've got access to a compressor. Thanks in advance .

cooldad

Pretty much any wheels will work with tape, valves and some goo.
Tyres generally work ok, but depends.

victorwilliams

Cheers for the reply, regarding the tyres what does it depend on? Stock tyres on the bizango are maxis ardents .

cooldad

Folding are easier to seat than wire bead IMO.

The Rookie

And some wire bead just won't go tubeless.....

compuwiz_uk

also, you may have to run over the inside of the stock tyre with some sort of sealant as last time i removed one of the stock ardents from my bizango i found the overall construction of the tyre body rather thin indeed ( good for low weight, not good for keeping air in without the help of a tube ) - especially when compared with an ardent i had bought as a spare so i imagine you may find that you could loose alot of the sealant you chuck in sealing up the tyre at 1st if you dont do it before re-fitting ( plenty of advice on here in the past on suitable alternative products that you can seal the tyre with )

The Rookie

No need for that in my opinion, just inflate and 'swirl' the wheel to coat the inside, I use Schwalbe light skin so used to doing that.

compuwiz_uk

is not definate as like you say sealant added to the wheel & swirled may do the trick ( possibly just add a little extra to cover losses in this tyre seal process ), but if that fails then at least there somat else he can try.

here is why i mentioned it as if his stock tyres are like mine then they look like they may be very leaky & need extra help.

Stock item


non stock ardent

The Rookie

When I do the light skins they have a very bad case of acne when I first fill them, I just use 50ml of sealent, never been an issue.

JGTR

Stock/cheap Specialized tyres are similar, sealant seeps through the sidewalls, doesn't cause any issues.

victorwilliams

My tyres are like yours compuwiz_uk, maybe a little bit worse. Ive got all the bits to give it a bash, I'll let you all know how it goes :0

victorwilliams

*UPDATE*

I only had time to attempt the front tyre over Christmas, but so far so good! The tyre seated back on the wheel pretty easily and its held air for 6 days now. I did use a compressor,but didn't have a presta valve attachment so just used a bit of rubber tube to attached the valve to the compressor... and it still worked!

The equipment I used to get the job done: Orange Seal sealant. Gorilla tape to tape up the rims.

compuwiz_uk

i may have to give tubeless a try @ some point but i think the main reasons i aint done so far s 2 fold, too many spare tubes that aint been out the box as been lucky so far & erm, too lazy to mess unless i have to

good to know its doable though, ghetto for the win

victorwilliams

*UPDATE* Both tyres are now tubeless and have been ridden and not failed. Very happy with it, you can defiantly feel the difference.

compuwiz_uk

felt a difference on mine when i finally got it to go tubeless ( if it could go wrong it did lol )

most noticable difference was the noise the tyres made @ road use pressures turing testing outside the house. it sounded much more hollow than with a tube in.

only problem i had during testing was when i took a up kerb a tad fast & hard ( rear wheel anyway ) as i was still sat on the saddle just being lazy & managed to get a burp due to the angle & less than ideal technique i used to climb the kerb, i just heard a muffled pop kinda noise & i glanced down at the tyre to see sealant on the sidewall but otherwise it just carried on as normal afterwards, just a little more cushioned due to the pressure lost.