I am going to be picking up a new set of wheels, Is it worth it to shell out the dough up front and get the tubeless rims and tires? I know I have read alot about Stans, Is that something you use on non-tubeless stuff to get tubeless? Help a newbie out and take a vote.

Stans makes a kit to convert wheels from tubed to tubeless. He also makes some goop that you pour in tubes, or more often, pour into a tubeless tire to assist in sealing punctures.

I would go tubeless.

I just got a set of Azonic Outlaws
and used the stans kit to go tubeless,
it works great. Before, I had a set of Mavic
tubeless wheels, that worked even better.
If you can afford, I'd say get a tubeless wheel
set.



Clyde

_________________
I never would have thought that Harley would end up being my inspiration. (well..maybe a little).

avidtest


"it makes mountain biking fun again"

Ozzer

If you have problems with pinch flats, go tubeless. I am 250 lbs and ride hard and used to pinch flat all the time. Once I went to tubeless I had no more problems. Just make sure you use UST tires with thick enough sidewalls (Maxxis, Kenda). Stay away from the Specialized 2Bliss which are a piece of shit.

.... or go ghetto tubeless with most rim / tire combos.

The way to replenish Stan's is with a syringe and needle (large bore, and be quick), no need to re-do the whole ordeal. It will just seal right up. But don't forget to almost deflate your tire before trying this!

That said, I never had problems with my old Mavic rims, but with new(er) WTB's I'm finding a looser tire fit on the rim and was able to ghetto a Nevegal, but not a Maxxis High Roller. Just couldn't get a seal. No compressor, so it may be possible with one.


http://blog.spudz.org/?p=453

http://www.spadout.com/a/ghetto-tubeles ... inchflats/

_________________
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

And BTW, if you use a non-tubeless tire (standard), you will need to do the Ghetto with a BMX inner tube. As suggested in some of the vids, they just taped the rim and spoke holes. Not so sure how well even a tubeless tire bead will grip the rim with this. I've used BMX Ghetto for a couple of years now with no issues.

Good luck.

_________________
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

Like moondogg, I used to get pinch flats constantly. One ride up San Juan I got 3 flats at the top, and that was it - I bought tubeless rims and tubeless tires and have never looked back. In 6 years I've had only one flat - it was at Black Mtn, going too fast over a rock garden that tore a hole in the tire. Luckily, I was almost back to the car, so I didn't even attempt a fix on-trail.

I voted "Tubeless with Stans" which for me means both tubeless tires and tubeless rims with a bit of Stans inside. Without the Stans, it was difficult for me to not lose air overnight, or at best over a week.

I could save a lot of weight going with standard tires, but I'm too chicken to get myself stranded with a tear in the sidewall.

And tears in the sidewall make me not want to run tubeless. I've torn many a sidewall and I'm worried about doing it with tubeless tires. I suppose the tubless tires have thicker sidewalls, but still, the money that tubeless rims cost and the extra weight (like my set up isn't heavy enough as it is) just don't seem worth it to me right now. Keep in mind that I'm still a rookie at the knowledge side of wheels and tires for MTBing. I just haven't had enough expierence with them yet to really understand what's worth it over the long haul. Maybe down the road I'll switch to tubeless, but I seem to ride to hard to have tubeless. I don't know.

....if you rode at human speeds, you know, like bikes are built for, you wouldn't have that problem.

_________________
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera

TW's Insanity has nailed me both times in the last two rides in the same spot. First was denting my UST rear rim and putting a hole in the sidewall of my tubeless tire right at the bead. The second time was w/ a tube in the tubeless tire and still snakebit the tube. But I'm also not riding buff singletrack.

Go tubeless for sure and depending on your taste / budget, you can either go tubeless all the way or like my and alot other poeple, get the Stan's kit and smile all the way. ( Less flats, maybe none, improved traction and cost less. )

Ali

_________________
THOSE WHO KNOW, RIDE TURNER

I think what GP is trying to say is if you like fireroads the run tubeless. If you like less than buffy the vampire slayer singletrack or nice gentle terrain, or don't like to go big or actually ride throught rock gardens at speed instead of walking through them, you need to stay away from tubeless. They just don't seem to be the best thing when riding in extreme conditions.

I wouldn't say you are limited to buff singletrack and fireroads with a tubeless set up. If you're going bother posting, then at least keep it realistic. I've been through some pretty heavy chunk with my tubeless set up and never dented rims or tore sidewalls.

UST/Tubeless are perfectly fine for average trail riding with average to above average chunck, rollers and drops thrown in. I wouldn't consider TW average. I wouldn't consider some of the riding I've seen some of you guys do in TR's from up north and out east here in SD average riding.

Would I put a set of UST/Tubeless wheels on a Reign X or a Nomad?? Probably not. Sort of defeats the purpose. Just my opinion.

Exactly why I posted this in my first post = Keep in mind that I'm still a rookie at the knowledge side of wheels and tires for MTBing. I just haven't had enough expierence with them yet to really understand what's worth it over the long haul.



C'mon Doug I'm just saying. There is not a "one size fits all" answer to this question is what I meant by all this.

I'm using Stans tubeless on my bike primarily because UST is not an option for 29ers. But I've had no issues with it.

Had my first burp last weekend. Went OTB doing a stupid move going down Martha's in Sycamore. There's a sandy patch in the middle of a downhill section and I got crossed up. No significant damage to either myself or the bike, but I hear the front wheel go Psssssssssssssttttttttt.t.t..tt.. and then nothing. Cool! The bead opened up, let out some air, and the Stans resealed it. I just pumped the front wheel back up to 30PSI and continued the ride.

I was riding Sycamore last winter and had a buddy's rear tire burp when crossing the cold streams. I guess after a few stream crossings it got cool and split a seam. Again, just pumped it up and kept riding.

I'm loving the Stans!

_________________
Velo Ergo Endo