Chris Brandt

I haven't, but I know Kelly Ryan has been doing it (ghetto style, sliced tube method) for several years in CX. He used to swear by it, but I have no experience personally.

Just to clarify what you are calling the "ghetto tubeless" conversion, it is to split a 20" presta tube lengthwise along the outside of the tube, stretched onto the rim, and laid open across the entire rim bed. You mount the tire like usual, w/ rubber tube between tire bead and rim hook, then carefully trim the excess tube that is poking outside the rim after inflation. Sealant must be added prior to inflating, or afterwards through the valve if you have a removable core. Some folks build up the rim bed w/ a couple layers of velox cloth tape, or other types of tape, effectively mimicking the thickness of a notubes rubber rim strip.

I have converted several wheels to tubeless, both MTB and CX. The stan's rims hold the tires on best. I converted some DT Swiss mtb wheels by sealing up the spoke holes in the rim bed w/ three layers of clear threaded packing tape. That setup is currently working well. At the valve hole in the rim, I placed a piece of insta-patch material (glueless patch) to make a nice rubbery zone, prior to slicing a "x" shaped hole in that spot. I made my own "stans" style valve by cutting the valve out of an old tube. I left enough rubber around the base to seal up, but not interfere w/ the bead zone. The little threaded lock washer that comes on all presta tubes works to clamp it down solid. It may help to dab the base of the tube in grease or some stans liquid prior to clamping it down.

It should air right up just like any other standard tubeless procedure. Especially if you take the time to use the "thick dishsoapy foam" method that Notubes.com recommends.

All you really need to purchase is the liquid sealant. Using the reasonably priced Stan's rubber rim strip can help ensure more failsafe results, but no guarantee that you won't burp. What it essentially does is build up from the rim bed w/ some rubbery material, which makes a tighter fit at the tire bead/rim interface. Basically, there is no place for the bead to shift, since it's tighter. When you burp, your tire generally gets knocked away from the rim, either vertically or laterally, allowing for a "burp" of air to escape. (That dramatic reduction of air pressure could be 10-20 psi in a fraction of a second, and greatly reduce your bike handling or take you down.) The rubber strip helps w/ prevention of the vertical movement. Rubber-on-rubber seals up a bit better too than rubber-on-metal. Thus, once you use soapy suds, you could probably seal up a tire w/o any sealant, assuming the sidewall doesn't leak.

My personal opinion is that having a tube material all the way up along the inside wall of the rim, between the metal of the rim and the rubber of the tire bead would not allow for as tight of an interface, and be more likely to burp. Seems like having a flexible medium between those two materials wouldn't be as solid. Again, I haven't tried it out though. Also, I think you'd have a harder time adding more of the mandatory "periodic refreshment" of sealant liquid, unless you trimmed down another tube each time, or used a tube w/ a removable valve core.

It can't hurt to experiment, but be prepared to discover some surprises along the way. Also, as with anything, your results may vary, so choose your own adventure! My recommendation is to save yourself a headache and either buy a Stan's rim, or use their reasonably priced rubber rimstrip. It is proven to work well.