rondot@spiritone.com
Not saying "personal" set-up (I have done well myself) on tubeless is not
the best way to go (if you know what you are doing or acquire the experience
over time), but I have never had one of the tires set up tubeless by
Sellwood Cycle Repair ever burp, or go flat on me. I weigh + / - 130 lbs.
and ride my bike hard over terrain. I am sure other shops have had similar
good results. If you have seen shop mounted tubeless burp, it might have
been the individual doing it, or.....the customer wanting a specific tire
and or rim mounted tubeless. The best solution is to use tubeless rims and
tubeless tires...everything else is a crapshoot.
ron
-----Original Message-----
From: spencer
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 9:19 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] tubeless beta
Brooke-
I've ridden tubeless w/ stans kit for a solid year now, MTB and Cross. I've
only ridden ghetto conversions w/ stans strips and standard rims and tires,
but they've worked well for me.
They are an intermediate step in rad'ness from tubes to tubulars. the
tubeless is lighter than tubes, can run marginally lower pressure than
tubes, but they dont compare to tubular low pressure. I run close to the
same pressures for my weight on dry stuff, and go low only if its muddy and
super soft w/ no hidden rocks. The main plus is no pinch flats but that is
negated by a sloppy loose tubeless setup that burps.
I train on road wheels/ tires, I feel that intervals are best done on lonely
roads where i can put out consistent power IMO. I even carry the tubeless on
my back to races to avoid unwanted tire wear.
I think the "secrets to not burping" or just plain setting it up right are:
1. Watch the STANS video
2. Watch it Again
3. Probably watch it a 3rd time,
4. Then begin by laying tape. I use clear strapping tape from the hardware
store. Its WAY cheaper than the yellow stans tape, there's bigger roles of
it, and its slightly wider than the yellow tape so it can bunch and raise
the effective height of the rim bed.
5. Lay so much tape (for my mavic rims ~ 4 layers) that the tape + stans
strip is NO MORE thand 1 mm below where the bead of the tire will sit when
its locked in the channel of the rim.
6. Use the soapy water to put your NEW regular cross tire on the wheel.
(I've heard that mavic tires stretch a lot and aren't as good for tubeless).
IMO we all should be riding the PDX crusade tire anyway and that has a
tighter bead than mavic tires.
7. put sealant yadda yadda (watch the vid)
8. Finally, remember that NO ONE rides as hard training as they do racing.
So get out and rally the tires in a park, jumping, throwing them sideways,
etc, at different pressures.
9. This my opinion only, but setting up tubeless is one of those secret
back alley skills that is best learned and repeated, with the knowledge
passed on to others, rather than paying the shop to do it. I've seen 1st
hand with my friends that have shop tubeless setups burp sealant all over
the place. My feeling is that NO ONE is going to set up your tubeless bed
as high and tight as you would knowing that you dont want to burp air. If
your mechanic would have your back in a knife fight then let he/she do it,
but they must take as much pride in this as they would on their own bike.
Hope some of this info helps. The majority of us "PRO" OBRA cyclocrossers
could go tubeless, get better tire performance, and save some money.
Cheers,
Spencer
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