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Long Term Tubeless Report
Tubeless long term report..
There was a thread recently about Stans tubeless, so I thought I'd do a report of my experience as a long term user and happy tubeless rider!
I started with Crossmax UST wheels and UST (Panaracer Fire-XC) tyres.
Worked OK, but heavy. Added Stans liquid and no punctures, just used to see where puncture would have been by pinhead wet spots now and again.
From here on, I have never used a tubeless tyres again, but careful not to use tyres on the 'not recommended list' on stans website. My main reason for going back to std tyres is weight.
Whatever the marketing hype about better rolling, 100-250g is a LOT more rotating weight to accelerate and maintain speed on. IMHO, the rolling resistance of lighter tyres is better than the rolling resistance of heavier tyres - make sense huh!
Then moved to Mavic 717 (I think, probably got the numbers wrong, lightweight XC rim)
Used Stans rim strips, with sealant and standard tyres for less weight.
Worked ok, but a real hassle to change tyres as the strip needed thorough cleaning every time, and stuck to the tyre, so came away from the rim when changing.
Then went to Stans Olympic rims, with stans rim strips.
Worked very well, strip still a hassle, but sometimes needed (the strips) to get tyres to seal.
I used to use a floor pump, but bought a $99 compressor from bunnings 
Then, decided to ditch the strips and use Stans 'Yellow tape' - 5g rather than 50g!
Have done this on the olympic rims, and a set of Stans 355 arch rims too.
Works well for most tyres, some are a bit of a hassle to air up at first, but once done work ok. (see tyre prep hint below)
I've also got a set of Stans Freeride rims (28mm wide) and using the rim strips on them, as I like to run them at around 28psi.
A few comments:
- Never had a 'puncture' in 4 years, but have had 2 sidewall slashes that couldn't be sealed so had to fit a tube trailside.
- Some tyres are porous and take a few days to seal properly (crossmark exception, nevegal, small block 8
- I often fit a tyre onto an old rim with a tube for a few days at 60psi to flatten the moulding bumps before fitting tyres I have know to be 'loose' and hard to seal. This makes it easier to air-up the first time.
- The ultra low pressure thing is hype, 28 is as low as I need to go on NSW trails
Usually run 32 f 34 r for 78Kg rider. Any lower and you risk dinging your rims & 'burping'
- Not every non-ust tyre will air up, some specialised are a bit loose (adrenalin, enduro)
- I broke the bead on a kevlar high roller trying to seat the bead at 50psi
- I always go by Stans recommendations of 40psi max,
- For something really 'out there' - I once ran Michelin 1.5" slicks on my crossmax rims at 80psi for a few months, but the pressure was too high for stans to seal holes, it would push through, and slowly go down.
- And, yes you do need to replace the fluid after 3 months in summer, and top up in winter.
My front race wheel is a 330g olympic rim with 480g crossmark exception, 5g of tape and 60g of sealant! Rear wheel is the same with 352g rim.
I'm kind of lucky to be able to build my own wheels, and experiment. Currently running 3 sets of Stans rims on Hope Pro II hubs, as race, trail and big hit, and the old crossmax's as road wheels on my singlespeed.
It's a fun thing to do, you will be frustrated with some tyres, and it's a bit of a knack to mount 'loose' tyres, but once you get used to lighter weight and no punctures you'll be converted!
W.
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Having looked at the Stans site all I find is this:
http://www.notubes.com/support_tire.php
Which lists a few manufacturers and no specific tyres. Given this, maybe someone (Whisperer?
) should (could?) post a list of tyres they have used and have nice thick sidewalls, and those they have used with lesser success.
FWIW I really like the Maxxis LUST garbage - maybe I'm just a sucker for the hype (no - don't answer that!). Being a bit lazy about where the rear wheel follows I often see big scuff marks on the sidewall and wonder how well a standard tyre without tube (but with Stans) would have gone.
In respose to Rob's question I'll do my best to compile a list of tyres that I've had experience with. This will be an ongoing project!
The report will be for regular tyres (not tubeless) mainly on the on Stans Rims.
For what it's worth, most manufacturers *DO NOT support* their regular tyres being used on tubless rims, or with sealant. Do this at your own risk.
Disclaimer out of the way, this is what works for me
As mentioned above I have 3 set of Stans Rims (ZTR Olympic, ZTR Arch & ZTR Freeride), and a set of Mavic Crossmax Enduro UST rims
I run about 1 1/2 scoops Stans as a rule of thumb, mostly use the rims with just Stans Yellow tape, and not the rim strips (except on the freeride rims). If using Stans Rim strips on regular rims, like Mavic X717s (as I did for a while), I had to put a velox rim strip under the Stans rim strip to help make a tighter seal for the initial mounting (Made the rim strip appaear to be a bigger diameter for the tyres).
*Good Results*
however pretty heavy tyres
Maxxis Crossmark kevlar and Wirebead
Maxxis Larson 2.1 & 2.35
Maxxis Minion DH single Ply
Maxxis Hi Roller *note* - I broke the bead reseating this one at 40psi, it was fairly used at that stage but shows it can happen
Kenda Nevegal DTC and Stick-e *note* - Some can take time to seal up the porous sidewalls
Kenda small block 8
Panaracer FireXc Pro UST - as you would expect
*OK* if you are determined
Maxxis Crossmark eXception - Takes time to sealup the sidewalls - Very thin sidewalls, not suitable for 'sharp' courses like DW100 or Stromlo
*Not* successful
Specialized Adrenalin - Loose bead won't seal
Specialized Enduro - Loose bead won't seal
Misc Comments
In a moment of great optimism, I ran some michelin wirebead 1.5" slicks on my Crossmax tubeless wheels. Was only game to go to 80psi. These worked ok for a while, but the pressure was too great for Stans to seal. The latex tended to gett pushed through the hole and they would lose air slowly. Better sense got the better of me and I went back to tubes. (Was always concerned about blowing the tyre off the rim at 70km/h over Roseville Bridge, or down the Spit hill - *NOT Recommended*
They dont make them anymore but I managed to get Specialized Enduro (I think they were 2.35 kevlar bead) standard tyres mounted on DT Swiss 4.2D rims with the Stans rim strip.
I have also had good results with standard Schwalbe Racing Ralphs Exception series and Specialized FastTraks (both standard and 2Bliss versions). No success with wire bead Maxxis Ignitors.
With tyres that have a looser bead you can push out the Stans rubber rim strip by adding extra cloth rim tape, Stans yellow tape or even foam weather seal under the Stans rim strip depending upon how tight a fit you want between the rim strip and tyre bead.
I only use floor pumps to inflate.
Well I just managed to convert the Maxxis Ardent to tubeless last night with the help of Stans and a compressor.
It sealed up nicely.....no leaking from the bead instantly. I haven't ridden it yet so I'll give an update after the Manly Dam night ride.
It's a nice fat grippy tyre so if this works in the long run it'll be awesome. It's under 700g which is around the same weight as skinny UST Crossmarks.
Oh and this is on a Crossmax ST wheelset if you're wondering.
Yeah I'm running an Ardent up front with the stans kit. Sealed straight off with a hand pump.
I've managed to get an Maxxis Ignitor kevlar bead 26x2.1 to air up reasonably easily on a Mavic Crossland rim with 1 scoop of Stan's using one of those press-button compressors at teh servo set to max (60psi). Needed plenty of soapy water and a few tries, but it worked once I went the whole hog on the pressure.
It did burp the front off the rim recently when my young tacker came to a sudden stop right in front at the bottom of the 19th Hole and I hit a rock at the left of the clay pan with the side of the tyre. I reckon the pressure would have been down to 20psi or below, though. Since I've started the practice of checking pressures and ensuring it's around 30psi front 32-34 rear I've had no further issues with burping or squirmy tyres. They make some nice noises though through the rock garden - ptoong!
On the rear I've used kevlar bead Crossmark eXCeption 2.1s and Larsen TT 2.0s no problems with the same rims.
having a $100 home compressor to air up certainly makes things a lot easier: higher pressure (set @ ~80psi) and more air means you can get the bead to pop first time very time without bothering with the soapy water. The servo compressors pulse and back off - if the bead is a bit marginal you can find the "back off" part of the cycle happens just at the wrong time and you can't quite get the bead to pop - frustrating LOL!
I'm going to try doing my son's Kenda Komodos next. Will report back with my findings.
Just found this, thanks for the tips , as I'd like to get the weight down from the UST's.
BTW I use removable valve tubes in my roadie then put a bit of Stans in there. It keeps the tyre at pressure for far longer .. fewer early morning topups, and no punctures.