Ghetto tubeless tyres setup who's tried it?

[Waldo015]

Hi everyone,

In a post over the weekend someone mentioned going along the lines of ghetto tubeless setup on my MTB rims, I did some research into it I looks easy to do.

BUT!

Will work well with standard rims and tyres that come on a $500 bike and if so how safe is it on standard tyres? Who's done it and what was the result? The guy at the bike shop said don't do it it will end in tears?

[bychosis]

I have currently got standard tyres on tubeless ready rims running tubeless. It uses tubeless valves, good solid rim tape, sealant and a compressor or co2 to inflate

I attempted to put a standard tyre on a standard rim unsuccessfully using standard cloth rim tape wrapped in a couple of layers of electrical tape, but couldn't get it to seat using my compressor. I will have another attempt one day, but don't ride that bike much so haven't seen the need to do it and wasn't willing to waste a co2 canister to try yet.

My next trick will be to use a coke bottle reservoir to try and inflate as described here

Had the bike shop guy tried it? Some people are predisposed to think the ghetto method will always end in tears. I'm in the other camp, that thinks that why not try it, what have I got to lose (maybe hearing?)

[Waldo015]

I have currently got standard tyres on tubeless ready rims running tubeless. It uses tubeless valves, good solid rim tape, sealant and a compressor or co2 to inflate

I attempted to put a standard tyre on a standard rim unsuccessfully using standard cloth rim tape wrapped in a couple of layers of electrical tape, but couldn't get it to seat using my compressor. I will have another attempt one day, but don't ride that bike much so haven't seen the need to do it and wasn't willing to waste a co2 canister to try yet.

My next trick will be to use a coke bottle reservoir to try and inflate as described here

Had the bike shop guy tried it? Some people are predisposed to think the ghetto method will always end in tears. I'm in the other camp, that thinks that why not try it, what have I got to lose (maybe hearing?)

He didn't say if he had tried it, but he did say it most likely not seat right on the rim, and the tyre side wall is way to thin and could slice easy as.

[bychosis]

I have maxxis exception series tyres on my MTB. They have super thin sidewalls and folding bead and I haven't had any issues yet, aside from them using a bit of sealant initially to seal up. After a ride or two mine looked a bit wierd as the dust had stuck to the sealant that had bled through the sidewalls in sealing it up. Some tyres are worse than others for this.

An entry level bike won't have these tyres, more likely standard wire bead with thicker sidewalls so should be no problem, they just take a little extra to seal up the sidewalls as they are not designed to be air tight like proper tubeless tyres. As for it not seating properly, they seat properly with a tube in don't they? Actually, that is one of the tips with non tubeless tyres, to set them up with a tube for a day or two before starting to try tubeless.

[Waldo015]

I think I'm going to have a crack at doing the rear wheel and test it first, as it's a little bit safer then trying the front. I have a kenda that feels like it's got a steel bead in it so should be strong enough.

[Waldo015]

Had a crack at Ghetto tubeless tyres last night, it did't work! I tried both the tape and the tube cut in half. I couldn't get either the seal enough to get air in it to inflate it

[bychosis]

Compressor? Pump? You need a good volume of air, and fast. My compressor struggles to reinflate, I suspect it is because the hose is too restrictive. Co2 canister on the other hand works every time-but does cost a couple of bucks.

[Waldo015]

Tried all three ways. The best result was with the Co2 it almost went on.

[silentbutdeadly]

I've tried it and even got it to work but there have always been issues with the setups over time. And I have a decent commercial compressor...

Rarely have I been able to seat standard tyres in non-tubeless rims - most of my more successful ghetto sets have been using tubeless ready or UST style tyres on non-tubeless rims. However, even these set-ups have struggled to hang on to the bead in low pressure situations which is precisely where tubeless comes into its own. They've also been leaky despite using the right non-UST tubeless valves and careful application of Gorilla tape. All my proper tubeless set-ups have been nigh on bulletproof...

These days...I've abandoned ghetto and gone proper tubeless (MTB) OR reverted to tubes with latex (cross, commuter). FOSS tubes respond really well to latex if you want the lightweight middle ground but I've had no drama with stock Continental tubes either.

[jacks1071]

Tried all three ways. The best result was with the Co2 it almost went on.

You need a compressor, preferably a decent sized one if you want to make it real easy for yourself.

Fit the tyre on, add your sealant, get a spray bottle with soapy water and spray it all around the tyre bead/rim area.

Hit it with the compressor.

Sometimes if a tyre had a kink in the bead from being folded up, fitting a tube to that tyre for a while so it gets its shape back can help a lot with sealing.

Also using proper "tubeless" tyres makes things easier as well. Non-tubeless tyres can be hit and miss.

[mitzikatzi]

Use a proper Air Tank.
206 6 LITRE STEEL AIR TANK

Just add some fitting and use your track pump to pump to the desired pressure 40psi?

[m@]

My experiences to date (all using Stan's sealant):

1. Tubeless ready Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on bog-standard rims (Giant P-XC2) converted with Bontrager strips: bombproof. Went up easy, sealed overnight, have never lost air.
2. TLR tyres on Crank Brothers Cobalt rims (no spoke holes, so no conversion required): same.
3. Ghetto conversion on cheapie 26" front rim using 16" tube, with second-hand Maxis tyre (not TLR but had been run tubeless): went up ok with compressor; so far so good.
4. Same ghetto conversion on a much wider rim (probably 30mm or so): impossible to get tyre to bead up. Gave up.
5. Schwalbe CX Racing Ralphs (not marketed as tubeless) on the same rims as #1: went up ok, but constantly lost pressure through pinholes in the sidewalls and around the valves. Have now gone back to tubes.

I might give tubeless on the CX another go, with different (tubeless ready) tyres or maybe just different sealant; Stans just doesn't seem to be able to stop the leaks at anything over ~40psi...

[Duck!]

My experiences:

Schwalbe TLR Ra-Ras on UST rims (Shimano XT) - Utter crap. Seated well with compressor, but sidewalls that might have been made of flywire took a month to seal before the Stans stopped "sweating" out through the millions of pinholes. Refitting after swapping out to more suitable tyres for a filty wet race, flatly refused to seal again, so back to tubes. Sidewalls split a couple of months later.

Maxxis Crossmark bog-standard foldable, also on XT UST rims - Pigs to seal due to loose beads. Require a lot of manual seating in order to get enough of a seal, but once sealed pop into place beautifully & no leaks. Compressor required to get inflated.

Since then I've only gone full UST (Maxxis Crossmark & Ignitor). Pop into place with track pump, and will hold pressure perfectly without sealant (but it's insurance for when something does go through).

[jdwynn]

I have had enough trouble with brand new UST tires on UST rims. You need a really big compressor for everything to go smoothly. Tires are one area that you don't want to fail because they are pretty annoying to try and fix on the side of the trail.

[KGB]

But if they fail on the road/trail, don't you just throw a tube in? Could be messy with the leftover sealant but still...