Tubeless conversion recommendations

[MikeDee]

I am thinking of going tubeless on my touring/gravel bike. It currently has 700c Sun CR18 rims and Schwalbe Marathon HS420 47 mm tires. I regularly encounter goat head thorns on my ride, so I need a flat proof solution to that problem. The Marathons work fine, but they are heavy and have a high rolling resistance. What if I use a Stans conversion kit with their rim strips, and a suitable lighter weight but durable tire? I currently run 40-45 psi in the rear tire and 30 up front. Wondering if this setup would be worth it or not; not if I have a flat out on a ride I would think, dealing with messy sealant and hard to mount tires and such. However, my mountain bike tubeless tires have been great, but they use tubeless rims with no spoke holes and rim tape, and of course lower tire pressure. These tubeless plug kits can deal with punctures that sealant can't plug too.

[Scunnered]

Try this https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=120560

[Brucey]

mad thought; it might be worth trying nice tyres and tubes with sealant in instead of going the whole hog...?

It will tell you if sealant deals with those thorns or not.

cheers

[MikeDee]

I think the Stan's rubber rim strips might be the ticket because they have rim humps to keep the beads in place. However, they have to be relatively thick and it must be a bear to get tubeless tires on and off the rim, since getting the non tubeless Marathons on and off the rims with just a Velox rim tape isn't easy. People are setting up tubeless with just a thin layer or two of Stan's yellow tape or equivalent. How does that work? Does the rigidity of the tubeless tire beads adequately keep the beads in place and prevent burping? I'm not running pressures as low as on my mountain bike.

[Gattonero]

I am thinking of going tubeless on my touring/gravel bike. It currently has 700c Sun CR18 rims and Schwalbe Marathon HS420 47 mm tires. I regularly encounter goat head thorns on my ride, so I need a flat proof solution to that problem. The Marathons work fine, but they are heavy and have a high rolling resistance. What if I use a Stans conversion kit with their rim strips, and a suitable lighter weight but durable tire? I currently run 40-45 psi in the rear tire and 30 up front. Wondering if this setup would be worth it or not; not if I have a flat out on a ride I would think, dealing with messy sealant and hard to mount tires and such. However, my mountain bike tubeless tires have been great, but they use tubeless rims with no spoke holes and rim tape, and of course lower tire pressure. These tubeless plug kits can deal with punctures that sealant can't plug too.

IIRC the CR18 are not tubeless compatible?
If so, don't bother as it's not a great idea.

The GEAX kevlar strips work great against thorns, and last for many years!

[MikeDee]

I am thinking of going tubeless on my touring/gravel bike. It currently has 700c Sun CR18 rims and Schwalbe Marathon HS420 47 mm tires. I regularly encounter goat head thorns on my ride, so I need a flat proof solution to that problem. The Marathons work fine, but they are heavy and have a high rolling resistance. What if I use a Stans conversion kit with their rim strips, and a suitable lighter weight but durable tire? I currently run 40-45 psi in the rear tire and 30 up front. Wondering if this setup would be worth it or not; not if I have a flat out on a ride I would think, dealing with messy sealant and hard to mount tires and such. However, my mountain bike tubeless tires have been great, but they use tubeless rims with no spoke holes and rim tape, and of course lower tire pressure. These tubeless plug kits can deal with punctures that sealant can't plug too.

IIRC the CR18 are not tubeless compatible?
If so, don't bother as it's not a great idea.

I think it should work well as lots of carbon rims these days don't even have a rim hook and Brucey says the hook isn't necessary with a proper tubeless tire. I'm not using high pressure either.

[Gattonero]

I am thinking of going tubeless on my touring/gravel bike. It currently has 700c Sun CR18 rims and Schwalbe Marathon HS420 47 mm tires. I regularly encounter goat head thorns on my ride, so I need a flat proof solution to that problem. The Marathons work fine, but they are heavy and have a high rolling resistance. What if I use a Stans conversion kit with their rim strips, and a suitable lighter weight but durable tire? I currently run 40-45 psi in the rear tire and 30 up front. Wondering if this setup would be worth it or not; not if I have a flat out on a ride I would think, dealing with messy sealant and hard to mount tires and such. However, my mountain bike tubeless tires have been great, but they use tubeless rims with no spoke holes and rim tape, and of course lower tire pressure. These tubeless plug kits can deal with punctures that sealant can't plug too.

IIRC the CR18 are not tubeless compatible?
If so, don't bother as it's not a great idea.

I think it should work well as lots of carbon rims these days don't even have a rim hook and Brucey says the hook isn't necessary with a proper tubeless tire. I'm not using high pressure either.

There is a difference between "thinking" or "saying" and having done over 100 tubeless setups.
If you want to be the next in filing down disappointment for a burping tyre, a tyre that leaks, or a tyre that takes ages to be sealed even with a compressor, then go on with a non-tubeless rim. The chances of having a bad job that also takes forever to be done, are very high.
Truth is, proper tubeless rims differ mainly in the shape of the rim well, and especially the transition between the well and the sides: the tyre has to "ramp-up" as best as possible.
With a non-tubeless rim you often have to use an inner tube to seal one side first, then manually pull the tyre to make it seat.
Conversely, a proper tubeless rim seals the tyre in 5 seconds (for real) and without sealant.

Also, I forecast casing & thread failure in the long term by running those Marathons at 30psi (the manufacturer recommends 50-70psi for the HS420) so I think you may want to use tyres that are made especially for low-pressure. Incidentally, such a low pressure on a non-tubeless rim will create more problem than a higher pressure: the tyre will burp and loose all the air and sealant.

[MikeDee]

IIRC the CR18 are not tubeless compatible?
If so, don't bother as it's not a great idea.

I think it should work well as lots of carbon rims these days don't even have a rim hook and Brucey says the hook isn't necessary with a proper tubeless tire. I'm not using high pressure either.

There is a difference between "thinking" or "saying" and having done over 100 tubeless setups.
If you want to be the next in filing down disappointment for a burping tyre, a tyre that leaks, or a tyre that takes ages to be sealed even with a compressor, then go on with a non-tubeless rim. The chances of having a bad job that also takes forever to be done, are very high.
Truth is, proper tubeless rims differ mainly in the shape of the rim well, and especially the transition between the well and the sides: the tyre has to "ramp-up" as best as possible.
With a non-tubeless rim you often have to use an inner tube to seal one side first, then manually pull the tyre to make it seat.
Conversely, a proper tubeless rim seals the tyre in 5 seconds (for real) and without sealant.

Also, I forecast casing & thread failure in the long term by running those Marathons at 30psi (the manufacturer recommends 50-70psi for the HS420) so I think you may want to use tyres that are made especially for low-pressure. Incidentally, such a low pressure on a non-tubeless rim will create more problem than a higher pressure: the tyre will burp and loose all the air and sealant.

Yeah, I should probably buy tubeless wheels. Know any suitable for a touring bike?

[Gattonero]

You may just replace the rims.
If you have rim-brakes it's a limited choice though, most of the tubeless rims are ade for disk-brakes.

[AndyA]

Mavic open pro UST (aka new open pro) is a possibility 32h only and a bit light for heavily laden use. There's also not much material in the braking surface - they will wear out quickly

[Gattonero]

Mavic open pro UST (aka new open pro) is a possibility 32h only and a bit light for heavily laden use. There's also not much material in the braking surface - they will wear out quickly

Definitely not a rim for "touring" use, was never meant to be, unless we're talking of someone that travels light and rides carefully

[AndyA]

Mavic open pro UST (aka new open pro) is a possibility 32h only and a bit light for heavily laden use. There's also not much material in the braking surface - they will wear out quickly

Definitely not a rim for "touring" use, was never meant to be, unless we're talking of someone that travels light and rides carefully

Yes, it's a bit light for it really, I'm not aware of any proper touring strength rim-brake rims.

[elPedro666]

Pretty sure you can convert more or less any rim with a couple of layers of tubeless rim strip (to fill in the channel) before fitting the rubber sealing strip...

With road pressures there shouldn't be much possibility of the bead not seating firmly. You've got me thinking about trying it with my A719/Voyager Hyper 37mm combo now!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my wobbly using hovercraft full of eels.

[willcee]

Isn't there always someone who defy logic and good sense in what can reasonably be accomplished by experienced technicans who earn livelihood doing what some on here either regard as a chore or for pleasure..the other question I would like an answer to is why is the OP riding gravel on wide tyres at such low pressures, myself and my cycle bud often on a sunday outing of 35 miles do about 2 miles of a gravel trail hard packed beside a leisure railway line on the seashore on 23/25 and 28 slick road tyres at 90psi, sitting often at 15 mph maybe more, never had any issues, no punctures or slides or wheel spin on the hilly bits, if the gravel is deep maybe drop to 45/50 but those pressures aren't helping at all..not much wonder they feel draggy.. will

[MikeDee]

You may just replace the rims.
If you have rim-brakes it's a limited choice though, most of the tubeless rims are ade for disk-brakes.

I've yet to find a tubeless rim suitable for touring. I'm still looking. Everything mountain bike or gravel bike is disc brake. Touring rims I've seen are non tubeless (e.g., DT and Velocity offerings). Road rims are too narrow.