Voyager Hypers - tubeless?

[samsbike]

I am wondering although these are tubes tires can they be run tubeless?
Thanks

[Brucey]

people have done it (with loads of sealant) but (IMHO) it is a daft idea; the beads in the tyre are sized so that when mounted to a hook bead rim with a tube at the recommended pressures, they won't blow off the rim. When run tubeless, it doesn't matter if the rim has a hook bead or not, it isn't definitely going to help to keep the tyre on the rim. Thus tubeless tyres are built with much stronger/stiffer beads; they need them in order to be secure on the rim.

If you run normal tyres tubeless, you are just inviting the tyres to blow off the rim when you least need them to.

There may now be a chorus of folk who have run random combinations of rims and tyres tubeless (at low pressures) without problems. Well bully for you; it doesn't mean it is either a good idea or safe to do.

FWIW not all rims are created equal; as well as obvious differences (like hook size) some rims have been made oversize deliberately (i.e. not to ISO standards) so that tyres are less likely to blow off them. The potential for cock-ups with random combinations is enormous. Note that some current tubeless rims/wheels (made to the current ISO standard) come with a guide which restricts the maximum pressure of any tubeless tyre to 70-odd psi or less; if you go above this retention of the tyre is not guaranteed. [NB you can run higher pressures on the same rims if you run tubes.]

cheers

[samsbike]

Thanks Brucey

[RickH]

I know Brucey has covered this when I brought it up recently. I've been tempted to try it but the main reason I haven't is that it would remove the option of easily swapping to studded tyres. I have a second set of wheels, more for off road, with WTB Nano 40s (the TCS fast folding version) running tubeless already which I can use as "general" tyres when snow & ice is likely but not actually happening.

My thoughts on this, which may or may not be a repeat of what I said before.

I don't know if the beads on the Nanos are stronger but they definitely don't feel any stiffer than those of the Hypers.

With the largest size of Hypers (40-622) I only run 35F/40R, plus maybe an extra 5psi if I'm carrying a lot. Higher pressures just reduce comfort & don't seem to create any speed benefit. I'm running them on tubeless ready wheels (Hope Enduro rims) and they do seat tightly. Whether that is just this particular combination of Hypers & rims I couldn't say.

They need to be pumped up to around 50+ (or use a sudden blast of air - I have an SKS RideAir) to "snap" the last bit of bead into place even though I'm running with tubes. (Note: before a one asks, they are still easy to get on & off the rim once the bead is away from the rim sidewall.) I can't remember if the Snow Studs behave in a similar fashion, proper winter weather seems a long time ago! But they have stiff, rigid beads, so probably not.

[Brucey]

tubeless beads are stiffer in extension, but may still feel very flexible in bending. This means they can feel all floppy but still be resistant to blowing off the rim. I believe that tubeless folding tyres are more likely to use carbon fibre in the beads whereas most tubed tyres use Kevlar, which is a bit stretchier.

cheers

[Randy_Butternubs]

I'd add that the two pairs of Hypers I've used were an extremely loose fit on the rim - to the extent that getting them to stay on while I inflated the tube a bit was a little tricky.

Even if tubed tyres could be suitable for tubless use, I'd be wary of using Hypers.