Tubeless tires setup for mountain bikes

[tacollie]

I am sold on stans 100%. I have been using it for about 5 years. Once they are on I am usually good to go til it is time for a new tire. A big thing is using more sealant than they suggest. We have a ton of thorns where I ride. Without something in your tire you will flat pretty much every ride. I keep about 30psi in my tires. I have only had burping issues with WTB tires. Its not for everyone and it sucks putting it on with a floor pump. I carry a tube and pump for longer rides.

 

[OneTime]

I have run tubeless for five years with no problems at all. But I have tubeless wheels and run UST tires. I throw in a little Slime once and year and I am all good. I do have to check my air pressure before each ride but thats takes just a minute or two. My wife has the same Gaint Reign I do but, with out UST and runs tubes. She flats almost every ride. Either from the desert thorns or a pitch flat. Last monday she pintched flatted off a 2' ledge drop right in the middle of our downhill bomb. What a bummer it is to have to stop in the middle of the downhill to fix a flat. I love my tubeless and wont go back to tubes.

I have read several reviews about Nevgals not sealing with Stans.

I would say wether you run tubes or tubeless make a good investment in a CO2 pump. I use one that takes the smaller cartridges and not the MTB larger ones. For two reasons. One I use can use the same pump for my road and mtn bikes. Second is that you can get Crossman pellet gun cartridges at Walmart for about .25 cents. The large ones at the bike shop go for about 2 bucks a pop. You will need to use two of the smaller cartridges but it still is way cheaper than one large one. I can fill a tire in two seconds with C02 as opposed to pumping a mini pump a gazzillion times.

 

[xcmountain80]

So lemme get this straight. You have ust rims and tires and use slime and your golden? I have ust rims and tires, how much slime and which kind? I'll try it and see, perhaps that's what I was missing.

I have run tubeless for five years with no problems at all. But I have tubeless wheels and run UST tires. I throw in a little Slime once and year and I am all good. I do have to check my air pressure before each ride but thats takes just a minute or two. My wife has the same Gaint Reign I do but, with out UST and runs tubes. She flats almost every ride. Either from the desert thorns or a pitch flat. Last monday she pintched flatted off a 2' ledge drop right in the middle of our downhill bomb. What a bummer it is to have to stop in the middle of the downhill to fix a flat. I love my tubeless and wont go back to tubes.

I have read several reviews about Nevgals not sealing with Stans.

I would say wether you run tubes or tubeless make a good investment in a CO2 pump. I use one that takes the smaller cartridges and not the MTB larger ones. For two reasons. One I use can use the same pump for my road and mtn bikes. Second is that you can get Crossman pellet gun cartridges at Walmart for about .25 cents. The large ones at the bike shop go for about 2 bucks a pop. You will need to use two of the smaller cartridges but it still is way cheaper than one large one. I can fill a tire in two seconds with C02 as opposed to pumping a mini pump a gazzillion times.

 

[OneTime]

I just use the the green Slime brand. I get the smaller bottle and use half up front and half in the rear. I live in AZ and I add more about once a year. I do loose air in between rides at times. Sometimes more than others. But I have never had a problem on the trail. Burped once or twice, but that was in Moab riding a lot of drops.

 

[tacollie]

I don't use ust anything. The tires are heavy and the rims are a pain to lace. Also, my nevgal sealed up fine(29x2.2 front and 26x2.3 rear). My buddy has a wire bead nevgal and that was a pita to seal.

 

[OneTime]

I have never noticed the weight before of the UST tires. But I should qualify that I ride a 32 lbs 6" travel AM bike.

 

[tacollie]

I ride heavy bikes as well. Honestly, I never tried UST because stans worked and I hate building up UST wheels.

 

[TCM]

It would appear I am the dissenting opinion, but I love UST tubeless tires. I have Mavic CrossMax wheels with Continental UST tires on my Maverick and would never use anything else. With sealant in place they never bleed down over night and they never burp air even at a pressure of 25 PSI. And unless I tear a sidewall flats are a distant memory. I can often ride an entire season and never have to change a tire. Of course I use a glycol based sealant which will last this long as Stans dries out in 3 months here in Colorado. I also like to run low pressure, 30 PSI max, and with a tubed setup this is just not possible. The last time I tried I had three flats during a 90 minute ride. Of course this is using a true UST tubeless system. In my experience a conversion using Stans does not work this well. Tires always bleed down and or burp air at low pressures.

 

[OneTime]

It would appear I am the dissenting opinion, but I love UST tubeless tires. I have Mavic CrossMax wheels with Continental UST tires on my Maverick and would never use anything else. With sealant in place they never bleed down over night and they never burp air even at a pressure of 25 PSI. And unless I tear a sidewall flats are a distant memory. I can often ride an entire season and never have to change a tire. Of course I use a glycol based sealant which will last this long as Stans dries out in 3 months here in Colorado. I also like to run low pressure, 30 PSI max, and with a tubed setup this is just not possible. The last time I tried I had three flats during a 90 minute ride. Of course this is using a true UST tubeless system. In my experience a conversion using Stans does not work this well. Tires always bleed down and or burp air at low pressures.

I need to go with a better sealant. I'm just cheap and get the Slime. But basically I have the same experience. UST wheels and UST tires and Im done. Never even give my tires a second thought. I also ride Mavic Crossmax wheels and love them. I have beaten them up pretty good for five years and never had to touch them. Hubs are still good too.

 

[tacollie]

I have not put any air in my tires in 2 weeks and the Stans has been in almost 3 months and is still good. I don't really pinch flat. I did the monarch crest with 25psi in my rear tire on a hardtail without a single flat in September. I would be interested in a sealant that doesn't ball up.

One thing I did forget to mention. When I get new tires I run a tube for about a week to help the tire take some shape. It makes installing Stans almost mindless.

Like I said I never tried UST because Stans has worked and I don't like building up UST rims.

 

[Corey]

I just saw in the new issue of Mountain Bike Action (was in my mailbox yesterday) about some tubes from Slime.
They come already with some green goo in them.

I think I am going to get a couple of them and run them after using my stock tubes for awhile.
And I will also carry spares of them too.

I am just not ready to go completely tubeless, as I have read around the Internet about Stans and other sealant coming out while the tire gets burped, then you have a major cleanup issue.
Looks to me like this might be a good way to go???

http://www.slime.com/product/91/Smart-Bike-Tubes-Presta-Valve.html

Self-Sealing Smart Bike Tubes with SLiME Inside!
All SLiME Smart Tubes are factory-filled with a precise volume of SLiME Tube Sealant. Smart Tubes instantly seek out and seal punctures as they occur, preventing flats, repeatedly and continuously for up to two years. Ride without worries.

One tube fits all for a Presta 26" tire.

 

[xcmountain80]

Corey those weigh a ton!

A

I just saw in the new issue of Mountain Bike Action (was in my mailbox yesterday) about some tubes from Slime.
They come already with some green goo in them.

I think I am going to get a couple of them and run them after using my stock tubes for awhile.
And I will also carry spares of them too.

I am just not ready to go completely tubeless, as I have read around the Internet about Stans and other sealant coming out while the tire gets burped, then you have a major cleanup issue.
Looks to me like this might be a good way to go???

http://www.slime.com/product/91/Smart-Bike-Tubes-Presta-Valve.html

One tube fits all for a Presta 26" tire.

 

[Corey]

Corey those weigh a ton!

A

Heavier than having the Stans liners on the wheels and the tires full of Stans liquid?

 

[Christophe Noel]

Slime tubes do have some heft to them, but for some applications, they're worth the weight. In less than two weeks I'll be racing a 24 hour race in a landscape filled with billions of cactus needles. I'm using slime tubes in large part because the risk of pinch flats on that course is minimal. Getting a pinch flat with slime tubes is a mess.

Unless you have serious flat (puncture, not pinch flat) problems don't use Slime tubes.

 

[xcmountain80]

Slime tubes do have some heft to them, but for some applications, they're worth the weight. In less than two weeks I'll be racing a 24 hour race in a landscape filled with billions of cactus needles. I'm using slime tubes in large part because the risk of pinch flats on that course is minimal. Getting a pinch flat with slime tubes is a mess.

Unless you have serious flat (puncture, not pinch flat) problems don't use Slime tubes.

Do you mean puncture flats? Pinch flats are a result of pressure applied and the ends of the area of pressure pop the ends out. If you were running low pressure and there were many roots or rock I would say pinch flats are probable, but cactus will land you a truck load of puncture flats. Just sayin!

Aaron