Can any bike wheel be converted to TUBELESS?

[vash]

I’m running Gatorskins. I assume they are not tubeless ready. Nowhere on the tire states it. I’ll need a new tire right?

The rim? I just need that tape kit?

Gasoline has breached my personal threshold. Time to bike commute.

I flat way too often on my rides to/from work. Totally over it. Plus changing a tire mid homeless encampment is not gonna happen.

This is today’s project once I get back from mtn biking.

[look 171]

Cliff, try these things. Cheap enough if they don't work out instead of spending a bunch of money on tubeless tires and rims or wheels.

Way back when I was riding a lot, these were installed and never has a flat. But they are pretty heavy and it was definitely felt but these were very light wheels

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Tuffy-Bicycle-Yellow-1-5-1-9/dp/B001J8GRIG/ref=asc_df_B001J8GRIG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312094794167&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11201324575615006894&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030984&hvtargid=pla-570079683265&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=63784736042&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312094794167&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11201324575615006894&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030984&hvtargid=pla-570079683265

[mepstein]

Mt bike wheels are easy to convert but road bike wheels can be finicky. Not every wheel will work with the higher pressure that road tires require. Best bet is to google your rim and see what the net says about going tubeless.
Complete wheelsets are going for cheap enough these days that it might pay to get a tubeless specific set or ask your LBS what they suggest.

Make sure you aren't pinch flatting. Tubeless will almost eliminate pinch flats but so will proper air pressure. Also check the age of your tires, more than a couple years and they get hard and flat prone. Lastly, check your tires for imbedded wires and glass.

[snbush67]

Most can but at cost. I run tubeless and they are awesome. Ive had some pretty big holes that plug up with sealant easily.

If you have an inner width of 19mm or less you could consider the solid tires. They come with a little bit of weight penalty but your never gonna flat.


Solid Bicycle Tires:

https://tannusamerica.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxsaDmuzQ4QIV-B-tBh1OBgXtEAAYASAAEgJUdfD_BwE

Stans No Tubes:

https://www.notubes.com/shop/tubeless/rim-strips-kits/tubesless-kits

[LWJ]

I have tubeless on a 29er. Killer. Beefy tires, no tubes = same weight as light tires with tubes and no flats.

[greglepore]

Well, maybe. But...my experience with road tubeless on group rides (I don't ride it myself at road pressures but do on mtb and gravel bikes) is that it works 50% of the time, the other 50% leaves you with a bike sprayed with sealant and a mess to deal with to fix the flat-you have to insert a tube then. I don't think the sealants work as well north of 60 psi.

[David]

I've run road tubeless for several years and it's my belief, but not tested, that any wheel can run tubeless with proper rim tape. I base this on the fact that tubeless tires are b!tch to install and remove. I'm currently running American Classic Argent wheels and I'm going to change wheels this week because I cannot get tires off the AC wheels unless I have two good sized screw drivers to pry the tire bead off the the wheel bead lock.

I'm changing the Bontrager Paradigm Elite wheels because they don't have bead lips and are still relatively wide with an internal width of 19.5mm.

I put the sealing rate closer to 75%. The only time a puncture hasn't sealed for me is when it's a tear. The pressure may drop to 30-40 psi before it seals but that's still rideable.

[David]

A few more tubeless comments:

Getting tubeless on and off the rim is not much different than tube type. The big difference is how hard it is to inflate/seat the tire and how hard it is to break the bead loose (not get off the rim but actually break loose from the bead like a motorcycle or car tire.) Some tires and rims are easy and some are not. I think the day of the week and moon phase have an affect too.

You can run much less pressure with the same performance. I run 75 psi on 28c tires and I'm switching back to 25c and going to try even lower pressure. I've talked to other riders who have run 40 psi in the 28c. When coasting in a group, even with low pressure, I'm regularly rolling freer than those around me and I have a pretty large frontal area.

If you do get a puncture and it's not a catastrophic failure (meaning your fighting to not crash or trying to figure out which tire let go so you can grab the brake of the other wheel to stop), keep riding until the leak stops! If you stop you're sure to loose all your air but if you keep moving it's have a chance to seal at whatever pressure it can hold. I've had leaks I didn't hear but had the rider behind me say my tire is spraying their face

[jyl]

Alexandar Kristhoff ran tubeless tires in Paris-Roubaix. He and his team had been running tubeless in previous races this year, and tested them in recon rides on the P-R cobbles. In the actual race, they were a disaster. He said in a post-race interview that during the heat of the race, he wasn't able to anticipate and avoid the big cobble hits. So he flatted his tubeless tires twice and that was his race done.

I don't understand the advantage of road tubeless over tubular. Both can be run at lower pressures. Both can be loaded with sealant. Tubular rims are a little lighter. If repair is needed, you can rip off a tubular and install a pre-glued spare tubular in a minute, and not be dealing with tire levers or sealant.

The advantage of road tubeless over tubes seems clearer.

So, here's a question. Suppose you drill a second valve hole in your rim, and install a lightweight latex tube in your tubeless tire, but leave the tube uninflated. Then if your tubeless tire flats badly enough that it won't seal, you can inflate the tube without having to remove the tire and deal with all the leaking sealant.

[jyl]

vash/cliff, replace your tires. When I start getting flats, that's usually a sign the tire is old and thin, and will start flatting more often. So, usually, third flat -> new tire.

You could also try getting tubes with removable cores and running sealant in them.

[David]

Good point on tubulars. I ran tubulars for years in my youth in the 80’s. They rarely flatted and tire changes were quick since you didn’t glue them out on the road but just relied on the pressure to keep them on. I recall some group rides in Austin that hit gravel roads where tubulars where almost mandatory.

I don’t know why I haven’t used them since back then. I can certainly afford them easier now than I could as a student back then, but they just seem less common.

[Speed metal]

I also believe any rim can run tubeless. Gorilla tape is superior to the most of the "legit" tubeless tapes. I run tubeless on all my MTBs on a variety of rims. All G tape. Get stans/no flats fluid and roll flat free. Ive also had mighty punctures/cuts seal while rolling. Tubes are bull****.

[mepstein]

Some road rims won't hold the tire at 80-100 where the same style rim can easily hold a mt bike tire at 25psi. You probably won't ride tubulars/sewups now because the gluing is a pita for normal riding. Riding an uninflated tube in a tubeless tire would be a mess. Mr tuffys and solid tires ride like crap.

I used to ride 1000 miles a month and had very few flats. Decent tires, proper inflation, check for glass and wire lodged in the rubber, don't try to get the last K out of the tire, ect. Cyclepro sponsored our team for a while and you could ride the kevlar belted tires down to the casing.