Tuesday, June 29, 2010

First tubeless attempt.

Background. I dont like nasty solvents. I have had very good luck running tubes weighing anywhere between 90 and 150g, at low psi with very few punctures and i dont live in an area with many thorns. However, the Vertigo is encouraging me to hit nasty, rocky trails harder: It is inevitable that i am going to puncture more. Meantime i've been using thick 26" tubes, with minimal problems, but they arent light and the feel of the tyre changes. So, out of curiosity and with the growing knowledge base and experience with Effetto Mariposa Cafe Latex, i decided to set sale for tubeless paradise.

Before starting, i did a fair chunk of interweb researching (a.k.a swimming through bullshit) and decided on a hybridised system....

First i drilled out the flow rim inner valve hole to 9.5mm. Then wrapped the rim in red 25mm effetto tape: installed the tyre and left it for an hour at 40psi. As you will no doubt imagine, it still had some bubbles under the tape when i removed the tyre and tube, but, like, whateva....



Next i added a stans flow strip (thanks just riding along!) and neatened it up....popped the tyre on, which inflated easily with my track pump. So, i deflated it, and whapped the circumference a la stans instructional video.

After spilling sealant all over the place i worked out the Effetto injector isnt valved, so got most of the rest of it - with about 5mm of pvc sheet filed into dust - into the tyre. The pvc dust should act as a clotting agent to allow the liquid to seal holes larger than pin pricks. With precisely 5% more than zero effort, i inflated it to 40 psi.

Initially there was a few hisses, but a lot less than i expected. With some funk on the stereo, i wobbled it around a la stans video again, turned it over, wiped with water and....

...... nothing - no hisses, no bubbling. So now i leave it on its side for a bit and maybe turn it over and see how we go eh?

I may need more sealant. I may need more pvc dust. Time will tell. More later.

9 comments:

dhlwilson said...

nice one Jon, we'll see how you get on. Just finished hooking myself up with tubeless wheels. I went for my original rims 729's with the notubes rim strip, 2 measures of notubes sealant poured in (not through the valve) and topped it off with a High Roller and Crossmark LUST. Both inflated fine with my trackpump and have remained so. Time to hit some trails...

Anonymous said...

Only just got round to tubeless?

I've moved on.

I'm riding less - it's the new slack.

johnvcm said...

why don't you fire more air in the tyre.

10 per cent more than max.

Should push the sealant into the little holes

dRjON said...

now john. is there a wee cheeky grin behind that comment?
:-)~

ridden for 6 hours+ now. no issues. better do the rear...

johnvcm said...

Who me. never soo offended :o

If it works,then it works

Keep them wheels turnin.

Off to capital city today for the nocture. Not sure if i'm lookin forward the victora street climb. It will be fun, it will be fun

Hope those gears aren't warping your mind

Beerorkid said...

Been thinking of looking into tubeless. Interested to hear about your experiences with it.

Finally found your blog. Was a bit difficult because our local porn shops are called Dr. Johns ;)

dRjON said...

ha!

stay tuned for a report from a race tomorrow - 10 hours of sharp rocks and tech...should be a significant test of the effetto and maxxis crossmark sidewalls!

davechopoptions said...

Good luck with the rock/Crossmark interactions!

Oh - and 10@K!

dRjON said...

needless to say, 10 at k tree ended the cross marks life with a sidewall gash... :-/~