Converting to tubless

**Cocximus** · 10-27-2015, 05:24 PM

Any good ways to CHEAPLY convert old road bike to tubeless?
I am thinking electrical tape, cut up tube for valve steam and that green slime sealant?

**DasBlunt** · 10-27-2015, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by daught

Any good ways to CHEAPLY convert old road bike to tubeless?
I am thinking electrical tape, cut up tube for valve steam and that green slime sealant?

Electrical tape won't work, the sealant will work its way under the tape because of the thickness. There are options made cheaply, but you need a degree in 3M products to know the right one to order, i don't.

Tires are made differently.

Air Compressor experimentation could lead to something good. Don't use anything green....make sure to use OrangeSeal, not toxic washes off, cheapish etc....

The tubeless valve stems have some sort of rubber piece on the inside of the rim, not sure that will be easy to rig...but anything can be done to plastic with a dremel and a torch.

keep us posted. i hate dealing with tubes now.

WestCoastPDR · 10-27-2015, 05:39 PM

Gorilla tape

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**Swine** · 10-27-2015, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by DasBlunt

Electrical tape won't work, the sealant will work its way under the tape because of the thickness. There are options made cheaply, but you need a degree in 3M products to know the right one to order, i don't.

Tires are made differently.

Air Compressor experimentation could lead to something good. Don't use anything green....make sure to use OrangeSeal, not toxic washes off, cheapish etc....

The tubeless valve stems have some sort of rubber piece on the inside of the rim, not sure that will be easy to rig...but anything can be done to plastic with a dremel and a torch.

keep us posted. i hate dealing with tubes now.

I haven't done road tires and I do split tube ghetto on mountain but I've heard of peeps using 3M 8896 Blue Strapping tape. Not sure that will hold with road pressures though.

I make home brew sealant. It's basically Slime with 100% latex caulk and water added (to desired thickness). Don't see why that wouldn't work on road tires....

**DasBlunt** · 10-27-2015, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by Swine

I haven't done road tires and I do split tube ghetto on mountain but I've heard of peeps using 3M 8896 Blue Strapping tape. Not sure that will hold with road pressures though.

I make home brew sealant. It's basically Slime with 100% latex caulk and water added (to desired thickness). Don't see why that wouldn't work on road tires....

sweet. Stan's smells strange. I have just used orange.

**toast2266** · 10-27-2015, 05:46 PM

stand up showers. all the rage these days.

**Cocximus** · 10-27-2015, 06:12 PM

Good stuff. Grabbing some gorilla tape and will start experimenting.

I have really bad luck patching tubes. It's become a massive pet peeve. I tent to fuck em up all the time too, I ride the road bike very aggressively.

**joetron** · 10-27-2015, 07:32 PM

Experiment with rear wheel first.

Honestly, I think it's a super sketchy idea. Mtn tubeless conversions are one thing, because the tires and casings are more robust and the psi are lower. Building up a lip with gorilla tape for non tubeless road tires and expecting it to stay on at pressures above 70 psi is kuh-ray-zay. Even a road tubeless tire on a converted rim sounds scary.

I've had 1 mtb UST tire blow of the rim during setup at around 60psi. It sucks.

I just set up my first cx tubeless wheel set. Lower volume tires get kinda sporty with the compressor blasts.

Good luck if you go ahead with it. Let us know how it goes.

**plugboots** · 10-27-2015, 08:23 PM

Is stan's goo and a couple of their stems that expensive? The tape you want is that yellow plastic stuff that's tough to stretch. Go to stan's website and he has great videos on how to do it.

Btw, gotta be a Hutchinson fusion3 or some Maxxis Padrona, (I ride fusion).

**Cocximus** · 10-28-2015, 07:57 AM

Hmmm truth is by the time I get all the scabby materials together it will be $30, and it might now work. I expected a stan's kit to be over $100 being in canada. If I can find it for $60 il do it right on the road bike and maybe experiment on my shitty commuter. It is crucial I am not late for school in the next three months.

**VTskibum** · 10-28-2015, 08:39 AM

Completely agree with Flowtron on road conversions being SKETCHY!

I've been playing around with CX bikes converted tubeless (max 30psi on 33's) and even there have had a burp or two. More than doubling that PSI with even smaller tires is a recipe for disaster IMO. I wouldn't do it without tubeless specific road rims and tires.

I've gone through the gambit of tubeless conversions for MTB and some CX; ghetto tube split, 3M strapping tape, stan's conversion kit (currently running on one road/CX wheelset as described), and now real tubeless ready rims/tires (CX and many MTB setups).

**Eluder** · 10-28-2015, 08:50 AM

The stans tape is strapping tape. Closest thing I have found from 3M is this 3M 8898. Its available in different widths, I use 24mm on the mountain bike but they make 18mm which I would think would work on a road rim. Its stretches slightly more than the what Stans uses, this can be good and bad. It conforms nicely but you can over stretch it which makes more vulnerable to tire lever damage, though maybe its just my tire levers. I have started to wrap twice because of this. As stated gorilla tape works as well and makes the bead tighter because of its thickness, but it does leave a residue.

I think this is what stans is repackaging Tesa 4289. Its 150 micrometers thick apposed to 116.84 micrometers of the 8898 3M tape. This would explain the extra stretching. Seams harder to source cheaply though.

**farmguy** · 10-28-2015, 09:08 AM

I have done mountain and CX and even doing a CX setup was a failure until just this year. Tubeless specific rims and tires was the only way I have found it too work. On a road setup, if you ride aggressively as you say, for a backup get some gauze and med tape as you might need it when you roll a tire. Tubeless tires have very supple sidewalls allow flex as well as a hell of a bead to hook onto the rim. A better option might be taking time to learn to patch tubes, remember, even with a tubeless setup you need to carry a tube for backup.

**D(C)** · 10-28-2015, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by toast2266

stand up showers. all the rage these days.

+1

**plugboots** · 10-28-2015, 11:04 AM

Farmguy's right. I can fix a flat pretty quick. Use CO2 cartridges if you haven't yet.

**Cocximus** · 10-28-2015, 03:22 PM

Sounds like tubeless is not necessarily more reliable. Dunno why but I can never get patched tubes to seal properly. Maybe because I am rushing. I should have two tubes and rotate between them to allow the glue to properly cure.

Or the sealants are shit?

**joetron** · 10-28-2015, 04:04 PM

For reliable, flat free urban riding, I've had great luck with sealants. Tru Goo is the shit, but kind of hard to find outside of Colorado. Nice puncture resistant tires are good too.

For patches, make sure you let the glue dry up a bit on the tube before applying patch. I've had good luck with glueles/instant patches as well.

**Montana Rider** · 10-28-2015, 11:10 PM

Originally Posted by daught

Hmmm truth is by the time I get all the scabby materials together it will be $30, and it might now work. I expected a stan's kit to be over $100 being in canada. If I can find it for $60 il do it right on the road bike and maybe experiment on my shitty commuter. It is crucial I am not late for school in the next three months.

If the ultimate goal is no flats for cheap, then Slime tubes and Tuffy tube protectors would work

**jamal** · 10-28-2015, 11:26 PM

When I get a flat I throw out the tube and get a new one. Patch kit is nice when you run out of tubes on a ride but I don't consider them a permanent fix.

What size tires and pressure? Maybe a change in that department would help, I have a set of 28mm maxxis refuses I throw on for spring and fall and rides that aren't all pavement. They don't roll anywhere as nice as a GP4k but stand up to serious abuse. I used one as a rear tire on my cross bike for awhile and the only flat was a huge deck screw.

**Flyoverland Captive** · 10-28-2015, 11:33 PM

Thousands and thousands of miles on my roadie using Continental Gatorskins, and yet to get a flat. What the hell kind of roads are you peeps riding on?

**Hicks** · 11-10-2015, 05:30 AM

Despite having successfully converted several not dedicated tyre-rims combos into tubeless on the MTB I wouldn't run that risk on a roadie at pressures 4x as high for the reasons already mentioned before. The beards on a tubeless roadie tyre are enforced and dedicated rim designs adapt to that for very tight fit - a necessity at 100-120 psi.

Regular roadie tyres generally have a sloppier fit and are a lot easier to get on the rim, a bonus when in need of inserting a tube en route. When receiving a somewhat bigger cut the sealant won't work and you have to insert a patch along with a tube, this is when the tight tubeless tyre fit can become a bitch for pulling off and on. During trials for a bike magazine testers hitting corners experienced sudden deflation and needed a CO2 cartridge or compressor to reinflate when not wanting to insert a tube. Weight wise even the currently lightest tubeless tyres don't beat a good regular one with a 70g tube and rolling resistance was no better either. The industry is pushing for improvements here though.

Speaking of sealant: on tubulars I found neither Stans or regular Tufo to permanently seal at pressures at and above 6 bar (80 psi), no matter how small the puncture was. Only Tufo Extreme got that accomplished for me so far but this is no sealant you can fill in preventively but only upon incident.

BTW for 100g tube repairs I am using http://www.rematiptop.com/parts.php?sid=1 with perfect results at high pressure, currently trying on a 70g one with pending outcome.

Tubeless makes perfect sense for MTB or CX tyres but with what's available until now I fail to see true benefit on a roadie. OP good luck if you continue to experiment, please post a selfie after you crashed.