Tubeless questions and revelations

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Permalink Reply by J.D. Kimple on November 2, 2011 at 8:03am

Two more revelations: A) IF i do in fact burp a tire, I can swap tires in the pits and them my wife (who I dearly love but is not much of a mechanic) can just pump the offending tire back up to 35 psi and ALL IS GOOD. No tube swap, no nothing.

And B) Last weekend at least 3 times per lap I'd bottom out (curb, log). NOT ONE PROBLEM, THANK YOU NOTUBES. I cringe to think what that would have done to my regular clinchers. And I ran the pressure so low so I could get *some* bite in the wet, muddy swamp we called a race course. Kenda Kommando at 31psi under my 180 lb. butt worked fantastic in these conditions.

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Permalink Reply by cxchiva on November 3, 2011 at 5:18am

You gotta eventually change the sealant. Personally I have two sets of wheels and prep them several days before my first race. For the last 2 seasons the sealant was fine for the whole season. The colder the temps the longer your sealant will last. If you're burping in the rear you could stand a few more psi..3-4lbs might make the difference.

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Permalink Reply by J.D. Kimple on November 4, 2011 at 8:46pm

Yes, I did need a bit more air in the back but mostly I needed to build up the center channel a bit more. I added a Vittoria rim strip under the Stan's NoTubes valve/rimstrip (being a rubber-ish substance) and that helped seal the tire up so much better. A few more pounds of air, too, and I'm golden.

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Permalink Reply by Morgan Moore on November 3, 2011 at 10:05pm

Sorry if this is a total noob question: Am I correct that I can run tubeless (for CX) without buying special tires?

 

My understand of running tubeless for "road" use is that you can use a standard aluminum rim + NoTubes tape and sealant,

BUT according to the Stan's site:"unlike with mountain bike conversions, specific Road Tubeless tires are required for conversion.  They have been designed with a folding tire bead that will not stretch and cause catastrophic blowouts."

 

Based on this, do you need to use "tubeless" compatible CX tires along with the sealant/tape/existing rims?

 

Basically, I'm wondering if all I need to run NoTubes is:

My current tires: Vittoria Cross XG Pro

My current wheels: Fulcrum Racing 7

A NoTubes kit consisting of: Sealant/Rim Tape

 

If I can do the conversion and use my existing tires, and want to also occassionally run higher pressure (80-90lbs) for commuting, etc, is this amount of pressure "unsafe"?

 

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Permalink Reply by J.D. Kimple on November 4, 2011 at 8:42pm

Morgan;

Yes, in cross, you can run "normal" tires with a Stan's NoTubes conversion kit. I'm using the same Fulcrum Racing 7's.  The key is not to exceed 40psi, and only certain tires work, based on how tightly the bead sits on the rim. some tires won't work so well having a wire bead or low thread count casing. The Vittoria XG is a good tire for going tubeless so I think you're good to go.

Start here: http://www.cxmagazine.com/going-tubeless-cyclocross-racing-intro and follow it through all three parts. This is what really prompted me.

Now this setup isn't designed to work at 80-90psi so it's not quite the same as the road tubeless.

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