Patrick, No, you cannot convert any tire and rim combo to tubeless.
The gold standard for tubeless is UST which stands for Universal Standard for Tubeless: http://www.mavic.com/en/technology/rims/UST A UST rim and tire combo is guaranteed to work without a tube, and sealant is optional. I used them for MTB riding and racing for years and they are great for all the reasons that Jim M and Patrick in VT and others have said. Being able to run low pressures for increased comfort, traction, and speed while avoiding pinch flats is awesome for mountain biking. The disadvantages of UST include a limited selection of tires and heavier tire weight. Around 10 years ago Stan Koziatek of Stan's NoTubes started selling products including rims, rim strips, valve stems, and latex-based sealant that allowed use of normal tires without tubes. This approach quickly gained popularity among mountain bikers and racers up to the Olympic/World Cup level. Not every tire works well with Stan's rims, however. More info on Stan's: http://www.notubes.com/helpcenter.aspx Besides using official UST and Stan's products, people have successfully converted standard rims and tires to tubeless. This method is referred by some as "ghetto tubeless" and the main advantage is low cost. Here is an example involving home-made sealant and strapping tape for the rim strip: http://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/ghetto-tubeless-works-good-380262.html Nowadays several companies sell "tubeless-ready" MTB tires that are lighter than UST tires but have features designed to increase the likelihood of success when run tubeless with sealant: http://bontrager.com/technology/why_tubeless_ready Road Tubeless is a relatively new development and the selection of tubeless-compatible road tires is pretty limited. These tires typically have beads that are reinforced with carbon fiber so they don't blow off the rim when run at higher road pressures. Trying a ghetto tubeless conversion with a standard road tire is an extremely risky proposition. For 650B tubeless conversions, 42mm Hetres are relatively easy because at 40 PSI or so they are similar to MTB tires. 38mm Pari-Motos at higher pressures like 55 PSI would fall into a grey zone because few have attempted tubeless setups in that pressure range -- there is no good reason to run pressures that high on a mountain bike, and skinnier road bike tires typically require higher pressures. Getting to your questions: 1. Tubeless with 23mm road tires: If your wheels are 700C, the answer is yes, but you will have to buy a Road Tubeless tire, and use a Road Tubeless rim or a conversion kit from Stan's. If your wheels are 26" then you are probably out of luck. 2. Tubeless with wide SnoCat rims and 60mm+ Big Apple tires: Patrick, surely you recognize that you are the only person on the RBW email list who is using this rare combo, but let me Google that for you: http://letterfromaustralia.blogspot.com/2009/10/wicked-wheels.html This indicates that it is indeed possible to do a ghetto tubeless conversion of a SnoCat rim. Whether you can get Big Apples to work sans tubes probably only some trial and error on your part will resolve (tip: wear ear plugs when inflating the tire in case of blow-out). Good luck, David G, Madison WI On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 7:22 PM, PATRICK MOORE <bertin...@gmail.com> wrote: > I like the sound of the stuff. So, to repeat my earlier question: tell > me (y'all): can you convert any standard for-tube rim and tire combo > to tubeless with off the shelf kit? I'd be particularly interested in > converting 23 mm tires on narrow 19 mm outside width rims, and > aforementioned 60mm+ Big Apples on 44 mm SnoCat SLs. > > If "yes" to either, please point me to the appropriate product website. > > Thanks. > > On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 6:16 PM, Jim M. <mather...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Tuesday, May 22, 2012 4:57:28 PM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote: > >> > >> How low can you go with tubeless in 2" tires? I regularly go down to > >> 12 with my Big Apples -- have gone lower inadvertently -- with no > >> pinches or creep. > >> > > I go 10 to 15 psi lower with tubeless than tubed, so that should take you > > down to negative 3 psi. > > > > But seriously folks, ride quality, flat resistance, and traction are all > > better in my experience. 4 years of off-road riding with no flats makes > me > > wish that road tubeless would advance faster than it has. I've never run > > over a nail, but I've run over plenty of goatheads. The hole seals up > around > > the goathead and you can remove them at your leisure. No pinch flats. > There > > is much less sealant than with slime tubes. I've heard stories of riders > > hitting big bumps and having the tire burp out sealant, but that's never > > happened to me. With Stan's, most of the sealant stays liquid, so, in > answer > > to one question, you do not get a lump of congealed goo in the tire. It > > evaporates eventually, and then you add more sealant. With off-road use, > I > > wear out the tire long before dried sealant adds significant weight. If > you > > bash your way through rock gardens and put a big tear in the sidewall, > > Stan's won't seal, but if I'm going through terrain like that, I carry a > > spare tube and a boot. > > > > jim m > > wc ca > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. 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