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I'm trying to go tubeless on my Sons Rockhopper.

The rims are Stout XC.

The shop tried with the standard tyres, Specialised Ground Control, that had wired bead. They did not hold. Left for two days of Xmas in the shop and when the technician returned, they were flat.

I have just tried with a 2Bliss tyre. I put in a good amount of Stans, did all the necessary shaking etc.

I filled the sink with water to check for any air coming out.

No air was coming out of the bead/rim interface.

But air (or should I say Stans fluid) was coming out of the valve/rim interface.

I removed the tyre and inspected the inside of the rim and I can see that the tape is not cut very well around the valve hole.

There is a clear 1mm (maybe more) gap between the tape and the valve.





Some questions.

1. does that tape actually look like the correct tape? It does not look like the yellow stans tape.

2. Is the poorly cut tape likely to be the issue?

3. The valve I am using is a tubeless valve. I pushed down on it really hard when fitting it and screwed the fitting finger tight, as tight as I possible could. Did I do something wring?

Looks like the wrong tape, also you sure those are tubeless ready rims? dont look like the have much of a lip?
Metal beaded tryes have never seated in my experience.

Yeah, I also think it is the wrong tape.
I am not surprised the metal beaded tyres did not hold.

But the tyres I have just tried are 2Bliss ready, hence have a folding bead. They did appear to hold fine, no air or sealant was escaping from the bead. Only from the valve hole.

This is the lip

This is the hole without the valve. Tape is badly cut.



This is the valve, which defiantly looks like a tubeless valve



Maybe the shop got lazy and didn't bother to install the correct tape? The tape has writing on it which looks like factory thing?

A quick look at the picture and a quick google search says they are not tubeless ready http://specialized.desk.com/customer/po ... l-tubeless

Hmm, does that simply mean they are not UST rims though?

Like I say, the bead/rim interface was not leaking air.

I wonder if it is worth removing the tape, putting on some stans tape and seeing if the valve hole will become air tight?

Or do you think there will be more issued when riding the bike even if they are air tight?

The Stout XC SL are different to the Stout XC.

"Stout XC SL aluminium with 21mm inner width hookless 29” rims" are what are on the Crave. I think these are the 'new technology' that Specialized are using, i.e. the hookless rim.

The Stout XC are described as

"Stout XC 650b aluminium rims with 21mm inner width rims are trail ready"

Specialized 'hookless"

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/artic ... ook-40749/

No harm in trying i guess.

Yeah, I'm going to go to Grips and speak to the guys there. Get an opinion from them, I need some more Stans anyway, so its worth the trip.

Dont use the sealant until you have seated the tyre, once the tyre is seated then remove the core and add the sealant.

I used good quality electrical tape instead of the tubeless tape. I normally start before the valve seat and go around the wheel at least twice. Then just push a knife or something pointed through the valve hole and screw the tubeless valve in. Then as already stated above get the tyre to seat without any sealant in it first.

I've been out and got some better valves with a wider base and some Stans tape. I will be removing the green tape, which is not tubeless tape, it's not stuck down or anything. Pissed at the shop for attempting a tubeless setup with the wrong tape and valve.

Well, I think I have got it sorted, but just realised I have probably used the wrong width tape.
I removed the green tape pictured above, cleaned and dried the wheels and installed some Stans 21mm tape. The distance between the rims is 21mm, but I think the clue is in the picture above of the green tape with the writing, I think I needed 24mm tape. The 21mm tape did not fill the rim from wall to wall.

Nevertheless, I put the 21mm tape on, put the valve through, made it as hand tight as I possibly could, put the tyre on, chucked in some sealant and pumped them up. I did all the usual shaking and bouncing and laying flat on both sides. Filled the sink to inspect for air bubbles. Found non on the front wheel, found one spot on the rear that was making bubbles, so I reseated the tyre and the bubbles were gone. They have been holding 40psi for the last few hours, will check again in the morning. Fingers crossed they will still be holding air.

I'm not sure how important or not it is using the 21mm tape rather than 24mm?
I also did not drill the inner valve hole to 3/8ths as suggested on some instructions. But the valve stem shows no sign of leaking.