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CX Tubeless setup thread

121K views 408 replies 149 participants last post by  Joe_Re 
#1 ·
What works and what doesn't in terms of tubeless setup, tire/rim combo, rim strip, tape etc.

So far I've used Hutchinson Piranha UST 34C on Stan's NoTubes Crest rims w/ yellow tape and Stan's goop and worked flawlessly over last season, with pressure down to 40psi.

Got a set of Raven's 35C, again tubeless ready, so I have no doubt they'll work ok, but selection of Tubeless ready tires pretty much ends there.

I plan to experiment with Kenda Kwick 32C and 34C and see how ti goes.

Anybody else playing with tubeless with good results?
ZT
 
#182 ·
Thought I would pass on my experience. I have had great success using Bontrager TLR rim strips mounted in Volocity A23's with numerous tires, both wire bead and folding. The strips fit perfectly and provide a generous "shelf" for the tire to seat on and the bead locks firmly into the strip. I have never had a burp or bead pop off with pressures between 25 to 40 psi(I'm 185). The TLR strips are much more durable than any tape. I'm currently building a set of HED Belgium's that will use the same system.
 
#186 ·
One of my coworkers had a Specialized Terr Pro 2Bliss blow off of his Alpha 400 at 75 psi. Straight line, on smooth asphalt.
I gave him a hard time for running such high pressures. I just don't get it. He's at 65 now with good results.
I don't think over 60 psi really helps much with rolling resistance.

Los
 
#189 ·
Anyone try the Rocket Ron's going tubeless ?
From my understanding neither the Rocket Ron or Racing Ralph are actually TLR?
We are debating these at my bike shop as my next tires on crest 29er rims. I can't get much larger than a 35/1.3 on this Bad Boy I have and from what we could tell only TLR is in 2.1 or larger?

Hutchinson was also an option but apparently they do not like the Crest Rims.
 
#200 ·
#191 ·
My Giant CX bike came with tubeless ready rims (made by DT Swiss for Giant) and tubeless ready tires (Shwalbe for giant, 35mm).

They are great. No issues so far with 4 races this year and lots of practices in thorn infested areas. Thorns no problem as long as the Stans is topped off.

Too bad the whole setup is all proprietary to Giant. I think it's worth considering a Giant bike just to have this setup.
 
#197 ·
My Giant CX bike came with tubeless ready rims (made by DT Swiss for Giant) and tubeless ready tires (Shwalbe for giant, 35mm).

They are great. No issues so far with 4 races this year and lots of practices in thorn infested areas. Thorns no problem as long as the Stans is topped off.

Too bad the whole setup is all proprietary to Giant. I think it's worth considering a Giant bike just to have this setup.
you should be able to order just the wheelset through a giant dealer. my teammate had to buy a new one after he ran over his front wheel.
 
#192 ·
As an update, I've run both MXP and PDX setup tubeless on a stans crest (front) and stans 355 (rear) with good luck. Part of this may be due to the wide rims? I started out the season with MXP front/rear but have changed to PDX front (for more bite), MXP rear. I'm ~180 pounds and run 36-38psi front, 40-42psi rear, at these pressures I've avoided burp issues and could probably go slightly lower.
 
#193 ·
Changed my tubeless setup last week. Was running Vittoria XG pro TNT on stan's rims(iron cross rear and 355 front). I had no problems using them for the Iron Cross race and doing two traditional CX race. I just didn't like the feel/performance of the Vittoria's.

I decided to try the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs again. I ordered a roll of 8988 tape and went to town. I used 5 layers of tape on both rims and put the RR on the rims. The fit was tighter than before and I was able to use a floor pump to inflate and get them to seat. Both tires snapped on with a reassuring pop.

They lost most air sitting during the week but held air for the first ride that I did on them. The next day I had a race and ran them at 30 psi front and 34 rear. I think I was a little soft in the front and may have folded over the front tire in a corner which caused me to crash. The great thing was that there were no burps during the race and since then the tires have not lost any air.

I'm going to increase the front pressure up to 32 and leave the rear as is.
 
#198 ·
I am trying to run some tubeless singlespeed wheels. Having a hard time finding a good pair to work with though. anyone have any experience with ss tubeless setups?
also I am interested in doing it as reasonably as possible. it seems the beginning posts are from a few years ago. How has tubeless improved over the years?
 
#210 ·
Checking back into thread w/ feedback on a few setups

I'm checking back in with some of my recent setup experience, here goes:

1. Clement X'PLOR MSO 40mm wide on 1st gen Stan's Alpha 340 rims, w/ just one layer of Stan's yellow tape: not good, blew off rim above 45 psi, and felt like it would burp below that. Did not want to spend the time fussing w/ extra tape, etc. I just want a tire that works out of the box w/ these 340 rims.

2. Clement X'PLOR MSO 40mm wide on 1st gen Stan's Arch rim front, one layer of gorilla tape, Bonty 29er rim (not sure what flavor) rear with Stan's rubber strip: pretty bomber, raced 3 hard dry condition races around 40 psi, with no drama, I'd ride/race this blew off rim above 45 psi, and felt like it would burp below that. Not the lightest setup for cross racing, but moto. These tires hook up real good on dry/dusty corners.

3. Vittoria Cross XG Pro TNT 32mm on 1st gen Stan's Alpha 340 rims, w/ just one layer of Stan's yellow tape; ridden one hard practice session at 40psi front, 42psi rear and I'm happy. Tire was quite hard to get on, but held air for 2+ days WITHOUT any sealant added. I'd never seen that before (I've never dabbled w/ any UST specific MTB tires though). I added 1 scoop of Stan's to each tire and I'm gonna race these wheels over the next few weekends at some NorCal CX races.

Conclusion so far: I really just wanted a plug & play tire for these 1st gen Alpha 340 rims & so far I'm happy w/ these Vittoria Cross XG Pro TNT tires (and they were on sale at Nasbar for $30 recently, which is way cheaper than good tubulars).
 
#211 ·
I'm checking back in with some of my recent setup experience, here goes:

1. Clement X'PLOR MSO 40mm wide on 1st gen Stan's Alpha 340 rims, w/ just one layer of Stan's yellow tape: not good, blew off rim above 45 psi, and felt like it would burp below that. Did not want to spend the time fussing w/ extra tape, etc. I just want a tire that works out of the box w/ these 340 rims.

2. Clement X'PLOR MSO 40mm wide on 1st gen Stan's Arch rim front, one layer of gorilla tape, Bonty 29er rim (not sure what flavor) rear with Stan's rubber strip: pretty bomber, raced 3 hard dry condition races around 40 psi, with no drama, I'd ride/race this blew off rim above 45 psi, and felt like it would burp below that. Not the lightest setup for cross racing, but moto. These tires hook up real good on dry/dusty corners.

3. Vittoria Cross XG Pro TNT 32mm on 1st gen Stan's Alpha 340 rims, w/ just one layer of Stan's yellow tape; ridden one hard practice session at 40psi front, 42psi rear and I'm happy. Tire was quite hard to get on, but held air for 2+ days WITHOUT any sealant added. I'd never seen that before (I've never dabbled w/ any UST specific MTB tires though). I added 1 scoop of Stan's to each tire and I'm gonna race these wheels over the next few weekends at some NorCal CX races.

Conclusion so far: I really just wanted a plug & play tire for these 1st gen Alpha 340 rims & so far I'm happy w/ these Vittoria Cross XG Pro TNT tires (and they were on sale at Nasbar for $30 recently, which is way cheaper than good tubulars).
What is your weight that you are running 40psi +?
 
#213 ·
We've had a lot of success with the Vittoria TNT set up on tubeless specific road rims. For tubeless road/cross it seems that the fit of the tire needs to be a little tighter than your standard clincher set up.
i.e. - Vittoria TNT tires have a slightly smaller diameter than standard clinchers and/or, Stan's Iron Cross rims have a slightly larger diameter than normal 700c rims so that you can run non tubeless tires tubelessly.
 
#214 ·
I haven't tried to set up my Kenda Kommando 35mm tires tubeless yet, but I think it is noteworthy that the 35mm Kommando is dwarfed by the much more voluminous "33mm" Clement MXP. I want big and cushy and would not waste your money on the undersized Kommando. Also saw the Giant-propriety not for aftermarket 35mm tubeless Schwalbe Super Swans mounted tubeless on a friend's bike. They looked girthy and great and he said they worked great tubeless.
 
#215 ·
I ran the CinderX 35c on Stans Crest-rear end at the CX race yesterday.

I tried to run it at 35 psi, which felt really great on the warm up. Somewhere around lap 2 or 3 I started feeling the tire bottom out-must of burped, was down to 20 psi at the end of the race, fortunately it was one huge sand trap so I don't think I did any damage to the rim.

What PSI are you guys running???

I weigh 195 and I'm riding a mountain bike.
 
#216 ·
Just to list a success so far. Stans Ravens CX on Iron Cross @ 32F 35R I am 175 bare. Two races on hard pack and several practices on same. I've mounted Mud 2s on these rims for a single practice session - was fine including one unseen trench where I thought I'd broken the fork.

If/when the mud comes here to Norcal I'll try the Mud 2s again. Was trying to get Captain 2bliss - but they don't make the CX version anymore.
 
#217 ·
A general question about running non tubeless tires tubeless. How are they at high speed descents? I'm a bit leery of hitting 40+ mph on a tire not designed to be run tubeless. Anyone have experience using a non tubeless tire for a gravel grinder or fire road riding in the mountains? Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
#218 · (Edited)
I've been running non-tubeless tires on some Stans rims for a bit over a year now on my cross bike. I've hit 35-40 quite a few times on pavement and no issues. I think the first few rides after converting (had run the tires w/ tubes before) I was a little tentative with higher speeds, hard cornering, etc. Once I realized the tires weren't going to blow out or fall off the rim, I don't even think about them now. I did see my top speeds on one short steep descent actually rose about 1-2 MPH with the same tires tubeless vs. tubed. And I am running about 5psi less w/o tubes than I was with tubes. The tires were a pretty tight fit on the rims, I didn't have to use any extra layers of tape over what came on the rims.
 
#219 ·
I had a non tubeless Conti 35 tear off my front rim once (stans alpha) coming through a tight turn on pavement. Luckily I was moving pretty slowly or things would've gone horribly wrong. If I do run a non tubeless tire without tubes again I will probably keep to the smaller side and look for the beefiest/tightest bead I can find.

Think this would be less of a concern on gravel because there is less grip to tear the tire off with.
 
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