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I hate setting up tubeless wheels/tyres. It is truly one of my most hated tasks. I despise it.
But I like riding tubeless tyres, especially on my CX and XC bike.
I would like to get some new wheels for them that have the solid rim beds so I never have to deal with tape again, and just have to deal with the sweaty struggle of getting the tyres on.
Is there a list somewhere of who makes wheels like this? I'd be buying second hand as I have no £££s and will need to sell my current ones to afford it. So I want to set up some alerts on eBay. I thought UST was the correct term but it seems not - some UST wheels have rims with spoke holes.
If it helps both bikes are quire similar
Both are 700c/29ers, have QR 135 rear hubs and 15x100mm front hubs.
CX rims are 18mm internal and XC bike ones are 27mm though I'd maybe go down a little from that.
Think pretty much all Mavic wheels are like this, the downside is spoke replacement especially on older wheels where the threads have corroded/stuck, crumbled.
I order this as a no cost option on the lightbicycle rims I use. Takes a bit of time threading the nipples in but satisfying and I also enjoy the easy if swapping tyres without having to consider the tape
Mavic used to do rims like that, not sure if they still do, or you could order Lightbicycle carbon rims undrilled on the outside, I think - then have the joy of inserting all the nipples through the valve hole and working them round to the correct location.
Rim tape really isn’t such a struggle, neither is getting tyres on. Good prep, good technique and it’s there. I’ve just spent the last month building bikes and have been setting up 2 or 3 pairs of wheels a day tubeless. Comfortably less than 10 mins a pair.
If you want to make life foolproof in the short term - use Gorilla tape. Goes on in seconds, a bit thicker than Tesa, so seals nicely, but it’s a sod to remove and leaves residue that needs cleaning off before a retape.
use Gorilla tape. Goes on in seconds, a bit thicker than Tesa, so seals nicely, but it’s a sod to remove and leaves residue that needs cleaning off before a retape.
I used Gorilla tape once, and yeah - never again.
Look at Fulcrum 2 way fit wheels
They have a rim bed with no holes, if you need to replace a nipple they come with a steel threaded section which you thread into the nipple and a magnet which you then use to move the nipple into position
https://www.fulcrumwheels.com/en/technologies/road-bike-wheels-technologies/2-way-fit
When it comes to rim tape for tubeless on the mtb i prefer Specialized tubeless rim strips, no sticking the tape down and it lifting in places, easy to remove and cheap to replace if needed
Not sure if there is a road bike version
https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/14847/2019-2bliss-ready-rim-strip/
use Gorilla tape. Goes on in seconds, a bit thicker than Tesa, so seals nicely, but it’s a sod to remove and leaves residue that needs cleaning off before a retape.
If you warm the tape up with a hair dryer or heatgun it peels off without leaving any residue
Ended up buying a set of Fulcrum Red Metal 29 XL wheels off of eBay - just swapped the tyres over, easy-peasy!
They're lovely wheels - nicely made and 1750g. I think t
hey were quite pricey back in 2011, £1k or so. Guess that's a good thing about having a 135QR frame.
Might try and get a second set for my CX bike
So let me have it straight...
You are finding taping and tyres fitting a chore but you would be fine with fiddling with magnet to move little item within rather tight, enclosed space and once done you will still need to put tyre on?
Make perfect sense to me 😀
Cheers!
I.
Eh? I’ve never even thought about the rim tape when changing tubeless tyres (which I’ve done dozens of times).
Some tyre and rim combos make it tricky but I’ve never once thought it was because of the rim tape. Fit once and forget.
Gorilla is. Abrand not a tape.
If you use the clear gorilla tape you'll have much better results.
I have never had to change a spoke in my life
I have never had to change a spoke in my life
You've gone and done it now. I give you a month before one breaks on you
You’ve gone and done it now. I give you a month before one breaks on you
And it's a fulcrum so you'll have to wait weeks / months for a spare 😉
I've had rim tape fail on a road tubeless set up. Lots of head scratching to try and work out why the tyre wouldn't stay up.
I've also seen tyre beads stick to the edge of tape and lift it back when you break the seal. I really like the solid rim bed.
No amount of taping is worse than fixing a spoke in a hole-less rim. Remember that they're also all weaker for the same weight because they have more metal where they don't need it. Basically, there are good reasons it's an idea that's pretty much over and done with.
What makes more sense, is to get better at tape. On wide welded rims, frinstance, people still generally tape right to the edges and that's just wrong. Tape the middle, don't tape where the tyre sits, and as long as the wheel itself is airtight then you've got a perfect seal but also tape that's immune from being damaged by the tyre.