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Having eventually got the tyre off, and not able to ride for a couple of days going to get round to taping for tubeless.
Wtb i29 rims, do I need to tape the central channel first with with rim strip or electric tape then put tubeless tape in after, internet searches give differing opinions?
Also think I'm going to try an ardent 2.4 any views in how they ride both front and rear
I've always found WTB rims to be on the tight side, so I'd be trying to get them sealed with just one layer of tape first.
Ardent OK on the rear. Wouldn't want one up front.
WTB suggest going for tape that is 5mm wider than the rim width.
I run ardent 2.4s front and rear on my rigid bike, and ran a front on my XC bike. Fine for dry/not too wet weather, much better than the 2.25, which has a much lower profile tread.
Fine for dry/not too wet weather, much better than the 2.25, which has a much lower profile tread.
Ah right - was basing that on 2.25s.
I just use one layer centrally, overlapping at the valve. It can be tricky this time of year as the tape and rim will be cold. The last rim (i29) was about a month ago. First attempt didn't too well.
Bring them inside and stand the wheel next to a radiator, place the tape near the radiator to soften it a little. Leave it a couple of hours. I find once the tape can stretch a little is sits nicely into the rim. Once on, use a hairdryer to warm the tape and lightly rub the tape where there's not much tape/rim area contact. Be careful not to pierce the tape over the nipple holes.
Don't have any experience running ardents, but run other Maxxis tyres and have no problems setting them up.
Thanks so far. Wheel inside by radiator and u gave either 35mm tape, 6 mm wider or 25mm gorilla tape, think I'll try the gorilla first as the tyre was a nightmare to get off with just a rim strip in there with tube
Not wanting to sound too negative, but found Ardents to be awful tyres. Let's be real, a tyre needs to either be crazy fast and skiddy, or crazy grip and draggy. The Ardent somehow manages to be neither, and not even in the middle. Rekons are way way better
Ran an Ardent 2.4 on back of Tracer (DHF up front) for a year or so, just put it on the rear of Whyte 905 replacing a Rekon, felt alright to me, it rolled, it gripped, it slipped just like every other tyre. And now I've just found out it's meant to be rubbish 🤷♂️
Ta went up first time with a track pump, used a method I found on you tube of using a tyre lever to put half of tyre on each side on the bead first and went up super easy....just hope it's still inflated in the morning
Something to look out for is the Gorilla tape breaking down over time. I have a pair of i29s and didn’t take the tyres off the rims for about 18 months. When I tried to remove them I discovered that the Gorilla glue from the tape had reacted with the tyre beads on the Forekasters and they were impossible to remove in the normal way. I ended up having to slit the sidewalls and then use loads of glue removing solvent to get the beads off. Having eventually managed to clean all the Gorilla goo off the rims, I used Stan’s tape as a replacement. It’s nowhere near as easy or reliable to fit as Gorilla tape and I had various leaks at the first attempt, but I’ve never had the kind of bonding issues with Stan’s that afflicted the Gorilla taped rims. Probably be OK if you remove the tyres every few months and maybe replace the Gorilla tape fairly regularly.
I found Ardents fine. I quite like them. I did run front and rear for a while, but now usually rear only, but in spring and summer. I'd not keep them on during the winter personally.