Fogerson
Former Resident Nerd
Hello all,
There has been talk of trying the 29er Continental Mountain Kings in a tubeless configuration. There are places on the 'net that say they'll work tubeless just fine, but somebody in MTBNJ-land has to be the guinea pig. I guess that is me.
I'm heading out of town for a few days so I thought now would be a good time to make 'em tubeless. Don't have to worry about a ride tomorrow if something doesn't work and I'll be able to see how well they hold air over the four days I'm gone.
I have C29SSMAX wheels and 2.4 Mtn Kings. The mechanics to convert these things to tubeless is pretty straight forward: remove the tube, install the Mavic tubeless stem, throw in some Stans and air it up.
The bead on these things is very tight, so the biggest bitch was getting the tube out. Everything else is easy-peesy. I put in a cup-and-a-half of Stans (about 3 oz). I used to put 2 oz in my 26er USTs, so I thought I'd throw in more than that with the 29er 2.4s; 3 oz was arbitrary.
As with many tubeless applications a floor pump wasn't enough to get the bead to seat, so out to the garage and my trusty compressor I went. Absolutely no issue getting the bead to pop into place.
The rear tire was completely uneventful. I sloshed the Stans around and it appeared that everything sealed up very nicely.
The front is a different story, however. There were three pin-hole leaks in the side of the tire...all within a few inches of each other. Dunno' if it is ride damage or that way from the factory. At any rate, I sloshed the Stans to there and the leaks stopped. So far so good....
After dinner, I became too impatient D), so I decided to fill the tub in the basement's bathroom and see how they were doing...
The phrase "not great", comes to mind.
Both wheels had a lot of leakage from the bead area (especially the front). There was also a fair amount of "micro-bubbles" coming from many "micro-holes" in the side walls :hmmm:
So I decided to pop the beads, clean them, and apply an extra-liberal amount of soapy water. I also added more Stans to the rear as I managed to spill a little...
After re-seating, I took each one back to the tub. The beads now seemed pretty good. For the "micro-holes", I engaged in an effort of targeted Stans sloshing. I think I got most of 'em. Set both at 40 psi and now we'll see what happens.
As far as the beads, I fear that I didn't use enough soapy water the first time to let them seat well. I was pretty stingy w/it, to be honest. After all, with my old 819/Panaracer XC Fire USTs, I barely used any (if at all).
I also figure that had I ridden the bike around a bit, I wouldn't of had to do the "targeted sloshing". It probably would've taken care of itself.
That is it for this installment. When I get home on Thursday, I'll see how well they held air and report out. If all is well, I'll probably run 'em at 35 psi, then drop to 30 psi this weekend.
Stay tuned...
There has been talk of trying the 29er Continental Mountain Kings in a tubeless configuration. There are places on the 'net that say they'll work tubeless just fine, but somebody in MTBNJ-land has to be the guinea pig. I guess that is me.
I'm heading out of town for a few days so I thought now would be a good time to make 'em tubeless. Don't have to worry about a ride tomorrow if something doesn't work and I'll be able to see how well they hold air over the four days I'm gone.
I have C29SSMAX wheels and 2.4 Mtn Kings. The mechanics to convert these things to tubeless is pretty straight forward: remove the tube, install the Mavic tubeless stem, throw in some Stans and air it up.
The bead on these things is very tight, so the biggest bitch was getting the tube out. Everything else is easy-peesy. I put in a cup-and-a-half of Stans (about 3 oz). I used to put 2 oz in my 26er USTs, so I thought I'd throw in more than that with the 29er 2.4s; 3 oz was arbitrary.
As with many tubeless applications a floor pump wasn't enough to get the bead to seat, so out to the garage and my trusty compressor I went. Absolutely no issue getting the bead to pop into place.
The rear tire was completely uneventful. I sloshed the Stans around and it appeared that everything sealed up very nicely.
The front is a different story, however. There were three pin-hole leaks in the side of the tire...all within a few inches of each other. Dunno' if it is ride damage or that way from the factory. At any rate, I sloshed the Stans to there and the leaks stopped. So far so good....
After dinner, I became too impatient D), so I decided to fill the tub in the basement's bathroom and see how they were doing...
The phrase "not great", comes to mind.
Both wheels had a lot of leakage from the bead area (especially the front). There was also a fair amount of "micro-bubbles" coming from many "micro-holes" in the side walls :hmmm:
So I decided to pop the beads, clean them, and apply an extra-liberal amount of soapy water. I also added more Stans to the rear as I managed to spill a little...
After re-seating, I took each one back to the tub. The beads now seemed pretty good. For the "micro-holes", I engaged in an effort of targeted Stans sloshing. I think I got most of 'em. Set both at 40 psi and now we'll see what happens.
As far as the beads, I fear that I didn't use enough soapy water the first time to let them seat well. I was pretty stingy w/it, to be honest. After all, with my old 819/Panaracer XC Fire USTs, I barely used any (if at all).
I also figure that had I ridden the bike around a bit, I wouldn't of had to do the "targeted sloshing". It probably would've taken care of itself.
That is it for this installment. When I get home on Thursday, I'll see how well they held air and report out. If all is well, I'll probably run 'em at 35 psi, then drop to 30 psi this weekend.
Stay tuned...