Winter Maintenance?

I also had some serious burping issues when I tried the stans system on Sun rims. On one occasion I pulled the tire off the rim while cornering hard.

I have seen a lot of people use UST and the Stans rims with no problems. Personally I would look into Stans becuase you have more tire choices.

bodie6 wrote: ...How many of you run a tubeless setup? I'm currently running my wheels "ghetto tubeless," with Stan's sealant, presta valves, and a 20" BMX tire as a rim strip. So far, so good. I'm using a 26X2.2 Specialized Purgatory Control 2bliss tire up front and a 26X2.0 Specialized Captain Control 2bliss tire in the back. Anyone else running a non-UST set-up? What are your tires of choice?

Unfortunately, if you really ride in the woods, you will find yourself burping non tubeless wheelsets on rocks and roots. I had Eric (from Erics Cycles) rig up my mavic 29er wheels last year (he uses rim strips at the side-walls to do this), and I burped them a ton on easy stuff at the Brook. Bennymac told me he had the same problem I believe.

Tubeless is awesome, but that's with tubeless rims like any of the Stans rims out there. If you are light, get some Stans Arch's rims, if you are heavy or ride big and heavy, get some Stan's Flows!

TJ Zydel wrote: there was a semi recent issue that shows a do it yourself version of tubeless where you take a regular tube, slice it open down the middle, lay in in the wheel, put in sealant, add tire, seat, seal, and pump.

That would be the ghetto tubeless bodie6 is using right now with the 20" tube.


Bodie, the absolute best tire for our area(if you are not racing XC) would be any of the 2.35 Maxxis tires with the ST(42a) durometer rubber. If the trails are dry I will only use the sticky rubber up front and will use a 60a durometer tire in the back. Really really dry I will use 2.35 Maxxis Ignitors(really lousy in any moisture). My tire of choice front and rear with sticky rubber is the Maxxis High Roller.

Anyone who says something else is better has not tried this set up, period.

there was a semi recent issue that shows a do it yourself version of tubeless where you take a regular tube, slice it open down the middle, lay in in the wheel, put in sealant, add tire, seat, seal, and pump. pretty solid...i tried it once but my tires where too used and over inflated and did not seat well...i will no doubt do it again this spring with new tires. as for tubeless, with ust a lot of guys do run it. slightly lower tire pressure and not having to deal with tubes is great. and if you do get a flat, most of the time with those rims you can pop a tube in and go. quality investment. the wheel set is one of the most heaviest items on the bikes and if you have a strong lightweight ust tubeless set with some fast spinning hubs, you are kicking ass! personally it is not in my budget right now, but stans has really good stuff. quality. or the new easton haven wheel set makes me wanna jump it...then again i love easton everything that i put on bikes...slightly obsessed...

Thanks for all the great advice. Since I'm not riding my bike until the spring thaw, I am happy to learn about anything that I can do to service my bike on my own. Unfortunately, I can't service my bottom bracket because I don't have the tool to remove my crankset. Plus, I plan on having Eric from Hollyloft install a new crank once I save up some coin.

However, I just pulled the lowers from my fork and changed the oil and cleaned everything off. It only took 3 hours...LOL. How many of you run a tubeless setup? I'm currently running my wheels "ghetto tubeless," with Stan's sealant, presta valves, and a 20" BMX tire as a rim strip. So far, so good. I'm using a 26X2.2 Specialized Purgatory Control 2bliss tire up front and a 26X2.0 Specialized Captain Control 2bliss tire in the back. Anyone else running a non-UST set-up? What are your tires of choice?

i wind up riding my full squish most of the winter...but once the spring comes and during some of raining crap i strip everyone off... bottom bracket is huge like many have mentioned, hubs, and making sure fork and suspensions are in good working order. grease the nuts and bolts after cleaning everything and back together she goes!