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Situtation

I have an old hardtail collecting dust. I occurred to me that a rigid fork, and some wide (i.e. >50 mm), slick tires would make it a pretty ideal commuter for me.

Then I thought it'd be great the setup those wide, slick tires tubeless.

Unfortunately, I just recalled that the rims on that bike are drilled for schrader valves. I had forgotten because when I bought the bike I immediately purchased the grommets necessary to use presta valves on the rim.

I notice two things

  1. The first is that it doesn't appear the tubeless schrader valves are readily available (http://www.universalcycles.com/search.php?q=tubeless+valve)
  2. The Stans conversion kit comes with tape with a valve already attached (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=1208)

Question:

Will leaving those grommets in place allow me to set up the rims tubeless, or am I stuck running tubes since the are rims drilled for schrader valves?

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3 Answers 3

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I mean, put enough Stans in to the wheels, and you can run tubeless on just about any rim setup.

If you have non-tubeless tires, you may run in to an issue with the tires themselves being too porous, and that is hard to get around. But I imagine that the combination of rim-tape, grommet, and Stans will be fine. The rubber wedge/plug thing on the base of the Stans valve stems is pretty wide, I bet it would work even without the grommet.

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  • Thanks. That's helpful. I've never seen a conversion kit up close.
    – Paul H
    Aug 18, 2014 at 16:21
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One way to solve your problem is by doing the ghetto tubeless method with the 20 inch tube. The other method, with the gorilla tape should be possible as well by cutting a valve out of an old tube and leaving enough contact material with the tape.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tech-Tuesday-Gorilla-Tape-Tubeless-Conversion.html

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  • That link is very helpful, and I think I understand what you mean. But what 20-in tube are you talking about? Could you clarify a bit?
    – Paul H
    Aug 18, 2014 at 16:21
  • For this method to work on, say 26 inch wheels, you need a 20 inch tube. Google for "ghetto tubeless 20 inch" and "ghetto tubeless gorilla" for more info on the 2 methods.
    – cherouvim
    Aug 19, 2014 at 4:06
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If the grommets worked with the tubes they should work with Stan's conversion kit. The kit is really just a wheel side tube. The kit is thicker rubber than most tubes. Unless the grommet extends a long way on the inside I doubt it would cause the kit not to seal.

The Stan's web site has a list of compatible tires.
Recommended Tires

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  • It appears that list is specifically for Stans rims. Am I misunderstanding that?
    – Paul H
    Aug 18, 2014 at 18:36
  • What part of that leads you to think it is Stan's rims only? "Stan’s NoTubes mountain rims and converted tube-type mountain rims will work successfully tubeless"
    – paparazzo
    Aug 18, 2014 at 19:04
  • The first two notes on the page mention Stans rims specifically. The third note muddies the waters, but upon re-reading it, I now believe the article is meant to be more general than just Stans rims.
    – Paul H
    Aug 18, 2014 at 19:09

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