Ghetto Tubeless Do & Don't

Knackers

I had my first failure on a ghetto tubeless setup a few days ago - while experimenting with lower pressures and landing a small jump I had the front tyre lose pressure... with the amusing (not at the time) side effect of putting me right over the bars and landing my little chaps on the top tube. Painful. And the tyre didn't re-seal properly, either, leaving me with a wheel I had no confidence in, with a slow puncture. Time to head home...

Rim Tape

Sometimes, you can't DIY...

With a combination of the rubbish UK weather and an injured shoulder, I've only been riding the road bike lately. I had two mysterious flat tyres within the space of few days... both without any thorns, and both while the bike was in the car. Easy enough to fix, if a bit of a pain and cut short a ride or two. So what was behind the mystery?

The tube had bulged into them there holes.

Turns out that it was all my fault (of course, these things usually are). When I'd built the wheels I'd used a few wraps of electrical tape to cover the spoke holes. Now this is all perfectly satisfactory in the land of 30psi mountain bike tyres, but when it comes to road bikes, the high pressures (100psi+) are far too much for the tape to support, and the tube had squished itself down into the spoke holes. Now, take the bike out for a few rides, and presto - much chafing action.

Lesson learned: no more electrical tape for me - proper stuff only, from now on.

Review updates

A quick update on my recent reviews, now I've been using the bits review for a few months.

Marzocchi 66 ATA

A really short post today - oddly enough with it being summer I'm out riding a bit more than I am fixing things...


So today its just a few links to resources for Marzocchi's big air sprung freeride fork.

Basic setup

Just remember: PAR chamber must be 15psi more than main air chamber.

http://www.marzocchi.com/System/55345/ATA%20SETUP.pdf

Forum links on common issues:

MTBR forums - fixing 66 ATA "stuckdown" problem
MTBR - 66 ATA info
MTBR - 66 ATA setup and further info on ATA internals

DIY Protection

Or, how to cover your delicate parts with rubber, fnar.

Sun Ringle Estate rims for the On One Max hubs

Budget Summer Season Wheels

Rims. Round, with lots of holes in them for spokes. What else do you need to know?

Question is, on the somewhat limited RideItFixIt budget, could I scrape together enough cash to lace some appropriate rims to the On One hubs I recently reviewed and get them out on the trail?

Well, obviously I could, or this would be a
very short post.

And just what was the bare minimum cost for which I could put together a set of wheels, including tyres and cassette?

26, 650b, 29er

650b wheels are not the second coming of Jesus

Not a 650b wheel

...although you might be forgiven for thinking that, if you've been reading any MTB magazines or website this last year. And the year before that, it was 29er wheels that were going to solve the energy crisis and save the planet.