Mavic Ksyriums and tubeless tires?

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Westifer12
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by Westifer12

What experience do people have with running either the Ksyriums and R-Sys wheel setup tubeless? I've read one person having trouble with them burping at low pressures thus defeating the purpose, anybody else have that problem?

Have people used tubeless tires or converted w/Stan's?

Thanks!
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MavicZack
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by MavicZack

It's not recommended. Of course the tire bed is airtight but the bead hook is traditional for clincher tires. A proper UST bead hook (and proper road tubeless tire/UST bead to go with) is much more suitable for tubeless because it holds the tire bead more securely. Same with the tire - it should be matched to the bead hook. The UST bead hook and tire bead shape is quite specific and allows the bead to lock very securely to the rim. Along those lines, the tire bead has to be perfectly in tolerance for diameter and allowable stretch under inflation pressure.

The risk you run is not so much burping air from low pressure, but blowing the tire completely off the rim.
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maggierose
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by maggierose

I have set up 3 sets of Mavics with tubeless tires. No problems. Of course Mavic would state it's not recommended because of product liability issue. However, a tubeless tire won't roll off a rim like a clincher so the only real worry is if Mavic's rim will withstand the inflation pressure - it will.

If anyone blows a Hutchinson tubless tire off of a rim using less than 110psi I'll replace the tire for free. :D

Westifer12
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by Westifer12

what valve cores did you use, did the Mavic ones work? That's the only place I have trouble sealing not tubeless wheels.
2011 Trek Paragon 29er | Reba XX 120mm Fork | XX Drivetrain | 160mm White/Carbon Exiler CR Brakes | Thomson 90mm Stem & Post | Easton Monkey Lite Bar | X.9 Hubs to DT Swiss X470's | Schwalbe Rocket Rons

Westifer12
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by Westifer12

I have the Bontrager and Mavic cores and while the Mavic cores were all together too small just to seal the valve core hole it seemed like the Bontrager ones fit well. With that said I can't seem to get the tires to settle in on the rim. I am using non-tubeless tires though and will be trying tubeless tires tomorrow.

Any suggestions other than the bulldogs?
2011 Trek Paragon 29er | Reba XX 120mm Fork | XX Drivetrain | 160mm White/Carbon Exiler CR Brakes | Thomson 90mm Stem & Post | Easton Monkey Lite Bar | X.9 Hubs to DT Swiss X470's | Schwalbe Rocket Rons

ChristianK
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by ChristianK

maggierose wrote:I have set up 3 sets of Mavics with tubeless tires.
Same here, I don't have three sets, but I ran Hutchinson Atom tubeless on my Mavic Ksyrium SL Premium rims without issue. I ran them with 1.5oz. of sealant and never had any issues with them at low or higher pressure. I am a ~185lbs rider and I used them in the local crits. This combination was the best cornering wheelset I have run thus far and I've run quality tubular/carbon rims, various clinchers with different aluminum rims, AC MAG 300 tubulars, etc. The rubber on the Atoms is great IMO and the Ksyriums are bullet proof and stiff.

As with any tubeless, getting the tire on is the biggest PITA. I set my tires on my black roof (easily accessible from my rear deck), and let them get nice, hot and pliable before I tried mounting them. I had a bit of an issue getting the bead to lock so I had to move the pump quickly...next time I will just use my air compressor.

The Atoms tend to look and ride very thin at first, then they widen up a bit after riding them. The sidewalls are stiffer than normal clinchers and you can feel that riding. I just lower the pressure a bit to increase the ride comfort.

Christian.

MirFlash
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by MirFlash

I've mounted an Intensive (25) in the back and a Fusion (23) in front, on my wife's groceries bike.
Wheels are old Ksyrium SL, I had on hand, due to their closed bead I taught it's worth trying, this was to replace them after initial mileage by sexy and new stuff. I had to resort to the "old" NoTubes valve to get them going. With a bit of trimming.

In the meantime, 5 months later and around 2000 km, she once came home with around 2,5 bar on them but couldn't find anything causing the pressure loss.
I stick to 6-6,5 in the back and around 5-5,5 up front.
With groceries total "package can go up to 85 kg (only once) backpack and 2 Ortliebs up to the brim.

Maybe I'll get her a 6700 set but as for now this setup for her DH riding style is OK and performs as it should, not a single puncture in 5 month, it's called heaven, no whining from my dearest :thumbup:

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maddog 2
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by maddog 2

Not used the Ksyriums but I've fitted tubeless (Atoms and Fusion 2&3s) to other non-UST rims (taped up Open Pros mainly) and had no issues with seating or burping. Run some sealant arond the tyre bead prior to inflation and they seal easily IME.

Westifer12
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by Westifer12

OK, update time. I feel like I am pretty good at setting up tubeless tires (I've been running tubeless MTB for 4-5 years now) and while I had a great deal of trouble(and eventually gave up) getting non-tubeless tires to catch. Then I traded a buddy for a pair of Bulldogs which caught right away with a good amt. of Stan's. They lasted with air for close to a week without having to air more, pretty good! We'll see as the season goes on how they hold up but now problems with burping yet. I'm riding them ~35-40psi and weigh 170.
2011 Trek Paragon 29er | Reba XX 120mm Fork | XX Drivetrain | 160mm White/Carbon Exiler CR Brakes | Thomson 90mm Stem & Post | Easton Monkey Lite Bar | X.9 Hubs to DT Swiss X470's | Schwalbe Rocket Rons

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dadoflam08
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by dadoflam08

Hi
Thought I'd revive this old thread to see if there had been any more recent experience.
In a possibly rash and ill-considered late night decision I bought myself a set of Schwalbe One tubeless tyres after reading some positive reviews without remembering the possible need for tubeless compatible wheels.
I'm still keen to try tubeless and am thinking of fitting these tyres to my Mavic Ksyrium SLR's (which I don't think need the conversion rim tape) - has anyone had any issues using Ksyriums with tubeless?
The other option is to return the tyres and forget the tubeless experiment for now
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mattyNor
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by mattyNor

I'd give up and get a tubular set up when you can. I don't see any advantage for riding a tubless setup on a road bike.

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FIJIGabe
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by FIJIGabe

dado, tubeless has a lot of advantages. I've been running tubeless, exclusively, for over two years now, and love the ride. If the SLR rim bead is a standard clincher type, then you can certainly set it up tubeless. I believe the SLR does not have spoke holes in the rims, so you are correct, you will not need tape. What you will need is sealant, good tire levers (2) and a good valve stem.

First for sealant: if your rim has an anodized finished (ie: black finish) you can use almost any sealant. If, however, you have a bare aluminum finish, stay away from Stan's, which has been shown to have ammonia in it. Personally, I've had good luck with either of these two combos: straight Bontrager TLR sealant and a 3:1 mixture of Stan's/Slime. I've had bad luck with Caffelatex and straight Stan's.

Next for valve stems: Orange Seal, Orange Seal, Orange Seal. I've used many different brands: Stan's, Bontrager, American Classic and some off-brand stems. The only one that has worked every time has been Orange Seal. They equip their stems with a small rubber grommet that goes between the nut and the wheel, that prevents sealant from seeping out of the wheel and making the stem difficult to remove. This is definitely worth it, in my opinion.

Now, a word of caution on tubeless tires: you will flat. Keep a tube handy and don't even bother to inflate the tire once you've flatted. Just put in a tube and keep on riding. Once you get home, you can treat the tire like a tube and patch it. I've been able to patch almost all of my tubeless tires and keep riding them.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

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by finnrambo

You can put Stans into tubes if you want, that's my winter tip. I find tubeless tires to be a fair bit less compliant (stiff sidewalls by nature) than clinchers but if you're dead set on them you won't have that many issues. Just bring a tube along for when you flat, they're a pain to try seating on the side of a road.

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FIJIGabe
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by FIJIGabe

I agree with the stiffness complaint, especially with regard to the Hutchinson tires. The Bontrager R3's, on the other hand, feel very compliant.

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Miller
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by Miller

dadoflam08 wrote:Hi
I'm still keen to try tubeless and am thinking of fitting these tyres to my Mavic Ksyrium SLR's (which I don't think need the conversion rim tape) - has anyone had any issues using Ksyriums with tubeless?
The other option is to return the tyres and forget the tubeless experiment for now


Nah, stick with tubeless, it's great. You won't want to have rubber bags inside your tyres any more.

I'm running tubeless on a pair of Shamals but they're an older version from before the two-way fit rim design. I too thought I wouldn't need tape but the tyres went on fairly loosely and at first I couldn't get them to inflate with a track pump. I added a layer of tape and then they inflated easily.

As someone has said, you will not be immune to deflation with tubeless so you still need a spare tube and pump as backup. That said, there is a good chance that sealant will catch a puncture after about 40-50 psi airloss. Once the sealant has stopped a leak you generally will not need to do anything else about that intrusion. Coming up on 9 months of use across three sets of wheels I'm scoring at about 5 airloss incidents, two complete flats, three where the sealant did its job. The complete air loss comes with a hole which is more like a slash than a pinprick. Both tyres that suffered this I have repaired and put back into use.

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