Tire/wheel setup for gravel grinder

[notyal]

I've got an older Kona Jake the Snake with Mavic Aksium wheels with rim brakes with Schwalbe X-One 33C knobby tires. I pushed the lower-end tire pressure limit too far last ride and ended up with a snake bite flat. I'm not sure what tube was in there, probably a basic road tube. I ordered some "wide" 700C tubes to replace, but I don't think they are significantly beefier. 

If this were a mountain bike, it would be tubeless by now. But to be honest, it's kinda nice to have a bike that I can grab off the shelf and not have to question when the last time I added sealant was.

Do you think my current wheel/tire combo would work with the ghetto conversion? I read that the tires work well tubeless when I bought them, but the only time I've been unsuccessful with a tubeless conversion was a rim brake. 

If I continue to run tubes, what pressure are y'all running on similar gravel/CX setups? Any tube suggestions? This flat was definitely a snake bite, but my normal route also involves cutting through an old golf course where grassy fairways could easily conceal thorny landmines. I guess maybe I should have ordered some Slime tubes?

 

[Txduc]

I can't answer the question about how easy it will be to set up tubeless as it varies depending on the tire rim combo.  as far as pressure goes.  My gravel bike has 19mm width rims set up tubeless with Maxxis Rambler tires.  On gravel I'll run them at about 35psi and for road riding raise it to~45psi.  I did run Slime tubes for a bit but still ended up with punctures so converted to tubeless with no flats thus far.

[notyal]

For reference, I was aiming for around 40psi when I got the flat, but I did have an issue with the pump head/valve connection when airing up before the ride, so it may have slipped down some. It did seem pretty soft before I tagged the stump that caused me to re-evaluate my setup.

[mack_turtle]

Narrow XC mtb rims and Panaracer Gravelkings. I have a CX bike with Stan's Arch EX rims and a 35/32mm GK combo. I run them at 35 psi or so and I am 160 pounds+. Works great on tarmac and singletrack. Not sure how well a ghetto setup will work as I have seen few of those blow off the rim. WTB tubeless tires have a really tight bead, so that might help.

[St.Bernardo]

I run 2.1" WTB Nano's at 27 PSI when riding  a significant amount of single track and ~32 PSI when riding more gravel/pavement than dirt.

[ATXZJ]

I ran schwalbe super swans tubeless on stans flow ex wheels on my old kona private jake. That bike saw multiple laps on MTB trails including the brushy creek stuff without issues.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TIRE-PAIR-700x35-SCHWALBE-SUPER-SWAN-GRAVEL-CYCLOCROSS-CX-CYCLE-CROSS-TUBELESS/254112091387?hash=item3b2a42ccfb:g:p8gAAOSw3K1cWycg

Edited May 1, 2019 by ATXZJ

[Shinerider]

I am thinking of the same thing of St. bernardo.  Run some 1.9" mtb tires that are low knob and setup tubeless.  Kinda like:

https://austin.craigslist.org/bop/d/san-marcos-specialized-works-renegade/6873617859.html

Or run exactly what he is running for CHEAP:

https://austin.craigslist.org/bop/d/austin-29er-tires/6856644467.html

[AntonioGG]

I run Stan's Crest (original) with WTB Nano 40c tires tubeless and I love it.  I tried 32c tires tubeless but the bead would break too easily when pressure is lost probably b/c the rims are too wide.  I still have to run 45psi or higher for CX or I'll burp in the off-cambers.  I can run lower for gravel but I don't.  I'm at 205lbs.

[Mattlikesbikes]

4 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I run Stan's Crest (original) with WTB Nano 40c tires tubeless and I love it.  I tried 32c tires tubeless but the bead would break too easily when pressure is lost probably b/c the rims are too wide.  I still have to run 45psi or higher for CX or I'll burp in the off-cambers.  I can run lower for gravel but I don't.  I'm at 205lbs.

I've got the same, running 32c hybrid tires, with tubes, but stans in the tubes. Nice to know the crest will take a 40c nano tubeless. May have to try.

[notyal]

So basically the answer is to run MTB wheels and tires. I guess I forgot to mention that I'm not really looking to replace any major components. This bike is rim brake only, so that makes it tricky to find a decent set of tubeless compatible MTB wheels with braking surface and QR dropouts (assuming my frame can even accept MTB rear spacing). 

 

[mack_turtle]

I had good luck with some non-tubeless DT Swiss X430 rims, 2-3 layers of 1" Gorilla tape, and WTB Cross Boss 35mm tires in their TCS flavor. I tried it with some other tires and it would not work, but the TCS design fits very tight on any rim. It was tight enough to seal without an air compressor and with a little sealant help.

I/we failed to notice you have a 130mm spaced frame. It MIGHT be possible to fit a mtb spaced wheel in there if you play around with spacers on the axle and then correct the wheel dish.

I refuse to ride anywhere off-road with tubes any more. Gravel races on CX sized tubeless tires is the way to go.

Edited May 1, 2019 by mack_turtle

[Mattlikesbikes]

So most likely nobody here is going to have experience with your year undisclosed mavic road wheels being run tubeless. But the intertoobs has thoughts on setting up newish Mavic tubeless - https://road.cc/content/forum/209279-converting-mavic-wheels-tubeless

End of the day, I think a tire that wide, on a road rim (inside width of 15mm I think), run at a low pressure (less than 40), is going to have issues tubeless. 

But still, I would set it up tubeless, tape and valve, and run it for awhile at 50psi to see. Mfg recommends a low of 40, and that is on a 19+mm width rim. If it doesn't burp and has no problems slowly drop pressure.