Mountain Biking - Stan's Tubeless Kit

i just converted my mavic 221 to tubeless with Stan's Notubes Kit. Using Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires.

I live in Southern California where a combination of hardpack, sand, and rock gardens are abundant on any ride. I'm a fairly aggressive rider and love to climb and hit mild drop offs.

Aside from Notubes' technical sheets, does anyone have suggestions on inflation, maintenance, etc.?

Not really, just follow the instructions and you'll be alright.
Panaracers are NOT the best tyres to convert to tubeless.
I have had real problems with those and sealing. After I swithced to Hutchinson tyres the problems disappeared.
Over here in the UK , many people also have problems with Panaracers and NoTUbes and very few have any issues with Continental, Hutchinson or Michelin, Schwalbe and Tioga also seem to work well.

The panaracer UST tyres do work very well though and give good performance but stick to tubes with the conventional ones.

thanks, TimB! With the panaracers, did the problems occur during the sealing/mounting process or out on your rides?

my XC pros are a litle looser than some other tires i have had, i can take them off with my hands with little struggle.

Originally posted by TimB
Panaracers are the best tyres to convert to tubeless.



Kind of misleading......

ooooooops I'll correct that.

Jedi-rider the problems cae with the sealing and then while out riding. The tyre beads just seem to o loose to grip the rim strip properly. it's difficult to get the Panaracers inflated and then if you take a big hit on the trail which compressesthe tyre almost to the rim it tends to blow off.

I have not had that problem with other brands I tried.

use alot of soapy water to help seal the tire.

Thanks for the heads up, Tim B.

I didn't have problems sealing the Panaracers to my Mavic 221's. I was surprised how easy it was.

I went out on a real mild ride and didn't have any problems---no loss of air.

Then I took the wheels off and banged them as hard as I could against the sidewalk curb and still no issues.

We'll see more when I go out to Noble Canyon or Mission Trails here in San Diego next week. I'm going to bring two tubes just in case.

If it's taken that amount of abuse Jedi it'l be fine.
The problem with the Panaracer beads is that they're not consistent. Some fit loose, others tighter. Perhaps with your rim /tyre / good luck with beads combo it's worked, good for you. Hope you like the system. I swear by it. Even use it onmy X3.1UST rims with my Hutchinson tyres for really technical XC race courses.

PSS: RacerX, soapy water does not seal the tyre, it just helps it seal properly. it's the latex that does the sealing... you can alsouse talcum power to get teh tyre to seal but it does not evaporate.

Oh yes Jedi theres a tip. Don't go too crazy with the soapy water and once the tyre is on try and drain as much as possible/ The watre dilutes the sealant making it less effective.
What I do is clean the bead with soapy water, dry the tyre overnight in a warm place and then only apply moderate amounts of lather to the bead of the tyre. This lubricates it and does'nt entai as much water getting inside the tyre. The sealan will work brillliantly then.

Which reminds me. I need to chat to Mr Stan about some more sealant....

PS: Just be mindful of the problems I had with P'racers. When you replace the ones you've got now take your rims with you to the shop to check the fit.

Happy riding

thanks for the tips, everyone!

by the way, TimB, which rims and hutchinson tires are you running with? just curious since it seems to be working out for you.

this weekend will tell for sure if my combo rims and tires hold up.

Tim- Check out www.mtbr.com 's hot deals section. I got some Stan's sealant for really cheap through there.

I was using Rolf Dolomites and tehn switched to mavic X3.1 which are UST but stioll use Stan's or UST tyres.

I use the Hutchinson Python Airlights or Golds with stans'
Michelin wildgripper CompS when UST.

With the sealant in them, tubeless is a bombproof setup.

The final verdict---Stan's Tubeless Kit rocks! Hit the local trail and abused the tires over every rock garden and drops I could find. Nothing happened, which is a good thing. No loss of air pressure over the duration of the ride. I've just been converted! Thanks for everyone's help!

There are alot of compatibility issues with Panaracer with Stans.

Originally posted by danka24
There are alot of compatibility issues with Panaracer with Stans.

I've heard, but haven't experienced it. But this is after one very torturous ride in the field for three hours. Hopefully, everyone's concerns won't apply to my Mavic/Panaracer set up in the long run.