Punctures
 

Giant Yukon running Maxxis 27.5/3.8”-5.0” schraeder valve tubes with the factory Maxxis tires. The trails I ride have “sand spurs” (pea size ball of thorns) and I have had considerable problems with getting punctures. After talking to two different bike shops that recommended not going tubeless on this bike, despite the rims and tires being “tubeless ready”, I am at a loss on how to avoid this problem.

Why did they recommend not going tubeless?

Both shops said the factory rims have a channel for the spokes instead of dimples and they tend to leak.

Huh...what we did with a leaky fat bike (Kona Wo) is added about 5 layers of duct tape and a rim strip on top of that and it is holding fine. It was leaking out one of the cutouts in the rim and we just sealed it back up and it worked like a charm and the tire was actually easier to seat this time.

The trick with the duct tape is having a layer upside down so it is not sticky and then go around like normal with the tape side down.

As for "tubeless", I don't know of a single 'standard' that makes a rim actually tubeless.
It's like calling something "organic", there's really no penalty for lying about it.

Tanis rim inserts might be a useful solution for you.

https://tannusamerica.com/products/a...46871379706152

The tubeless rims on the bikes I have setup as tubeless have a shelf on the inside of the rim, raised above the center part of the rim. My rims that are only tube capable do not have this raised portion of the rim. That shelf is what helps keep the bead of the tire tight to the rim walk and sealed. Tubeless rims are different.

Tannus is a good solution but especially in a fat bike will be rather heavy but will certainly help if you do not wish to go tubeless. They aren't super weighty generally but getting to a wide tubeless will be more weight and rolling weight as well. I do use them in my rear Rohloff wheel on a bike but not on the fat bike yet as I think I might want to go tubeless eventually.