Tubeless Conversion for WTB NANO
 

I have an old 2016 bike that was rarely ridden. They have some fresh looking WTB NANO 2.1 (27.5) and I want to convert them to tubeless. I bought a used bike that came with a NANO spare but it had the TCS (tubeless compatible system) logo on it. These NANOs I have now do NOT have the TCS logo on it.

My questions is if anyone knows about the makeup of these older NANOs? Are they drastically different than the TCS version? Has anyone went tubeless on the older ones?

Not sure if anyone can answer this but Bike Forum members almost always come up with some great answers so I am giving it a shot!

Thanks!

They're not TL compatible if they don't have the TCS hot patch on the sidewall.

In a nutshell they will probably work but you can’t expect it to be as good. You want a rim tape that’s going to have some squish to help it seal, like Gorilla, maybe twice around. Expect sidewall weeping. Use Orange Seal

Not awesome advice especially when things aren't officially compatible. 'Will probably work' is not great when dealing with something that might kill someone if it fails.

God knows how Stan’s got away with selling all those deadly tubeless conversion kits before there were “tubeless“ tires.

I think many of the non-tubeless WTB tires are wire-beaded versions of their TCS tires sold direct to bike manufacturers that they don't sell retail.

For instance my bike came with non-tubeless, wire-beaded WTB Riddlers and I don't think that tire was ever sold retail.

I've struggled enough with installing tubeless compatible tires tubelessly - sure wouldn't want try to make a wire-beaded tire tubeless.

Well the first question is whether your rims are even tubeless compatible. If not I would end the discussion right there.

As far as setting up a a non tubeless rated tire tubeless… If the tires are wire beaded, what I have read indicates it is not worth trying. I’ve never tried it myself.

If they are folding bead…it usually works, but I would ask somewhere like MTBR if anyone knows much about the WTB stuff. I’ve successfully run many non-tubeless tires on Stans rims over the years. But to be on the safe side, I would put the new Tubeless Compatible one on the front, and do the non-tubeless rated one on the back.

Check to see how tight the bead sits on the “shelf” of the rim. If it seems pretty loose, I would skip doing a conversion. But if it is tight enough to be able to seat the bead with a floor pump, i’d call it good for the rear.

Thank you to all for your replies. I never considered the wire bead issue. I thought maybe it was side wall construction and excessive weeping or something like that. WTB responded to me and said "not compatible" which I thought they might say just to sell another pair of tires or for liability reasons.

From the few respondents I got enough explanations for me to call it a "might not be worth it" exercise.

So you're saying taking the chance is worth it?