DIY tubeless road wheelset

Quoted message said:

Is there a DIY I can follow to convert my road clinchers
to tubeless? I'm just looking for flat prevention. Thanks
in advance, bikewriter

You well need to find a way to seal each spoke hole. I
suspect that a sturdy, adhesive-backed rim strip would do
the job. Then you need to install some sort of valve stem.
Perhaps one from a car could work, but most require a bigger
hole than the one found in a typical bike rim.

The bigger problem would be to find a way to seal the bead
of the tire against its seat on the rim. Going to a car tire
store and watching how they inflate a (tubeless) car tire
may be instructive. It might work to arrange some sort of
tourniquet around the outside of the tire to squeeze it
against the rim while you pump it up.

This will be a difficult project for no benefit that I can
see, except for a small weight reduction. Actually no
weight reduction once you consider the extra tools you will
need to carry. That could be avoided if you carry a phone
so that someone can rescue you when you get a flat. And you
will get flats; the absence of a tube will provide no
protection. Sorry.

Tubeless tires exist for fat-tired bikes. They allow the use
of much lower pressures(useful in some conditions) with no
fear of pinch flats.

--
Ted Bennett Portland OR

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Bike Writer
Is there a DIY I can follow to convert my road clinchers to
tubeless? I'm just looking for flat prevention. Thanks in
advance, bikewriter

Leonard Zinn of Velonews had in his column a few weeks ago that Michelin was going to prototype some tubeless tires. So far, you can't buy anything like that in the road market, but perhaps in a year or two.

Tubeless in road wheels seems pointless except for a few
specialised races such as Paris-Roubaix. The weight is
greater (according to what I read on Velonews) and flat
protection isn't going to be any better. The advantage they
confer on MTBs of being able to run lower pressures without
pinch flats isn't relevant for road bikes.

Nick

bike writer said:

Is there a DIY I can follow to convert my road clinchers
to tubeless? I'm just looking for flat prevention.

Ted Bennett said:

Tubeless tires exist for fat-tired bikes. They allow the
use of much lower pressures(useful in some conditions)
with no fear of pinch flats.

On cars there is also supposed to be an advantage in air
sealing. Just as well, since about half the clueless idiots
on the road rely on garages to check their tyres at the
annual service.