Tubeless Coker tyre idea

[TonyMelton]

I thought I could save some weight from the enormously heavy Coker wheel by going tubeless. www.notubes.com ]NoTubes[/URL] sell a kit which you can use to convert a standard tyre and rim into a sealed, tubeless tyre. It consists of a rim strip to seal the spoke holes, valve core and sealant. Has anyone tried using this kind of system on their Coker?

I've already emailed the NoTubes people and they've indicated that 120g of sealant will probably be required. If this works it'll be great, but I have a few reservations. The first is that the wheel might actually end up weighing more than when I started. (What does the Coker inner tube weigh anyway - in grams, please!). Also you have to keep adding more sealant every so often. And thirdly the bike shop guy told me that if your wheel has side-to-side flex in it (which almost all non-wide hubbed-Cokers will have) then the tyre bead is liable to pop off, resulting in a flat tyre and a big mess of sealant everywhere....

....Having said all that, is anyone willing to be the guinea pig on this??!?


Tony

Coker 1/2 Century tomorrow. or 80km for metric folks

[harper]

How much does the tube weigh? What's the difference in weight between (required_sealant+tubeless_repair_kit) and (tube+standard_repair_kit)?

[joemarshall]

Originally posted by TonyMelton
(What does the Coker inner tube weigh anyway - in grams, please!).

Quite a lot. I think it weighs more than a nokian downhill tube. Probably about 800g or so.

Joe

[U-Turn]

Nathan Hoover says a guy on the most recent Mount Diabolo Challenge did this with great success. He apparently drilled the rim quite a bit as well to eliminate weight on the hill climb. This wheel was apparently built for this race alone, and I'm hoping that someday we'll be able to hear more about it.

[john_childs]

For a humorous look at an anti-notubes site check out yestubes

[joona]

Originally posted by john_childs
For a humorous look at an anti-notubes site check out yestubes

Damn you posted it first. I was thinking about this page too. And I really wouldn't like to go tubeless. It seems to me that it only makes life harder. I have never tried tubeless on my uni or bike but people I know mostly have complained.

Though it might work better on road than trails.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by TonyMelton
(What does the Coker inner tube weigh anyway - in grams, please!).

I put a Coker tube on my kitchen food scale and it is 19 oz which comes to 538 grams. It's not a very accurate scale. I'd give it an accuracy of about +- 2 oz or +- 56 grams. But even with that cheap scale it is obvious that the Coker tube is a hefty tube weighing in at more than 1 pound.

The Coker tube weighs about the same as my heavy duty 24x3 Intense DH tube that I use on my muni. The Intense tube weighs in at 19 oz on that same scale. The Intense tube is the heaviest and thickest of the 3" DH tubes.

Good luck on your 1/2 century Coker ride tomorrow.
That's a 50 mile ride for you metric folks.

[MUNIYETI]

Thanks for the YesTubes link...that made me bust a gut..... I read Mountain Bike Action all the time and they are constantly writing about how great the "No-Tubes" system is , while never mentioning any of the obviously ugly problems it introduces ........ John_C is my new hero .

[jagur]

Originally posted by MUNIYETI
John_C is my new hero .

take a number and get in line...

[john_childs]

Originally posted by MUNIYETI
Thanks for the YesTubes link...that made me bust a gut..... I read Mountain Bike Action all the time and they are constantly writing about how great the "No-Tubes" system is , while never mentioning any of the obviously ugly problems it introduces ........ John_C is my new hero .

I saw the yestubes site mentioned in the discussion list for the local MTB club I'm in. The topic of tubes vs. tubeless is a regular feature. To really appreciate the yestubes site it helps to have been subjected to the NoTubes hype in forums and magazine articles and to have read the NoTubes web site.

I'm not sure how the NoTubes system would fit the Coker. I don't think he has a rim strip that will fit a 36" rim. Maybe Stan has something that would work with the Coker, but he doesn't list any rim strips for large diameter rims. Maybe the rim strips will stretch enough to fit the Airfoil Coker rim.

[joemarshall]

Originally posted by john_childs

I saw the yestubes site mentioned in the discussion list for the local MTB club I'm in. The topic of tubes vs. tubeless is a regular feature. To really appreciate the yestubes site it helps to have been subjected to the NoTubes hype in forums and magazine articles and to have read the NoTubes web site.

I'm not sure how the NoTubes system would fit the Coker. I don't think he has a rim strip that will fit a 36" rim. Maybe Stan has something that would work with the Coker, but he doesn't list any rim strips for large diameter rims. Maybe the rim strips will stretch enough to fit the Airfoil Coker rim.

Incidentally, gaffa/parcel tape (basically any airtight, waterproof tape) can be used instead of the notubes rim strip and the liquid latex used to seal the system can be obtained from certain 'specialist' shops.

Joe

[TonyMelton]

Originally posted by john_childs
I'm not sure how the NoTubes system would fit the Coker. I don't think he has a rim strip that will fit a 36" rim. Maybe Stan has something that would work with the Coker, but he doesn't list any rim strips for large diameter rims. Maybe the rim strips will stretch enough to fit the Airfoil Coker rim.

Stan just emailed me back and says he has made a special rim tape to fit my Airfoil rim. He also said to use 2 or 3 'scoops' of sealant. I don't know exactly how much this is, though. However, by the sounds of what I've read about NoTubes and the hilarious yestubes.com site, I don't think I'll take him up on his offer.



Tony
Successfully ridden 80km on yestubes!

[uni-2-death]

they deflate within 2 hours of riding

[nathan]

Very sorry we don't have any photos, but yes, Glenn Drummond went tubeless a while ago on his custom 13.5 pound 36" cycle. Read my description from the Oct 2003 Mt Diablo Challenge. His tire does not go flat right away - he says it's no problem. Email me if you want his contact info.

---Nathan