Rim Strips - found where?

[Spinnekop]

Maybe something like this?
https://muc-off.com/products/tubeless-rim-tape
 

[ChrisF]

13 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

this is the old Rolf Wheels tubeless rim strip system that was developed in the early 2000's. When Trek bought Rolf Wheels they also bought the tubeless rim strip IP. No one else makes that sort of rim strip. Even NoTubes dropped this system because it was not as reliable as a rim tape. Rolf Wheels used this plastic rimstrip because their paired spoke and offset spokes made it very difficult to seal the spoke bed with a fibre tape in the widths available at the time

 

Very interesting @DieselnDust

 

The Giant Trance E has a similar "thick plastic type ring" inside the rim.  So far so good ... touch wood !

[Bro Derek]

What does work pretty well is an undersized tube cut into a single layer and then stretched over the rim and topped off with old school insulation tape.

You get a valve and a cheap tape system that really works

Not quite as easy but it's good

[MudLark]

1 minute ago, Bro Derek said:

What does work pretty well is an undersized tube cut into a single layer and then stretched over the rim and topped off with old school insulation tape.

You get a valve and a cheap tape system that really works

Not quite as easy but it's good

Thanks Derek. I've considered it, but it's just more messing around - and reliability is key in my life. I'm not so young, sometimes I ride quite far solo and if I have drama, I have a problem, even if I do carry all sorts of bits to help me 'get back home'.

[MudLark]

Thanks guys. After all this, I'm just going to get the Bontragers. They're expensive but I know that they work and are very reliable and last forever.

[guidodg]

I used the Stans rim strips with integrated valve system a lot in the late 90s… it was a mission and no way was it better than modern rim tape…and seating tyres was a nightmare 

[MudLark]

53 minutes ago, guidodg said:

I used the Stans rim strips with integrated valve system a lot in the late 90s… it was a mission and no way was it better than modern rim tape…and seating tyres was a nightmare 

Could be. I have used the same pair of Trek ones since early 2018. On the same set of wheels. Going on 8 years. I go through a set of tyres a year, some more than a set a year. In all that time, these things have worked utterly flawlessly. You fit the tyre, chuck in some fluid, inflate and pop bead, rotate the wheel briefly and that's it. No drama, no trouble, no nothing. The only negative is that the tyre is a bit tighter to get on the bead is a bit harder to break - but then I don't use Maxxis either, which are usually much easier to fit. So no I am going to try them on some other wheels. If Trek has stock.

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, MudLark said:

 

Very interesting history. As always, thank you Diesel.

Two things:

I have used them consistently since early 2018 with zero - and I mean zero - issues on a pair of Bontrager Kovee Elite MTB carbon wheels. They've been nothing but an absolute delight for me, although they do make for a tighter fitting tyre.

I don't plan to use them on any road bike. The 19mm ID wheels are a pair of Mustang Elites on a MonsterCross bike I built years ago on which I run RaceKing 2.2's (and the wheels are just fine for the purpose, the cost of an upgrade not being justified) and the 22 IDs are Roval Control SCS' that I run with 38mm tyres on a very nice very light albeit old Diverge where my highest pressure is 2.8 bar. They will survive that, based upon my experience to date.

The problem is those rim strips worked reliably because they are moulded for that rim. There isn’t a manufacturer making generic rim strips since the Eclipse / DT Swiss PU rim strip exited the market some 10 years ago. Schwalbe offered something for a short period but I haven’t seen it on shelves anywhere for a long time. So if you can get the Bontrager strips to work that’s your first prize 

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, guidodg said:

I used the Stans rim strips with integrated valve system a lot in the late 90s… it was a mission and no way was it better than modern rim tape…and seating tyres was a nightmare 

Maybe early 2000’s . I bought one of the first kits in 1999 and it had a separate valve with 3M fibre tape. The rim strip arrived in autumn 2001. And you’re right it wasn’t as good as the original kit because the valve would always break off the strip. Stan went through about 4 strip changes before he got it working reliably and it became a long lasting install that was as hassle free as a UST rim.

Eclipse made a nice PU strip , DT Swiss bought them and trashed the marketability by only offering the kits with their rims ( which were made of Swiss cheese in the Y2K years)

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, Bro Derek said:

What does work pretty well is an undersized tube cut into a single layer and then stretched over the rim and topped off with old school insulation tape.

You get a valve and a cheap tape system that really works

Not quite as easy but it's good

That won’t work without a fibre reinforced tape to support the inner tube over the spoke holes. For this reason alone, rim strips didn’t work very well because once you sealed up the spoke bed the rim was basically tubeless ready without a plastic strip over the top. We used to convert rims for schrader valves using a 20inch bmx tube over the 3M fibre tape. Slit the tube along its length and trim the edges. Mount the tyre , remove valve core , sealant in , core back into the valve and air up. It was a hack version of Stans rimstrips but for schrader valved rims

[Bro Derek]

16 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

That won’t work without a fibre reinforced tape to support the inner tube over the spoke holes. For this reason alone, rim strips didn’t work very well because once you sealed up the spoke bed the rim was basically tubeless ready without a plastic strip over the top. We used to convert rims for schrader valves using a 20inch bmx tube over the 3M fibre tape. Slit the tube along its length and trim the edges. Mount the tyre , remove valve core , sealant in , core back into the valve and air up. It was a hack version of Stans rimstrips but for schrader valved rims

I'll tell my current tubeless setup like this it doesn't work..... 

[DieselnDust]

26 minutes ago, Bro Derek said:

I'll tell my current tubeless setup like this it doesn't work..... 

please show me your current tubeless set up that does not support a rubber tube over the spoke holes with either tape or a rimstrip. I’m curious

[NotSoBigBen]

Flip okes now that's a throwback to the past 🫣

Those ghetto tubeless (slit smaller tubes as rim strips with the built in valve), even wire bead tyres.

@dirtrider taught me then almost any combination of rim/tyre can be made tubeless with enough effort,  time and sealant! Has stood me well,  even now I have some wire bead tyres and even road rims setup tubeless (for off road use, not high pressure road)

Then again legend has it he can weld wood 🫣

[Shebeen]

4 hours ago, Bro Derek said:

What does work pretty well is an undersized tube cut into a single layer and then stretched over the rim and topped off with old school insulation tape.

You get a valve and a cheap tape system that really works

Not quite as easy but it's good

That is what was known as "ghetto tubeless".

[Shebeen]

3 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

The problem is those rim strips worked reliably because they are moulded for that rim. There isn’t a manufacturer making generic rim strips since the Eclipse / DT Swiss PU rim strip exited the market some 10 years ago. Schwalbe offered something for a short period but I haven’t seen it on shelves anywhere for a long time. So if you can get the Bontrager strips to work that’s your first prize 

What about this as linked earlier? Cheaper that the bontrager all in. https://twowheelstrading.co.za/product/wheels-2/tubeless-kits/tyre-sealant-stans-tubeless-kit-xc-26/

 

I really trust that stans no-tubes do not stuff around. If they sell them- they should work. 

The wheels I am looking at are shimano  mt15 (26")

 

[DieselnDust]

52 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

What about this as linked earlier? Cheaper that the bontrager all in. https://twowheelstrading.co.za/product/wheels-2/tubeless-kits/tyre-sealant-stans-tubeless-kit-xc-26/

 

I really trust that stans no-tubes do not stuff around. If they sell them- they should work. 

The wheels I am looking at are shimano  mt15 (26")

 

That is the standard Stan’s conversion kit as it has stood since 2004 when they ditched the fibre tape and replaced it with PU tape on the spoke bed to support the rubber sealing strip.