Vent: That week everyone wanted to 'upgrade' to tubeless on old rims

Last Tuesday, three people came into the shop with bikes from 2010 asking for tubeless setups. I spent over an hour on the first one, a Trek hardtail, just trying to get the stock Bontrager rims to seal, wasting a whole bottle of sealant. By Friday, I'd told two more folks it wasn't worth the fight and the risk of a blowoff. Why do people think a ten year old rim not made for it will suddenly work? Has anyone else just started saying no to these jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

dianawilson9d ago

I mean, it's not like the tape is going to explode. People have been using gorilla tape for years without some huge disaster. Maybe it's just not that big of a deal.

blair9909d ago

Just explain the risks and offer a proper rim strip as a safer, cheaper fix.

kevint479d ago

Look, that tape is a ticking time bomb. It'll shift, melt from rim heat, or just plain fail when you hit a bump hard. A real rim strip costs like two bucks and takes two minutes to install. Using anything else is just asking for a sudden flat, or worse, a blown tire.