Going tubeless

As far as changes to my bike go, it's all been rather manic! After writing off my previous 6 year old rim I decided to update my wheel/tyre system to something far lighter and a bit more up to date. Some online research and a few phone calls later and a lovely set of Hope Hoops were on their way to me: their uber-reliable Pro2 Evo hubs laced up to Stans No Tubes Flow Ex rims. I chose this wheelset as I wanted reliability and strength matched with relatively light weight (1880g), something this wheelset gave in spades. Whilst I was at it, I decided to refresh my tyre choice as well moving away from my trusty high rollers, instead fitting a set of Schwalbe Hans Dampfs. This is Schwalbes brand new all condition tyre, something I was excited to try out.

I decided to go tubeless at the same time, using the Hope/NoTubes conversion kit for the Flow rims. This is a fantastic piece of kit and proved laughably easy to set up. It was a case of sticking the tape firmly down in the rim bed (I left the original cloth rim tape on), fitting the valve stem and seating the tyre sans sealant and finally adding sealant and inflating. The whole procedure was trouble free and simple but that could well have been down to both the tyres and rims being brand new.

I am running the Hans Dampf tyres at roughly 30psi at the moment however I expect I will drop them down further but my initial impressions were very good! The first proper ride was at some local (ish) downhill trails where the conditions were muddy, chalky, wet and horrible! The tyres gripped well and slid predictably whilst staying composed on roots, everything I wanted from a tyre! I dropped pressures steadily throughout the day yet never experience burping. Having said that we stayed clear of the big jumps due to the conditions.

Overall both the wheels and the tyres are very good: they're reliable, strong, light and easy to set up tubeless.  If you're looking for a reliable and relatively lightweight wheelset for less than £350 then you can't go far wrong with the Hope Hoops for all mountain riding, but more XC orientated riders could get lighter if they are willing to sacrifice strength! A few months down the line I'll post up a long term review, to see what shape the components are in after some serious hammering!