It’s a Marin Nicasio+ and Marin doesn’t specify on their website. It’s a budget bike so I doubt that it is, but I recently setup a MTB tubeless and it was so easy. Got me thinking I might set this up as well since I have GravelKing SS+ on it which are tubeless compatible.
What qualities make a rim suitable for tubeless? I use this bike for hauling children around on adventures so I don’t want to risk blowing the tire off the rim if it’s there’s doubt about it working out.
by Capital_Payment_5950
3 Comments
The main thing a rim needs to be tubeless compatible is the ability to seal the valve stem (which you can do on almost any rim) and the ability to seal the spokes (less obvious). If you don’t know what the rims are, the easiest thing would be to take the tire off and take it to a shop and see if they think it’ll work.
Any rim is “tubeless compatible” with enough tape and determination!
I assume you don’t know your rim model or the manufacturer doesn’t officially say it’s tubeless compatible.
Here’s what to look for. The rim profile matters. The rim must be double walled. Ideally, the rim should have a “shelf” for the bead to sit in with a 90° angle to the rim sidewalls. It’s even better when there is a “bead lock”, that is a small protrusion that will keep the bead on the shelf, even without air in the tyre.
So, the [Ryde Zac 2000](https://www.ryde.nl/zac-2000/) for example would be really bad for tubeless as there is no bead shelf.
The [Edge R 25](https://www.ryde.nl/edge-r-25/) from the same manufacturer is a good fit for tubeless: there is a bead shelf and a bead lock.
There are other aspects, for instance tolerances of the rim. The tyre should have a tight fit to the rim. But that is something you can fix with an additional layer of tubeless tape.