Without using any sealant can I use any sort of tire on a Stans rim (installed with Stans yellow rim tape and valve) for a tubeless wheel? or like other tubeless wheelsets can I only use UST tires?

Sure, but you'll probably lose air over time faster than avec sealant.

Why not use the sealant though?

If im running a Stan's Tubeless rim I wouldn't think I would need sealant?

What would be the point of tubeless rims if you have to run sealant with them?

how quickly over time would a non ust tire deflate and are there better tires than others for creating the air tight seal?

To stop air escaping when you're using a non-UST tyre?

Sealant is for sealing tires, not rims

Astoria Paranoia wrote:Sealant is for sealing tires, not rims

I've done it on my 29er with regular tyres, but it kept on going flat after a couple of weeks, so I used sealant, no hitches (and no flats) for the 9 months that I used the non tubeless specific tyres on the Stan's rims.
[edit: I was using Geax High performance Sagguaro's on Stans 355 rims]

I was on the phone to the stans importer the other day and he said:

UST Tyre = Yellow rim tape + sealant
Standard Tyre = Rim strip + sealant (and will be more susceptible to burping)

I know on Mavic UST rims with standard folding/kevlar bead Maxxis Ardents I have burped the front one once (when I'd been negligent and let my pressure get down to about 20) and have never rolled a tyre or burped it if I kept my pressures up (I normally run 30-32psi front 32-35psi rear depending on what sorta tracks I'm riding. Any less and I ding the rim on rocks down ridgeline, deliverance etc.

I lose pretty negligeable amounts of air, less than 5psi a week with normal tyres and sealant.

Stans rims are not designed for use with UST tyres - hence the rims are not manufactured to UST spec.

Notubes BST is designed for use with "normal" tyres - the whole system is based around this, as an alternative to UST.

The rims will still work with UST tyres, but not optimally - so they will likely hold air fine if the rim is sealed, but as the beads aren't designed to work, problems can arise (there have been numerous instances of UST tyres randomly blowing off notubes rims)

TLR/2Bliss/TNT is another story, they're kind of a half-way tyre (some would call them UST Lite).

Just to throw some more anecdotes around, I've had better luck with the stans system than UST - I blew several tyres off rims when I ran Mavic 819s, but since changing to stans rims a couple of years back I've not had any such problems - running all sorts of tyres, from silly light XC stuff through to TLR type tyres, with just yellow tape and a bit of jizz.

Vert - I've been running stans rims with non-UST tyres (variations on maxxis, WTB and Schwalbe). I've only had 2 problems in the more than 1 year I've been running them - a tyre rolled off (too low pressure I think) when doing the drop on billy t - and another (probably too low pressure) induced burp which didn't reseal because the goop had dried out after 7 months.

At the weekend I got a wee gash in the sidewall of my rear tyre, and the goop resealed it nicely. I would say go with the goop.

With stans rims I've been running yellow tape and goop (but not UST tyres). No rim strip required.

I'm a believer...

Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the importer was trying to encourage me to spend money on rubber rim strips when they aren't needed

I thought the rubber strips were for normal rims (ie, not stans ones) anyway

sweat, cheers for that Jono and Dave

i burped LOTS with non ust's on flows with yellow tape so i went to the strip and haven't had an issue since. should be ok for a smaller rider tho

Anecdote +1. I had loads of trouble with flows burping (non UST tyres) on the front, until I put a rubber in. Still use just tape on the rear Arch, fine.

My 29er uses Flows, and no rubber strips only tape. No problems.