HED may not clearly state it on their website, but the H3+ sitting in my garage is definitely tubeless compatible. As greenplease mentioned, no tape is needed on the rim (not even using tape with latex tubes on it currently). I will do some tubeless testing with this wheel and a Jet+ disc later this year, or early next year when I start prepping what equipment I'll be running for next season's TTs.

I don't mean to belabor the point, but it sounds like the H3+ may indeed be "tubeless ready" in that you don't need to use a tubeless rim strip (since there are no spoke holes) but not truly "tubeless compatible" meaning the bead hook is not the special "squared off shape" that is designed to work with tubeless tires to lock the bead into place so that the tire can be used tubeless without sealant. Stan's has been selling tubeless conversion kits for years that work with normal clincher rims to convert them to tubeless - it sounds like maybe the H3+ is another wheel with a normal clincher rim that can be run tubeless, though perhaps not as securely as a true tubeless compatible rim.

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
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not sure how tubeless rims lock tires into place, but the entire + line from HED locks the tire at the rim. You have to physically push it away after you deflate to remove tire, from both sides

No, this is a tubeless ready/compatible rim. Tire beads pop and lock into place, just like any other tubeless ready/compatible rim I have laying around my garage.

OK thx. Now if only Hed would give us the turbine brake track...

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

The only hole in a H3 rim is for the inflation valve for the tube. So no special rim strip is needed ala tubeless rims with other holes in them.

Went tubeless with the Vittoria corsa speed and all went well mounting until I heard air leaking. Going around the rim its leaking at the brake track seam opposite the valve thru the brack track surface - where the pads would sqeeze - so the whole side wall. Its nice and locked in on the bead. I dont see how even tubeless tape could cover that as it wouldnt get up into the side wall.

Defective rim? Suggestions?

Well I was about to go verify on my H3+ as I just pulled the tire and have a Schwalbe Pro One laying around, except I'm short a couple of tubeless ready valves at the moment.

Are you sure it's the actual brake track surface and not the tire bead interface to the rim at that point?

I unmounted and remounted - even rotating the tire just in case it was the tire bead. Same problem. I may stick it under water to confrim but sure feels like whole track and i can change the tune depending how much of the track i cover up.

Bought the wheel used so if I have to put a tube in it, I'll be very disappointed but not sure anything I can do... Didnt see anything officially from HED saying they were tubeless. Got anything? All Google could turn up was another used ine for sale stating tubeless.

Cant go back to seller if its just us experts on ghe internet saying its tubeless.

You could try Stan's sealant? (or whatever brand you like of the same kind of stuff.)
http://www.notubes.com/Sealant-C14.aspx

I might try that. The thought of that on the brake track. Don't know if it would hold.

Why not just throw some tubeless tape in there anyways? That and sealant should take care of any leaking even if the rim bed is tubeless ready, which yours specific rim isn't if it's leaking air like that.

Something pretty thin like Scotch 8896 would be a good choice. $8, 10 minutes and problem solved. You shouldn't need to do multiple layers (I do 3 for road pressure) since there are no spoke holes to worry about. Maybe two wraps without building up the rim bed too much. Road tubeless tires can be an extra pain to mount if the rim bed is built up too much.

Yeah. 1 layer of stans would probably work since I have that. And sealant but now I feel like I'm creating a fault situation. Just stick a latex tube in it at this point.

Just note - I wouldn't consider H3 Plus tubeless ready.

I've emailed HED and I'll let you know what they say.

How so? Tubeless setups require sealant in the tire.

Required? Granted I haven't used tubeless road wheels but on the MTB, I didn't need sealant for the rim. Sealant was there but not so the rim would seal.

Don't get me wrong. I'll probably still try it. Guess I really want to know if anyone else is running it tubeless and this is a defect in the rim or just not really tubeless ready wheel.

I put two layers stans around the rim and that did help with the leak (holding ~20psi vs 0 before) but not ridable. Havent added sealant yet. Did spray some soap and it is the whole brake track but maily at the base (carbon/al interface) and near the upper 1/3 of the track.

Tried to take a pic of the seam.

So is consensus that if sealant works, safe to ride? Go back to worrying about life's other problems? No heating it up while braking concerns or anything? Guess sealing rubber mentally is fine for me. Sealing aluminum not so much.

I'm eyeing the rim on mind and I'm completely baffled that what appears to be a solid rim wouldn't hold air.

And herein lies the differentiator to most true tubeless rims. A tubeless rim will not have this. After the rim is extruded and then bent into the curve this is the result. Some companies weld and then blend it back to final shape others leave it. This is predominant on Renn discs and h3 along with some other rims. For non tubeless situations, it doesn't matter. This is likely the reason it is not marketed as a tubeless ready wheel.

I'd so it is likely you can get it sealed, but definitely not an foolproof solution.

Eta: rims of this type are often referred to as "pinned" as there are little pins aligning the two sides. Other rims are welded instead. Both have merits but the welded idea is more prominent today.

Yeah. Thinking latex tube and be done with it. I'd trust that more. Really just thought going tubeless would be fun.

Going tubeless without sealant makes zero sense to me. Since you're so close, why not just throw in 30ml of sealant in each tire and give it a spin??

So I added sealant - specifically Flat Attack https://www.amazon.com/...ge?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - and it was fun trying to get the sealant to plug my seam on the rim. It basically has entailed 3 days and every position I could fathom but I think we're holding good pressure now.

A couple observations - sealing the rim is harder because you cannot just spin the wheel as that throws the sealant to the tire. I would pump it up to 120psi and then put the brake track seam to the bottom and let the sealant pool there then I laid the tired flat or flipped it so that the seam was at the top. Essentially I was trying to get the sealant to fall into the seam a little bit at a time.

Once that started to seal, it was really interesting to see where else the sealant showed up. Not gaping but at various points around the track I could see it slipping out between the tire and brake track.

But the most interesting, in my opinion, was the tire (Vittoria Corsa Speed) which had lot of air bubbles on the gray sidewall just from mounting it. This is a tubeless ready tire but still required sealant to seal it. Guess I just wasn't expecting that but the sealant did eventually work itself everywhere it needed to go.

So in the end, yes, I think you can make the H3 Plus tubeless and I plan to race it that way (at least a B/C level race at first) but its a process to get it right - not like my tubeless mountain bike setup which was pop and go.

Also, the 23mm Corsa Speed measured 27mm wide @ 100psi. the HED brake track is crazy wide (not just the width of the rim, like Zipp).

And in closing... It just hit me... the 27mm wide might not fit on my tri bike (test ride was on the roadie) as the 25mm Conti 4000S rubbed the downtube when it was mounted on some Zipp wheels (I think that was 27-28mm). All this might just have been a fun experiment...

Just some constructive notes:

Flat Attack isn't worth using.

"Tubeless Ready" means it NEEDS sealant to work.

Check out the Stans videos on sealing tires. They kind of shake the rim while rotating and then set the wheel on its side. Start at 1:30 and watch his sweet moves.

The sidewalls are really what you're sealing when setting up tubeless tires. It often takes a few days to fully seal. Simply spinning the rim doesn't do much to seal the system.

Road tubeless pressures often benefit from more particles in there. Stans or Orange Seal with a teaspoon of glitter or pepper for every oz of sealant is a good place to start.

Good video. The shakes would have been a good move.

Why not air attack? Doesn't dry out for years and tested very well.

So maybe I just don't remember or had a different setup but getting the mtb tubeless wasn't as involved. Either way, I ended at the same result. Just checked it again and holding pressure.

Thanks for the info!

Flat attack isn't intended to be used outside of inner tubes. It specifically says not for tubeless applications. The test where it 'tested very well' even mentioned that.

Anyone have a review/thoughts on these? Competitive Cyclist is running a special today, thinking about picking up the front for $900