Granth9 wrote:
I do have some questions about "best practices" though. Tires matter, rims matter, sealant matters, what about rim tape? does it make sense next tire install to go the extra mile and get the Silca tape, stans tape or another version? What about tubeless valves? Again, does the Silca system work better? I'm interested in the Mil-kit system of valves but the price seems a bit steep but there do seem to be some advantages over standard valves.
I haven't used the Silca tape, so I can't comment on it. I've used tubeless tape from Stan's, HED, and Vision Tech (FSA), which all seemed to be the exact same stuff material-wise. Stan's has always made a couple width options for their various rims. All work very well and are my go-to style of tape. Per my
installation video, I install an inner tube with the tire and pump it up overnight before installing sealant, to make sure that the adhesive is all the way stuck down.
I've also used the blue American Classic tape, which didn't seem as good. The adhesive layer started to separate from the backing part of the tape, and the tape got all rolled up at the edges, and basically fell apart.
I've never used the MilKit system. I always use whatever valves come with the wheels, since they're often specific to that rim shape. For example, a DT Swiss tubeless valve is shaped different than a Bontrager one, which is different than a Stan's valve. Pretty much all modern tubeless valves have removable cores, and I'll inject sealant using the small pre-measured bottles (i.e. Stan's, Schwalbe Doc Blue), or an injector. The MilKit setup looks pretty slick and you can really dial in an exact amount of sealant, but I'm just not that picky. Looks like it's designed to work with rims that take the "universal" style tubeless valve, which is the round Stan's style.