I just picked up a pair of these as well. You couldn't pay me to run them tubeless. The tissue paper thin sidewall is a failure just waiting to happen.

I run SL 26" tubes in mine an am still concerned with tearing a sidewall.

 

Ouch.. I see!

A friend had almost convinced my to run them tubeless, but now I reckon I'll wait till I got a set of Evolution..

 

EVO's are thinner than performance. However, EVO Snakeskins are thicker and perfect for running tubeless.

 

EVO's are thinner than performance. However, EVO Snakeskins are thicker and perfect for running tubeless.

I have a set of 2.35 Nobby Nic's EVO Snakeskins, on Crest rims. So far I have about ten hours on them in almost all rocky terrain. No cuts or tears!

Gcappy
Full Tilt Fitting Oswego NY

 

I just set up both a Nobby Nic performance and Racing Ralph performance tubeless. It required a compressor but no other trickery. Sealed up immediately with no porous sidewall issues and are holding air.

Sidewalls seemed no thinner than the sidewalls on the ExiWolf's they replaced.

 

+1. I have set up 5 pairs of the 29" Nobby Nic performance tires, and while the sidewalls do seem thin in comparison to the snakeskins or a maxxis EXO, the are no thinner than the majority of tires out there, especially when compared to some of the conti's and kendas. The casing kind of "pops" open once unrolled from the package, making them very easy to inflate. They seal up immediately with no sealant seeping out at all. The people I have set up have not reported any issues with burping, although I have observed that if you are running lower than 28 psi they do wear down kind of fast and the casing starts to get uniform wear lines all around. That said, one of the guys I set up ran his until the rear was basically bald and the casing looked thread bare but it still never leaked. If you live in an area with a crap ton of sharp rocks you should probably be riding a reinforced casing regardless, but for most trails these are an easy an relatively inexpensive way to get a wicked light and grippy tubeless setup. As a side note, all of the setups I did were on either Arches, Flows, or Pacenti TL 28 rims with a single layer of yellow tape.

 

I have found that although Schwalbe tires preform excellent, they tend to have sidewall blow outs in more rocky conditions. I have moved away from them as a result.

 

I've run a nobby nic performance tubeless on a stan's arch ex wheelset for the last 3 months, ~900 miles, with no issues. The setup was easy and it performs well as a front tire for me. I'm running 25 psi and I'm 165-170 lbs. It's been much more durable than the Racing Ralph I tried in the rear...

 

Running performance tubeless and no issues on dt Swiss 5.1 rim

 

With the performance tire I think that is a matter of luck.
The Nobby Nic went tubeless without any problem but looses a bit of air over the weeks.

A Albert performance made me a bit of trouble because leaks a lot of air befor the sealant closes all the gaps, but then it keeps perfectly pressure.

 

NN 29 x 2.35 TL



Help: I have trouble setting up my NN tires on my Pacenti TL 28 rim. Any tricks in setting up this tire? It was easy to install it on the rim but putting
air was a pain. I tried my air compressor but it will not hold air. Thanks for any input.
Is NN a rear tire set up?

 

I've been running a Nob** Nic Performace tubeless in the rear on a Charger Pro 29er rim since July in New England. There are all sorts of rocks on our trails and the sidewalls are definitely showing some wear in the threads, but I've got no slices, and have had no flats. Some of the side knobs are starting to wear, but man, this tire has been great. Wonderful traction almost everywhere.

On the same trails, with tubes, I sliced sidewalls on a Specialized Captain and a Maxxis Ardent. I figured the Nob** Nic would be toast, but it just keeps going.

Before the summer, I'm going to put a Hans Dampf snakeskin up front, and move my Ardent LUST to the rear, before the Nic fails out on the trail. But to read reviews people wrote, you'd think you'll slice the sidewall before you get the bike off the rack, and that hasn't been my experience at all.

 

I don't know about schwalbe . . . I run maxxis ardents only, but my bro vinnycactus has tried most of them and says they can all eat a bag of hammer*****. I trust him completely. STAY AWAY. If not, GLWT.

 

Mountain Bike Action ran a review in Aug. 2012 comparing the Nobby Nic EVO with the Nobby Nic Performance ORC. Both tires were set up tubeless. Here's a quote from the review: "Mounting these tires proved to be a pleasure, as both snapped easily into their place without the use of a tube. The less-expensive ORC tire required the use of a compressor to initially seat it, while the Evolution tire snapped in with just a floor pump. Both tires held air from the start with a typical 1.5 ounces of Stan's sealant per tire." Here's the review: Tire Shootout: You Get What You Pay For | News | mountain-bike-action

Note that the Performance ORC was a single rubber compound, and this tire was phased out in 2012. In 2013, the Performance tire is DC, or Dual Compound, meaning harder rubber for the center knobs and softer rubber on the side knobs.

 

I set up a set of NN Performance tires tubeless on Black Flag Comp 29er wheels. I had run them previously with tubes for several months on a different wheelset. They mounted very easily on the Black Flags with only a floor pump. It took some time to get all the pinholes sealed, but they held air within an hour or so. I've run this setup for about 250 miles without any issues whatsoever. I run them at about 24 PSI front and 27 PSI rear. This was my first attempt at tubeless and it has worked out great for me. I find that they do lose some air pressure over a week and need to be topped up before a ride, but it isn't really a chore.

 

Ran the nobbys for two months had to patch a sidewall about a month in within 2 months they were worn out. Washed out in the corners, spun out on the climbs I'd never buy a set, they came on my new bike. I'm trying out vee trail taker/ flow and a high roller 2

 

To bring this question back from the dead: I have the Nobby Nic 2.25 Dual Compound Performance tires set up on Stan's Arch EX 29er rims. They set up fine tubeless after a bit of the shake-turn-repeat routine, plus soapy water to see where all the leaks were. However, the important thing is that the sidewalls flex way, way too much on my Stan's Arch EX wheels w/ 21mm inner width. There's way too much squirminess, and I needed to slow down a bit on turns as a result. To counteract the squirminess, I have to inflate the tires to about 30 psi to reduce all the flex, which completely negates the main advantage of going tubeless (which is to run lower air pressures).

FINAL CONCLUSION: The sidewalls of the Nobby Nic are too flimsy to run low air pressures when set up tubeless on 21mm (inner width) tubeless rims.

I have a pair of these tyres, which are NOT tubeless ready unfortunately.
Has anybody got any experience riding them without tubes?

I have a set of American Classic AM 29 wheels.

 

I'm running 2.35x27.5 Evo, Snakeskin, TL Trailstar on 23 mm (internal) rims in Utah at 19 PSI rear/17 front with no issues whatsoever. Same with the 2.2 on the rear. I've run them slightly lower as well. They set up tubeless by just riding the bike and allowing the spinning of the wheels to spread Orange seal. I've never used the Performance line.

 

Wow that is low pressure! What do you weigh? I am worried about rolling a tire off a rim at anything under 20psi but love the grip provided. My rims are only 19mm id though. I weigh 185lbs and I use 2.35 HD TS front and back at 21 and 24 psi.