Tubeless on the Nimbus Dominator+
So, I finally made the conversion to 4.8 on my Hatchet, and I thought I share my experience in trying tubeless ghetto on the Dominator+ rim, with a Schwalbe Jumbo Jim Snakeskin TL.
The rim does need some padding for the tyre to pre-seat sufficiently to inflate. Rather than playing around with closed cell foam, I went straight for the split tube method. That gave just enough padding to inflate (with a compressor or a SKS RideAir).
I used a 20" tube, nicely stretched over the rim but a 24" would also do.
Now, the proof lies in the pudding which, in my case, is the very muddy (squelch) ground in my local park. I had some problems previously with the 4" Jumbo Jims sinking in or slipping and I found the 4.8 to make a big difference. Speaking of big: I weigh 100kg, so that is fair load for a single tyre.
I initially had the tyre at 15 PSI and I have tried to dial it down to 10 PSI for more float in the mud. That is better on the wet, but obviously worse for self-steer on the access roads albeit manageable (for a beginner like me). However, at 10 PSI the tyre burps easily and sealant seeps out - see photos.
Back at 12-13 PSI and it is holding.
Overall, after about 20km of tubeless riding, I think it was worth a try but not perfect. The rim is probably not ideal for tubeless and with a Schwalbe fat tube weighing ~400g vs a considerable amount of sealant needed in the extra-fat tyre, I doubt that there is much advantage in the conditions that I use it for (tarmac access road, some hard-pack, lots of muddy grass). If I had more hard-pack, thorns or stones the extra puncture protection would probably be worth it. I guess for tubeless it might be better to go 32 hole and use a proper tubeless ready rim as discussed earlier in this thread.