After far too many cosy nights, tucked up in a nice warm garage, the hardtail had forgotten what a good boggy patch of mud looked like.

During the month of January I bit the bullet and sent the bike on a crash-diet, upgrading its wheelset to Fulcrum zero and going tubeless in the process. Fitting the tyres using Stans Sealant was simple – made very easy following all instructions to the letter.

After trawling through a number of holey tyres, and painting the inside of my garage in the process, I finally found a couple that could hold pressure and the new setup was completed.

The wheels seem to accelerate up to speed super-fast but how they perform in the field is yet to be seen.

A Rocket Ron set to see plenty of mileage this year.

Finished article.

Two tips:

1. Track pump essential to get air into the tyre at high enough rate to seal onto rim.
2. Make sure you soap up those beads good – the tyre should jump straight on the rim on inflation.