V20 conversion from narrow 700mm wheels to wide 26"

[Karl42]

Thanks. The Surly ET tires look good, but they are 50% more expensive here than the Marathons, and I already have the Marathons now, so presumably and hopefully they'll last for a while. Did you do anything special to run the Marathons tubeless, or just use rim tape and put in some sealant?

The initial impression on my upright after replacing my old Panaracer 26x1.25 high pressure road tires with the Marathon Mondials 26x2.00 was that the bike handles like a tank. But after a few minutes I got used to them. These fat tires make potholes almost disappear, and climbing on steep dirty roads is possible with confidence.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Did you do anything special to run the Marathons tubeless, or just use rim tape and put in some sealant?

I used tubeless rims and taped them with 1 inch gorilla tape, but I think any rim tape would do. I used Stans sealant. To get the beads to seal, I employ a trick where you put a tube in the tire and pump it up to maximum pressure, making sure to hear the tire beads pop in place. Let out the air and take the inner tube out one side, leaving the other bead not broken. Then use a CO2 cartridge to fill the tire quickly, which will pop the tire bead to the rim again. Use the whole cartridge to make sure the beads are well set. Check to make sure it doesn't leak. Then l let out all the air and add sealant to the valve. I use Fillmore Tubeless valves, so it's real easy. They're expensive but work really well. You can get buy with Presta or Schrader valves with removable cores and save money, but they may get plugged with sealant over time. Pump the tire back to the desired pressure. Shift the wheel around to spread the sealant. Bounce it on the ground. Then let it sit overnight. Check that it hasn't lost any pressure. If it goes flat, you have a leak to find. It could be in the tire or the rim. Look for sealant on the rim edge and around the spoke holes. I originally had leaking around the spoke holes with one wheel and had to retape it. The other wheel had leakage around the tire bead. I had to replace the rim as it was defective. It was fixed under warrantee. Good luck.

 

[Karl42]

My new S40 fork arrived today. Thanks to the Cruzbike team for sending this to me!
It certainly has enough clearance for anything I want. Even my 29" mountain bike wheel looks like it would probably fit.
When I unpacked the fork I noticed that there was something dangling around inside quite loudly. Fortunately I could get it out with some effort and got several bits of metal out, probably the burrs from drilling the holes in the side of the fork. I would have been very annoyed with that tingling sound permanently in my bike.
Now I need to get some new 26" wheels (at least for the front), as the ones from my old bike don't fit my cassette for the V20.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

My new S40 fork arrived today. Thanks to the Cruzbike team for sending this to me!
It certainly has enough clearance for anything I want. Even my 29" mountain bike wheel looks like it would probably fit.
When I unpacked the fork I noticed that there was something dangling around inside quite loudly. Fortunately I could get it out with some effort and got several bits of metal out, probably the burrs from drilling the holes in the side of the fork. I would have been very annoyed with that tingling sound permanently in my bike.
Now I need to get some new 26" wheels (at least for the front), as the ones from my old bike don't fit my cassette for the V20.

BTW, the S40 fork stem is much longer than the V20. If you want to keep your handlebars low, like they were on the V20, you'll have to cut the fork stem to size. Otherwise, you'll need some spacers. You can get them on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LYYJ87G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did the spacers as I wanted the bars up high.