I use the following tape to seal up the rim bed. Its very thin, and can layer it nicely to seal up all the spoke holes. Cheap also - $5 for 180 feet.
Then if the wheel came with a “stock” rim strip, I put that back on top of this tape to get the required thickness to help the tire to seal.
Yeah, Stan’s and other brands don’t recommend using anything beside rim tape, and it makes sense. If you don’t change your tires and sealant often, then you could run into problems, but I’ve never had issues with it 
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Gorilla Tape has a tighter weave and stronger upper layer that makes it more impervious to leakage, hence the recommendation for that and not “duct tape”. Grabbing your run of the mill silver tape will not yield good results.
If you use standard tape, just make sure you are very careful with tire levers. It’s incredibly easy to tear or smear the tape when using a tire lever, which is the main reason I prefer using Gorilla Tape.
For poking the hole in the tape for the valve stem, I get a very small diameter pick really hot with a lighter then gently press it into the tape in the center of the hole. If it’s hot enough, it will very easily and cleanly make a hole that will not want to stretch and propagate.
I just bought a new Tarmac with tubeless ready Roval wheels. In the past I have used Conti 4000sii tires with thicker tubes. I average one flat a season. With so few flats, would it be worth the hassle to go tubeless?
I switched over to Orange Seal tire sealant years ago after not having much luck with Stans. Orange Seal is non-corrosive, safe for the environment, and has greatly reduced flats for me. I’ve had 6 tire punctures this year and every one of them has sealed up, it’s worked great for me. I typically use their non-endurance formula.
Depends on the road surfaces you’ll be riding on. I think the biggest benefit of tubeless on a road bike is to prevent against pinch flats, as there’s no longer any tube to get pinched. So if you ride on roads with any sections of poor surface, or if you plan to do any gravel sections, then tubeless is worth it I think.
If riding on nice pristine surface, then I don’t think there’s really much benefit to tubeless - as I’ve read reports of people saying tubeless doesn’t do so well at, say, sealing a nail hold due to the high pressures involved in road tires. (FWIW, since switching my road bike to tubeless over a year ago, I’ve not flatted on either road or gravel. It’s possible the sealant has sealed up some small puncture holes, but I don’t know - have not seen any evidence of that. The primary protection I’m looking for is prevention against pinch flats)
Some might say weight savings, and eliminating friction between tire and tube, but I don’t think these are big enough to justify the work to get your tubeless setup dialed in.
I’ve used Stans for 3 years on both my road bike and gravel bike, never had a problem, I’m reluctant to change whats not broken!
Effetto Mariposa Caffelatex Works very good. if you want add some tiny flakes and you are good to go until you wear off the tire. I like it more bc in the strange event that I need more sealant I can carry my Effetto Mariposa Espresso and top it off.
I’ve used the Effetto product in past and found it pretty good (but very rare puncture touch wood) it is a little thin seeming and I do wonder how it would handle a big puncture or tear.
Am just about to use some on a road setup with Schwalbe Pro ones, so will see how that goes.
Also keen for anyone elses road tubeless sealant experiences. I’ll likely run 70-85ish psi in 28mm tires so hopefully the lower pressure helps the sealant work quicker rather than just blowing it out the hole!
Another fan of Orange Seal here for MTB. I tried Finish Line sealant first and did not like it at all.
Switched to orange seal and haven’t looked back.
Big fan of cafe lattex also here, used Doc Blue (rebadged Stans) for a while but the cafe latex is far better for me.
What are these flakes you speak of?
Essentially this flakes are glitter that you can get on any Michaels store (I think thats the name). There is a package with regular glitter and others with figures (Stars!), I mix them both but only a small qty.
Thanks ! I’ll raid the Mrs’s craft box and give that a go
Orange Seal. Road tubeless 25mm. Schwalbe 1 pro One.
Thought I had a puncture, wasn’t sure. Rode past several faster/stronger with flats on BKGF.
The last 25 miles rode on a tire sealed by Orange seal. Confirmed the next morning with tire guage and visual. I was oblivious to a low psi due to fatigue and one the edge of bonking.
A little off topic but does anyone have a trick to cleaning off tape residue from rims? I use Gorilla tape- and it leaves a big stuck on mess on my carbon rims. I’ve never actually fully cleaned this residue off, just put a new strip on top, and I haven’t had any problems. But one day I would like to clean this caked on tape residue.
Caffelatex Works a little different to the other brands. It more foams up inside.
I did a test with a tubular tyre I had here once which I couldn’t ride anymore. Put some sealant in it and pumped it up to 150 psi. Then hit it with a small screw driver and hammer. Damn was it hard to bust. But the sealant did its job. Couldn’t pop it
Thanks Dave. I think I’m going to stay with tubes for now.
I run Caffelatex for my daily riding and Stans Race for big events. I like Caffelatex a lot, but I developed extra trust in Stans Race after reading positive reviews and using it for my bigger races this summer. If something works for you, the confidence alone is probably worth something. I’m mtb so no roadie comments to share, sorry.
Yep Greg - as you said. Trust it, stay with it. Have more of it coming and some valves that have a removable core.
Thing is with sealant - how far do you trust the tyre with cuts and nicks it in. Getting a few but you never know if it’s gone all the way through lol
Mdl
Anyone has experience using the BOYD cycling Tubeless Kit and the Tickeld Pink Sealant? I usually order the Tubeless valves from there as they have sizes for 45mm, 60mm and 90mm rims. Noticed they have a kit that includes rim tape, valves and Sealant for 30dlls for a pair of rims.