Going Ghetto

For quite some time now, I've been really wrestling with the tires/rims on my MTB.  For some reason, the tubeless set up worked fine for almost a years worth of riding, but is no longer cooperating.  Every time I'd fill 'em up, the Stan's would bubble around the bead, but wouldn't seal.  We'd (my neighbor and I) try, and try, and try, and would finally think we got it to hold, only to wake up the next morning to a flat.  On a few occasions, it would actually hold long enough for me to go for a ride.  Saturday, May 17th, was one of those times.  I set out solo for a nice cruise around one of my usual paths.  About 4 miles in, my back rim hit a rock funny and put a small dent in it that made it immediately go flat.  I had no option other than to put a tube in it and limp back home.  I made a trip to my LBS, to see if they had any cheap rims that I could buy.  Honestly, I only really needed just the rear and didn't care if it didn't match the front.  The only thing they had in store would set me back $300.  Nope, wasn't going to do it, no way, no how.  The owner indicated that he had some used rims at his house and would check to see if they were what I was looking for and would have fit my budget.  He told me that the store would get in contact with me about it, but they never did.  I ended up doing two rides (about 54 miles total with that tube in my rear rim and the creaking issue described in my last post).  Frustrated, I went to another bike shop to see what they had too offer.  Nothing.  No 29" rims in stock at all.  It wasn't until after I left that second shop that I remembered what another neighbor of mine did to his MTB.  His bike wasn't set up to be tubeless, but he watched a YouTube video on how to modify it so that it could be.  He indicated that he's never had a problem with flats, leaking air, or anything else after making the conversion.  What the heck, I figured that I'd give it a shot too.  In order to make the conversion, I had to go buy 2 26" tubes and some more Stan's.  That's it.  Basically, you take the tubes and cut them in half down the seam opposite the valve stem.  You then place it in the rim (like rim tape), put the tire half on, add some Stan's, re-bead the rest of the tire, pump, and trim the rest of the lining tube.  All in all, the process only took about 30 minutes and cost only about $15.  Much better than $300!  BAM!  What do you know?!?!  The held air perfectly!  

Now all I had to do was take her for a spin to make sure the Stan's sealed everything up.  As soon as I hop on and take off, I hear a scrapping/rubbing sound coming from my front brake.  I get off to take a look and......wait for it.....the metal clip that holds the pads in place bent when I was putting the front tire back on.  DAMMIT!  No riding until I get that fixed I guess.  I solve one problem and another pops up.  This bike is starting to piss me off.