Anyone gone tubeless on road bike?

[mustang1]

What are your experiences?

 

[lazyfatgit]

Bit of a faff setting up but no issues once got it right. Enjoying the lower pressures on the poor chip seal roads around here. Running 28mm tyres.

You have to make sure the rim is sealed. After a couple of fails with tough plastic tapes a local MTB rider pit me onto gorilla tape. Trim to correct width. Sticks like the preverbial. No leaks.

Be prepared to put a tube in if you get a puncture that doesn't seal whilst out on the rd. It can be hard to get the tyre bead to seal. I use a compressor at home. CO2 does work but it took a couple of attempts and a minipump just wont do.

You can get a track pump with a tank or a tank on its own which you charge with a track pump.

You need specific tubeless tyres and rims. Tried tubeless rims with non tubeless ready tyres and one blew off the rim overnight. Very messy.

All in all, apart from the initial disaster im fairly pleased. Did get home on a 110km ride and hadnt realised rear had punctured until later.

 

[betty swollocks]

Mavic now do a range of tubeless - wheels and tyres made for each other. Takes the faff away, as the tyres can be easily seated with just a track pump: first time (and in my experience), every time.
I've taken them on and off several times, just to be sure.

 

[Milkfloat]

Plenty of previous threads on tubeless. Reviews are mixed, personally I have had a good experience once past the initial faff. I have just bought yet another new bike and will also be converting this to tubeless as soon as a cheap deal appears on tyres.

 

[Will Spin]

Yes, I agree with the above. You need a bit of technical knowledge, which is available on various forum threads. I've had tubeless on 2 of my bikes for about a year now and have done approximately 4,000 miles so far on them. Once I mastered the setting up (i.e fitting the tyres, seating them on the rims and filling with sealant), which really isn't all that difficult, I have found them a massive improvement on the road as far as puncture stoppages are concerned. I live in the south downs area and the roads around here are very bad for punctures with flint shards, mud and latterly, thorns from hedge flailing.
I've got Shimano Ultegra wheels, which have tubeless ready rims and I've been using mostly Hutchinson sector 28 tyres, recently I fitted an IRC Formula Pro X Guard tyre to one rear wheel as I have read good reviews and the tyre has a small amount of tread so might grip better in the winter.

 

[User482]

Yes. I like it. What have I learned?

1. You need to keep the sealant topped up.
2. If you do that, it does work - I've had at least two punctures self-seal.
3. For new tyres, fit them with a tube first to get them into shape and remove any creases.
4. Hutchinson Sector 28s go on without tyre levers and up with just a track pump
5. Ride quality definitely feels nicer than using tubes.
6. Schwalbe Pro Ones ride nicely but wear out quickly and are a bit fragile.

 

[mustang1]

Mavic now do a range of tubeless - wheels and tyres made for each other. Takes the faff away, as the tyres can be easily seated with just a track pump: first time (and in my experience), every time.
I've taken them on and off several times, just to be sure.

Do you still need to use sealant when installing the tyres?

 

[mustang1]

If I buy a bike with tubeless wheels and tubeless tyres, can I then install non-tubeless tyres (conti gp4k) with inner tubes? I think yes, according to my research.

Another scenario: if I'm riding tubeless wheels with tubeless tyres and get a puncture that the sealant cannot seal, can I put a tube in the tubeless tyres and ride safely/fast/long distance? (I guess yes).

One more question: is the PRIMARY purpose of the sealant to allow the tyre to be INSTALLED, and a side benefit is for the punctures to be sealed?

 

[lazyfatgit]

Yes

Yes

No. You can install some tubeless tyres without sealant. UST standard was designed to allow tubeless tyres to be inflated with a track pump without sealant. Tyres which are not UST compliant may need sealant to keep them airtight. Some tyres are designed to need sealant. I had a Schwalbe one which was seeping sealant from new and the distributor advised me to paint the inside with sealant and reinstall.

A major benefit of tubeless is punctures mostly seal up and let you keep riding. Why would you not want to use sealant?

 

[bpsmith]

Out of interest, does the bike feel any different with sealant swishing around inside the tyre?

A pair of my wheels had water deep into the rim recently and it was a strange experience, not to mention the annoying sound. My assumption would be that the sealant is a lot thicker so wouldn’t have the same effect?

 

[confusedcyclist]

Tubeless is really peaking my interest lately too. My next wheel build will definitely be tubeless. Primarily to be used on a commuter bike. I keep hearing tales about people not realising they've had several punctures along the course of several months continue on happily, only to discover it some way down the line when removing the tyre and spotting the dried sealant on the inside of the wheel. Then there's that video of the guy deliberately puncturing his tyre with a pallette knife and screwdriver and it keeps sealing up no problem. So impressive.

While the occasional puncture with normal tubes isn't that much of a hassle in the right weather, if this makes cold winter night time punctures repairs far less likely, it seems like a no brainer. Seems to me the only major downside is messy roadside repairs if you get a flat that can't be sealed and need to stick a tube in the tyre. Is it a messy affair with loads of sealant swishing around, getting all over your hands making a sticky mess, or is this not really an issue?

 

[Will Spin]

Out of interest, does the bike feel any different with sealant swishing around inside the tyre?

A pair of my wheels had water deep into the rim recently and it was a strange experience, not to mention the annoying sound. My assumption would be that the sealant is a lot thicker so wouldn’t have the same effect?

No, if it does you've put far too much sealant in.

Tubeless is really peaking my interest lately too. My next wheel build will definitely be tubeless. Primarily to be used on a commuter bike. I keep hearing tales about people not realising they've had several punctures along the course of several months continue on happily, only to discover it some way down the line when removing the tyre and spotting the dried sealant on the inside of the wheel. Then there's that video of the guy deliberately puncturing his tyre with a pallette knife and screwdriver and it keeps sealing up no problem. So impressive.

While the occasional puncture with normal tubes isn't that much of a hassle in the right weather, if this makes cold winter night time punctures repairs far less likely, it seems like a no brainer. Seems to me the only major downside is messy roadside repairs if you get a flat that can't be sealed and need to stick a tube in the tyre. Is it a messy affair with loads of sealant swishing around, getting all over your hands making a sticky mess, or is this not really an issue?

I've only had to do this once and as long as you remember that there may still be sealant in the tyre as you take it off and then drain it out by turning the tyre inside out it isn't a problem. Also, if the punctured tyre hasn't sealed it probably means that most of the sealant has gone from inside the tyre before you get as far as putting a tube in.

 

[AlanW]

You did ask - HERE

 

[confusedcyclist]

Tee hee, just ordered some DT Swiss XT 331 Disc rims for my aforementioned build, took the plunge as I found some 20% off best price in UK, even after shipping from deutschland. Now to decide on the hubs

Eager to give em a bash.

 

[HLaB]

I have a tubless disc and whilst it was a bit of a faff/mess to set up and top up, Ive been happy with the performance gains and I think judging by sealant on the frame it has worked.

I know quite a lot of folk who road race with tubeless and theyre very fast