Feeding the puncture fairy

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But not Tannus? They seem to always come in weird colours, which I'm sure puts some people off fitting them.
True. They are Tannus though, they do black ones.
 

Nigelnightmare

Über Member
I tried airless tyres years back.
Two main things were grip in the wet and it felt like you were riding uphill or into a head wind all the time.
On the plus side great for getting fitter + no punctures.
Ended up knocking 15mins off my commute.
It was the wet weather grip that made me go back to pneumatics after coming off a couple of times.
 
I tried airless tyres years back.
Two main things were grip in the wet and it felt like you were riding uphill or into a head wind all the time.
On the plus side great for getting fitter + no punctures.
Ended up knocking 15mins off my commute.
It was the wet weather grip that made me go back to pneumatics after coming off a couple of times.
They do take a bit of getting used to, but ( as you said ) they are great for training. And you do get a smug sense of satisfaction when you know you can’t get punctures in the cold, dark, wet days / nights. The new 25mm versions with a lower ‘virtual pressure’ are much improved as well.
 

Theolegit

New Member
Can never understand why more tyre/wheel manufacturers don’t do tubeless compatability, been on tubeless on my mountain bikes for years! And my road bike for 2. Don’t get punctures anymore! Not looking forward to it when my trike arrives in about a week
 

Nigelnightmare

Über Member
Probably because tubeless is a poor idea on a road bike.

Why?
 
The main advantage of a tubeless set up is being able to run much lower pressures than usual, and not run the risk of a pinch flat. The original idea was to run them on relatively big wide, lower pressure, high volume, XC MTB type tyres, on off road bikes, and they work brilliantly in this application. However, the snake oil salesmen got the bright idea to try to apply it to skinny, high pressure road bike tyres. It doesn’t work well at all though. If you do get an intrusion in a higher pressure / lower volume tyre, the sealant sprays out all over your back / the face of the following rider, and can’t do its job, before so much air is lost, that the tyre is squidgy, and pretty useless, for a road bike. You the end up having to de tyre the wheel, to get whatever caused the puncture, out (which is a messy nightmare) then re mounting / re sealant ing the tubeless tyre, which is a complete ache in the ball region, without a high pressure ‘capacitance’ pump, or using an inner tube, which negates the point of the tubeless set up. If you have the pleasure of this rigmarole when you have good conditions, and it’s not dark, it’s 8 / 10 on the achy ball scale, trying to do it in the dark / poor conditions is a job straight from hell. From my experience, most people who rave about tubeless on a road bike, are not doing many poor weather miles / miles in general, on a road bike, with conventional width road tyres ( up to 28 mm wide, and not knobbly). The small advantage, of tubeless is undone instantly ( on a road bike ) multiplied by 100, if they give out, for any reason.
 

Nigelnightmare

Über Member
Ahh.
Thank you, I didn't know that tubeless tyres had that gunk inside them.

The old style "Tubs" were also a pain in the proverbial, I always stuck with clincher's even when "Time Trialling" in my youth.

Now-a-day's I use clinchers with spare inner tubes and a mini track pump and a couple of tyre levers.
 
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