Pale Rider
Legendary Member
After a series of punctures the cause of which was hard to pin down I've decided to go tubeless.
The rims on the bike are tubeless ready and while there was plenty of life left in the tyres, I'd lost confidence in the front so decided to buy a new pair of Schwalbe Moto Xs.
The job was done by the manager of my local bike shop, who prefers to do a conversion using new tyres.
He puts a wrap of gorilla tape over the high pressure tape, and, from experience, uses a shandy of sealants.
A small amount of runny Stan's goes in first which helps seal the tyre on the rim.
For puncture protection he uses some thicker stuff sold to the trade by Madison which is specced as 'enduro'.
Valves are presta removable core from Raleigh Special Products, no better than any other but they are all black which is unusual for a tyre valve.
I was charged £90 for the job, not bad given the tyres would have cost me best part of £50 and a tubeless kit another £25 or so.
And I wouldn't have had the benefits of using an experienced installer.
I'm told the tyres mounted on the rim with a satisfying pop.
The front went down a bit overnight, but after spinning the wheel a bit more it's stayed up over a second night.
I refitted the wheels a short while ago, and was so excited I went for a short test ride, even though it was dark and drizzly.
My idea was to spin the bike up to speed to make sure the sealant was properly flung where it's meant to go.
All good so far, I'm tempted to say the bike accelerated a bit quicker, but it was on the flat with no wind.
I'm told some people reckon a tubeless tyre is a bit more flexible - no tube to deform - which can help rolling resistance.
That may be a load of tosh, but the main benefit should be no more punctures, or more correctly, the next puncture I get should seal itself.
A gash or big hole in the tyre would be a catastrophic failure, but I've never had one of those in 10,000 miles, and I shall still carry a spare tube, pump, and patches.
The title of this thread should perhaps be a question, but early indications are tubeless is the way forward, at least for my bike and riding.
I shall finish with a not particularly illustrative pic of the bike in the dark.
The rims on the bike are tubeless ready and while there was plenty of life left in the tyres, I'd lost confidence in the front so decided to buy a new pair of Schwalbe Moto Xs.
The job was done by the manager of my local bike shop, who prefers to do a conversion using new tyres.
He puts a wrap of gorilla tape over the high pressure tape, and, from experience, uses a shandy of sealants.
A small amount of runny Stan's goes in first which helps seal the tyre on the rim.
For puncture protection he uses some thicker stuff sold to the trade by Madison which is specced as 'enduro'.
Valves are presta removable core from Raleigh Special Products, no better than any other but they are all black which is unusual for a tyre valve.
I was charged £90 for the job, not bad given the tyres would have cost me best part of £50 and a tubeless kit another £25 or so.
And I wouldn't have had the benefits of using an experienced installer.
I'm told the tyres mounted on the rim with a satisfying pop.
The front went down a bit overnight, but after spinning the wheel a bit more it's stayed up over a second night.
I refitted the wheels a short while ago, and was so excited I went for a short test ride, even though it was dark and drizzly.
My idea was to spin the bike up to speed to make sure the sealant was properly flung where it's meant to go.
All good so far, I'm tempted to say the bike accelerated a bit quicker, but it was on the flat with no wind.
I'm told some people reckon a tubeless tyre is a bit more flexible - no tube to deform - which can help rolling resistance.
That may be a load of tosh, but the main benefit should be no more punctures, or more correctly, the next puncture I get should seal itself.
A gash or big hole in the tyre would be a catastrophic failure, but I've never had one of those in 10,000 miles, and I shall still carry a spare tube, pump, and patches.
The title of this thread should perhaps be a question, but early indications are tubeless is the way forward, at least for my bike and riding.
I shall finish with a not particularly illustrative pic of the bike in the dark.