Going Tubeless - Road Wheels

AlanW

I went tubeless on my MTB three or fours years ago and it has to have been one of the best modifications I have ever done.

So with that in mind, I have been pondering for quite a while about going tubeless on my road wheels as well.

Anyway, yesterday was the day I decided to go for it. I already a pair of Ultegra tubeless wheels, a couple of valves and a bottle of sealant, I hadn't used tubeless specific tyres on my MTB and have had no problems what so ever, so I decided to use my normal Conti GP4000S tyres, nothing to lose and everything to gain.

In truth the installation could not have been any easier, certainly a lot easier than when I did my MTB wheels.

I did the front wheel first and it inflated and held pressure near away straight away. Then spent 1/4 hour or so rotating wheel around to make sure that the liquid Latex sealant was equally coated to the internal carcass of the tyre. A few bubbles appeared on the side walls as the sealant was seeping out, but it soon sealed up okay.

Now the rear wheel, and this one was not quite as easy. For what ever reason the side walls were much more porous than the front tyre and I had a hell of a job getting the tyre to hold pressure. But in the end I got it to hold at about 60psi. Any higher pressure than that and the sealant was just simply vaporising as it left the side walls and was not sealing the holes.

So I decided to leave it over night at 60 psi and try again this morning. Now its also fair to add that while we were watching the TV last night I had both wheels in the living room and every 10 minutes or so I would rotate both wheels just to get the liquid Latex to coat more on the inside of the tyre.

First thing this morning and I checked on the wheels, the front was still holding at 100 psi with no problem. The rear wheel was also holding pressure albeit only at 60 psi.

So off I popped into the garage to increase the pressure in the rear to 100psi. Connected the track pump and slowly started to increase the pressure. Then it happened.........

BANG

The flipping tyre blew clean of the rim, and did you know how large an area 2oz of liquid Latex covers when it explodes?

Trust me, its a flppin' lot, the garage ceiling, the floor, all the shoes on the rack, the bench, the inside of the door, the cupboard doors, most things that were on the shelf and of course yours truly. Not helped by the fact that I had the wheel leaning up against my left leg when it exploded!

I have since learnt that it is NOT recommended to use non tubeless tyres as they can blow of the rims without warning as apparently tubeless ready tyres are more reinforced on the beading.

Guess what....yep they do!!!

Now where did I put those tubes.... :oops:

Monty Dog

As I started reading your post, I could have predicted the outcome.

WindyG

At least it's a mistake you will only make once, I always wear safety specs and overalls when doing tubeless tyres, can damn hurt if the tyre blows off against your leg...... Yep I've done it

ednino

Oh dear, that's put me off tubeless lol

I'd only do it as a weight saving is there is any?
and my XC friends tell me tubeless has much less rolling resistance

AlanW

ednino wrote:

Oh dear, that's put me off tubeless lol

I'd only do it as a weight saving is there is any?
and my XC friends tell me tubeless has much less rolling resistance

No real weight saving on either road or MTB to be honest, but I would certainly recommend it for MTB as you can run much lower pressures and get more grip without fear of getting pinch punctures. Plus and at the risk of putting a curse on myself, but I have not had a puncture on the MTB since going down the tubeless route.

As I see it, for road bikes the advantages are less so, but I just had to try it just so that I could draw my own conclusions. But I am not going to buy specific tubeless tyres in case its not worth the hassle. So based on my experiences over the weekend, I guess that I will never know...

bigpikle

even worse if you got it on and had a issue on the road - the tyre comes right off quickly followed by you or just as bad the wheel spins in the tyre and you cant slow down!

Paul 8v

I looked in to this for my MTB and it just seemed like a lot of hassle, this has put me off even more!

WindyG

On a MTB it is worth doing, the weight saving can be upto a couple of hundred g per wheel + the benefits of running lower pressures, I did look at doing my road bike but considering the inner tubes are only around 100g once you have added tape + valves a scoop or 2 of sealant there is very little to be saved.

Paul 8v

I've always been able to run lower pressures than I ever wanted to with normal tubes on a mountain bike, anything less feels like the tyre is moving independently from the rim which is a little disconcerting!

meesterbond

This thread is useless without pics!!

I've run tubeless on my MTB for a good few years with no issues at all, although I do use tubeless rims and tyres.

Not sure I've bought into the benefits for the road though...

AlanW

meesterbond wrote:

This thread is useless without pics!!

Ha....you wish!!

meesterbond wrote:

I've run tubeless on my MTB for a good few years with no issues at all, although I do use tubeless rims and tyres.

Like wise and I will never go back to using tubes in my MTB.

meesterbond wrote:

Not sure I've bought into the benefits for the road though...

I agree entirely, but I had everything, sorry I thought that I had everything that I needed to give it try at no cost. So I thought why not.

Okay, I accept that the tyres I used were not tubeless specific ones and that the correct tyres would not have blown off, but never the less it has put me right off. :shock: