Tubeless-effect on speed for road riding?

Semantik

Just got myself some Hope Hoops with Arch Ex rims and very nice they are too.


Heard about the advantages of tubeless for off-road riding- able to run at lower pressures, fewer punctures etc.etc.

BUT, being conscious that a max pressure of 40psi is recommended, and wanting occasionally to stray onto tarmac, I am left wondering whether a tubed setup would actually be faster on the road given that you could safely raise pressure to 60psi.
Will the tubeless setup still be faster or does the tubed tyre roll faster?
Not seen any info about this.

cooldad

Probably because road speed on a mountain bike is kind of irrelevant.

Semantik

cooldad wrote:

Probably because road speed on a mountain bike is kind of irrelevant.

Yeah, I've heard a few fat bloke MTB riders say that.

warpcow

Tubeless should be superior, but at different pressures, no idea. I doubt it'll actaully make enough of a real world difference for you to worry about, but worrying about this stuff is irrational anyway.

paul.skibum

Well presumably you have answered your own question?

If you need to run higher pressures as you might on prolonged road miles then yes tubeless is not ideal. But are you planning on doing a lot of road miles purely on road? with occassional off road use or road to off road frequently?

If I was going to be using a bike for off road and commuter duties on road I would have 2 sets of wheels, two tyre set ups and all the other stuff. Reasoning - off road tyres are eye wateringly pricey and I like soft compounds which I dont want to waste on tarmac so I'd keep my good tyres, good rims, tubeless set up and maybe my XT/one up cassette for off road use and have a cheaper wheelset with tubed road specific tyres and a cheaper cassette for the commuter stuff.

If I was rolling from road to off road frequently then its irrelevant as I would want the setup optimised for off road.

cooldad

Semantik wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Probably because road speed on a mountain bike is kind of irrelevant.

Yeah, I've heard a few fat bloke MTB riders say that.

Well done. Probably because us fat bloke MTB riders ride off road.

The clue is in MTB.

lostboysaint

Semantik wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Probably because road speed on a mountain bike is kind of irrelevant.

Yeah, I've heard a few fat bloke MTB riders say that.

You've got good hearing then, or they manage to get the words out quickly as they disappear past you on the downhills

cooldad

Gravity is my friend.

Semantik

paul.skibum wrote:

Well presumably you have answered your own question?

If you need to run higher pressures as you might on prolonged road miles then yes tubeless is not ideal. But are you planning on doing a lot of road miles purely on road? with occassional off road use or road to off road frequently?

If I was going to be using a bike for off road and commuter duties on road I would have 2 sets of wheels, two tyre set ups and all the other stuff. Reasoning - off road tyres are eye wateringly pricey and I like soft compounds which I dont want to waste on tarmac so I'd keep my good tyres, good rims, tubeless set up and maybe my XT/one up cassette for off road use and have a cheaper wheelset with tubed road specific tyres and a cheaper cassette for the commuter stuff.

If I was rolling from road to off road frequently then its irrelevant as I would want the setup optimised for off road.

Yeah,it's commuting I was thinking of- when ideally I'd like to run higher pressures.
New tyres and rotors for the spare non-tubeless wheels ordered a few days ago with this in mind.

lostboysaint

So what you're saying is that you're fat enough that 40 psi isn't hard enough in an MTB tyre on the road!

njee20

For the price of spare wheels with rotors, cassettes etc I'd just buy a cheap road bike!

Semantik

lostboysaint wrote:

So what you're saying is that you're fat enough that 40 psi isn't hard enough in an MTB tyre on the road!

Stop bellyaching!
I acknowledge your advantage on the downhills.
Just get outta my way on the climbs

Semantik

njee20 wrote:

For the price of spare wheels with rotors, cassettes etc I'd just buy a cheap road bike!

Fair point ,but already had the spare wheels.

Tyres were £9.99 each (when I ordered) http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVTRNDP/v ... lding-tyre
Rotors were £10 each from Halfords with their 20% off last week +10% BC discount.

Got a few spare cassettes already.

The Rookie

Those will probably be a pain trying to run tubeless, I'd stick a tube in.

Semantik

The Rookie wrote:

Those will probably be a pain trying to run tubeless, I'd stick a tube in.

Those are going to be for the commuting wheels, with tubes in 'em.
Got some Nobby Nics for the new tubeless wheels.

rockmonkeysc

Mountain bikes are crap on road no matter what tyre/tube set up you use. Nobby Nics are just crap for anything.

njee20

I took my MTB on a group road ride a few weeks ago. It did fine, position wasn't great, but I just bent my elbows a bit more. Didn't faff with pumping up tyres or anything, just rode 2.25" Rons at 30psi, happily did 20mph average, and the extra grip came in handy when I rode over one of the guy's bikes, after he threw himself over the bars and used his face to stop.

So sometimes they're not crap. Not entirely sure I'd have held it together on a road bike!

rockmonkeysc

I certainly wouldn't want to try my 17 mile commute on my mountain bike, I think it might take a bit too long.

njee20

Yes I've got a slight advantage in that respect - whilst it feels horrible I'm generally only 1-2mph slower at most on the MTB, and actually several road climbs I've done quickest on my mountain bike.

Semantik

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Mountain bikes are crap on road no matter what tyre/tube set up you use. Nobby Nics are just crap for anything.

Not bought them yet. Any other recommendations?

rockmonkeysc

Schwalbe City Jets.

The Northern Monkey

A road bike... for, yunno, riding on the road.

paul.skibum

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Schwalbe City Jets.

I have a bit of a rep for not reading the question but the nobby nics are for his tubeless off road set up - he's got some other tyres for on road following my suggested use of different wheels for commuting. Keep up. Come on now.

Semantik

paul.skibum wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Schwalbe City Jets.

I have a bit of a rep for not reading the question but the nobby nics are for his tubeless off road set up - he's got some other tyres for on road following my suggested use of different wheels for commuting. Keep up. Come on now.

Didn't want to point this out. Thought I was in enough trouble already.