Velocity A23 with tubeless...

munkster

...after a minging sportive yesterday with three punctures (all of which would have been non-existant with tubeless) I am thinking I should get Mrs M's bike onto tubeless since I would very much doubt her ability to fix a tube without me there! Her A23 rims are "tubeless ready", what does that mean in practice? My own Pacenti SL23 rims were hard to mount but held air from the first moments without any sealant. Will I expect a bigger game getting the A23's to seal or is the "ready" bit just manufacturer cautionary wording?

keezx

The shape of the rim bed determines 'tubeless ready"

If you have the right form, give it a try.

munkster

I thank you for your input but I am aware that the rims are nominally tubeless ready, I am asking (perhaps too subtly) for first hand experience really. And I would be loathe to spend £50+ on tubeless tyres simply to "give it a try"!! ;-)

keezx

Same with me, I have 2 sets of wheels which are "tubeless ready" but unless any significant improvement is to be expected in riding quality i'm not willing to pay double the price for tyres.
I got almost zero punctures with Conti GP's (20€ piece) so that's not the issue for me.

munkster

As per my OP, I already ride tubeless, this is for my S/O's bike...

I am ecstatically happy with road tubeless, almost obscenely so. I would have been positively illegally happy with them if I'd used them yesterday when I had three punctures (all unrelated) in one day that would never have happened with tubeless. Not having had one for nigh-on two years (as it was in my case until yesterday) doesn't make you immune to them! And good luck on your next few rides after you jinxed yourself saying how few you get ;-)

ugo.santalucia

The A 23 with the channel (made in USA ones) are tubeless, in the same way the SL 23 are tubeless... two loops of Stans tape, valves and you are tubeless

munkster

Outstanding, thanks.

Origami02

munkster wrote:

As per my OP, I already ride tubeless, this is for my S/O's bike...

I am ecstatically happy with road tubeless, almost obscenely so. I would have been positively illegally happy with them if I'd used them yesterday when I had three punctures (all unrelated) in one day that would never have happened with tubeless. Not having had one for nigh-on two years (as it was in my case until yesterday) doesn't make you immune to them! And good luck on your next few rides after you jinxed yourself saying how few you get ;-)

At the risk of asking a silly question : Why weren't you using them at the time ?

munkster

At the risk of asking a silly question : Why weren't you using them at the time ?

Well, a couple of reasons: I was using my 50mm deep carbon rims since it was a very flat ride (Cambridge 100) and knew I would be riding a significant amount of the ride fast enough to get *some* benefit (and to hopefully make it end as quickly as possible). Plus I built my tubeless wheels as "best" wheels and when I saw the forecast for yesterday my brain AND heart both said "no way!".

Of course, I regret all of the above now, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Origami02

Keezx wrote:

Same with me, I have 2 sets of wheels which are "tubeless ready" but unless any significant improvement is to be expected in riding quality i'm not willing to pay double the price for tyres.
I got almost zero punctures with Conti GP's (20€ piece) so that's not the issue for me.

+1 for these tyres. I use them on my Pacenti SL23's and can swop them over easily onto my 32h Open-Pro, Hope Hoops for rubbish weather.

I very much like the idea of tubeless but think price and availability are issues at the moment. This thread highlights a possible safety issue that bothers me a little too.
I think the OP's recent Sportive punctures, rather than being "non existent", would have still happened but have possibly all sealed. This would have meant possibly 3, but definitely at least 2 consecutive pressure drops one tyre, if the rider failed to notice each one in turn and re-inflate. My fear would be that the first thing I knew about the existence of any of these punctures would be when I slid off on a fast downhill bend due to a soft tyre.
In the hurly-burly of an event I wonder if this might be the first clue of pressure loss that a self sealing tyre might give. Similarly, a spate of punctures is often an early warning than the tread on your tyres is past it's best and no longer safe. For anyone who does more riding than checking, that's really quite a useful heads-up that your tyre(s) worn state could cause a fall.

munkster

Ah I do like a bit of baseless expert opinion...

When I said that they wouldn't have happened with tubeless. I meant it. Two of them were pinch flats, one on the front, one on the rear. One of them was a split tube near the valve. None of them were caused by ingress of a sharp foreign object. Evidenced almost certainly by the fact that both front and rear are now still full of air 24 hours later.

So yes, when I said they wouldn't have happened with tubeless, I really meant it.

And for what it's worth, the tyres are not worn and I do check them.

[edit]LOL just realised who Origami is.[/edit]

Origami02

To be fair I only represented my views as my thoughts/worrys. I did not say or even imply that I was an expert. Though I do cycle over 8k (miles) most years, so I do have some experience of things cycle related.
Secondly, if two the flats were pinch punctures, then it's very likely 2 of them were related punctures. Failing to inlate/re-inflate adequately ime pretty much accounts for most pinch flats.

keezx

Origami02 wrote:

In the hurly-burly of an event I wonder if this might be the first clue of pressure loss that a self sealing tyre might give. Similarly, a spate of punctures is often an early warning than the tread on your tyres is past it's best and no longer safe. For anyone who does more riding than checking, that's really quite a useful heads-up that your tyre(s) worn state could cause a fall.

I'm not a very sensitive rider, but I certainly would notice a drop of 1 Bar since I already use relatively low pressures (6,0/5,5)....
Never had a pinch flat despite not being very light, on 17C/18C rims.

munkster

I don't know why I'm bothering to reiterate this for the second (third?) time but the pinch flats were on DIFFERENT WHEELS. About 40km apart. Definitely related. Definitely.

Origami02

Keezx wrote:

Never had a pinch flat despite not being very light, on 17C/18C rims.

To be honest I've had some in the past. Nine times out of ten, I could very directly trace the cause to either because I failed to check my pressures before a ride, or simply having pinched the tube fitting it.

I'd like to point out that I'm only voicing my thoughts and not in any way having a go at the OP personally. Notwithstanding that his 3 punctures, as he's since explained, weren't through the tyre being pierced, I still wonder whether unnoticed pressure loss through pierce punctures sealing themselves could, in some circumstances, lead to a crash.
As I've said before, I'm very much minded to try TL at the right price, and simply expressing the concerns I have.

Matthewfalle

Is it just me or does Munkster come across as a quite a cross person?

munkster

:shock:

6wheels

Matthewfalle wrote:

Is it just me or does Munkster come across as a quite a cross person?

Maybe, but so would I if I had three punctures in one day.

munkster

Maybe, but so would I if I had three punctures in one day.

True dat! It was a very trying day, particularly when you realise you could easily have avoided the situation...

At the risk of protesting too much: I wasn't really cross, but heavy sarcasm is often lost in the written word ;-)