Is anyone else running tubeless?

mpatts

I've been with mixed success running tubeless on the race bike, which is the following:

1) Stans no tubes rim tab on standard Colnago Artemis CW28 ALU rims
2) Usual latex gunk
3) Standard challenge grifo 33mm clinchers

Works peachy in normal conditions, but I did have a 'burp' at this weeks race, which was a sub 20psi issue I think,

Anyone else giving it a whirl, or any advice to add?

211dave112

I am.

Stans Iron Cross Rims and normal (non-tubeless specific) Vittoria XG tires. Works great most(!) of the time.

Pretty easy to setup and I can run them at about 20psi with no issues (fwiw I am 70kg and ride fairly lightly). I have, however, had to replace two tires in 3 months due to sidewall cuts. One was broken glass (in the car park before this weekends race ) and the other was up the ridgeway which is a bit 'flint-y' so perhaps it's unfair to say it's a tire issue. Anyway, I've got a couple of Vittoria TNT (tubeless specific) XL Pros arriving this week which supposedly have a reinforced sidewall.

I wouldn't use non-tubeless specific rims though - that seems to be a bit too hit and miss for my liking with certain combinations being fine and others not working at all.

tgotb

I still use them for training, and for that they're a reasonable compromise; I'm using Iron Cross rims and (various) Vittoria tyres, which I've found to be more reliable than others.

For racing they were great, right up to the point I learned to corner hard. Since then they've just been too unreliable. For training I run them at ~24psi, and most of the time they'll get through a whole session with no burps, but occasionally I have to stop and put some air in. Training at 24psi is great, because it teaches me to make the most of the limited grip available, but in a muddy race the grip available from a tub at 18psi (or lower) is incomparable.

If I try to ride my tubeless setup at 20psi I'm pretty much guaranteed a big burp on the first hard corner, especially on a relatively grippy surface like grass.

rozzer32

I run Vittoria xg tubeless as my intermediate tread set up. To be honest I'm not all that impressed. They're good for training but not sure about racing.

They are ok at early season races when dry. But the past couple of races where there's mud starting to appear although not full mud they've not given me confidence. Given the intermediate tread I'll either be looking at a new tubeless set up next year or get intermediate tubs to go with my mud ones. The difference between tubeless and tubs is night and day. I think the problem is they don't shred the mud so the tread gets clogged up and stops working.

Last race there was a steep climb. Did practice laps on the vittorias and slipped every time. Put my tubs on and rode straight up.

rsilvers

I tried to. Just got Pro One 28mm from Germany sent to the US (took a while to get, but you can't buy these in the US until spring). I mounted them no problem without use of tyre levers. They rub on my back brake strut by about 0.5mm so I never got to ride them. I took them off, and now I need to sell them and get 25mm.

JoostG

I run all my wheel sets tubeless, and my experiences so far:
* tubeless rim with tubeless tyre; works perfect and easy to set up (Pacenti SL23, Campa Eurus 2-way fit, Helin Liu FCC in combination with Schwalbe One tubeless, Pro One, WTB CrossWolf and Hutchinson Sector)
* normal rim with tubeless tyre; works fine and a little harder to set up (Campagnolo Zonda and Farsports FCC in combination with Schwalbe One tubeless, Ultremo ZX and Pro One)
* normal rim with normal tyre; no go (too difficult to air seal as tyres were not tight enough)

6wheels

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19735444#p19735444]JoostG[/url] wrote:

I run all my wheel sets tubeless, and my experiences so far:
* tubeless rim with tubeless tyre; works perfect and easy to set up (Pacenti SL23, Campa Eurus 2-way fit, Helin Liu FCC in combination with Schwalbe One tubeless, Pro One, WTB CrossWolf and Hutchinson Sector)
* normal rim with tubeless tyre; works fine and a little harder to set up (Campagnolo Zonda and Farsports FCC in combination with Schwalbe One tubeless, Ultremo ZX and Pro One)
* normal rim with normal tyre; no go (too difficult to air seal as tyres were not tight enough)

Just building a winter/road/gravel bike up and was thinking of running Clement X'plor 32mm tyres as tubeless on Kinesis Crosslight wheels which can run tubeless . Any thoughts or experience with this combination?

Thanks

mattrixdesign2

Yeap, Stans IronCross, previously with (none tubeless) Kenda Kwiker. Worked perfectly for months, a nice light skinwall setup. Turned up to my first cross race of this year, first test lap, short steep drop, rear wheel hit a corner of a small rock - BANG! Blown tyre, 2 holes in its wall and a chipped rim... 1 week later the front blew of the rim whilst riding on the road. So I gave up on them. Nice tyre BTW, a real good mix of centre tread and knobbies on the side - not for tubeless though.

Now using WTB Crosswolf, love it, a total PITA to get it on the rim (I guess this is a good sign), but been very reliable since. Easily down to 20psi, and stay put, but I am no heavy weight.

... worth adding, that for my MTB I have Stans Alpine rim and Schwable Rocket Rons (not designed for tubeless) and so far flawless. I few months ago I was riding the black run at Llandegla, I was stuck behind someone, I took a higher path, he too the lower, then an almighty bang and he hit the deck instantly, his front tubeless had blown and wrapped around his front fork, I stopped to see how he was, and he had busted his shoulder.

Not sure what this all proves, but I recommend going all out tubeless and not try and cut corners...some combos may work, but IMO not worth the effort/risk.

JoostG

I do like the WTB CrossWolf, but I had a strange experience with one tyre last week: I thought that my rear wheel was out of true. Whilst checking it with a tensioner, I found out that the rim wasn't the issue but the tyre. I immediately checked if the bead was seated, and it was. After further inspection I noticed small 'blisters' on the side wall of the tyre (in the 'branded' area). No clue if those unbalanced the tyre, but WTB Europe immediately decided to replace the tyre after seeing pictures (thumbs up for WTB Europe). Curious as I am, I punctured those blisters: no hissing of air, no liquid latex, just some moisture coming out of it. The pressure didn't drop, and the tyre is still out of true. What a mystery!

6wheels

Thanks for the detailed reply mattrix, the two tyres (Clement and 4seasons)I've tried both go on to the rim too easily. As it'll be used road/light offroad, I'll be using higher pressures and have a feeling they might blow off the rim.

There aren't many choices out there at the moment in the tubeless 30mm/32mm size, so, may just put some Stans into the inner tube for now.

tgotb

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19741145#p19741145]6wheels[/url] wrote:

Thanks for the detailed reply mattrix, the two tyres (Clement and 4seasons)I've tried both go on to the rim too easily. As it'll be used road/light offroad, I'll be using higher pressures and have a feeling they might blow off the rim.

There aren't many choices out there at the moment in the tubeless 30mm/32mm size, so, may just put some Stans into the inner tube for now.

I've ridden various tubeless combinations on the road at higher pressures (generally riding to work, where I'm going to a training session afterwards). Clements are pretty unreliable, I blew a rear one off the rim at 40psi, just going in a straight line on tarmac. By contrast, the Vittorias seem to work very well indeed. You still get burps at lower pressures (<25psi), so I don't race on them) but at 40psi they seem to be very reliable indeed. For a tyre this wide, 40psi is plenty enough for the road. I use the standard ones (not TNT) mounted on Iron Cross rims, but at 40psi they were equally reliable on Open Pros with a Stan's rim tape.

Robb0

I've recently successfully converted some standard Mavic Aksium clinchers to tubeless with the Stans conversion kit. Maxxis Mud Wrestlers work pretty well in the mud - I've been able to run lower pressures than I used to get away with with tubes - 20-30psi but I do weigh 80kg - and it's been great getting more traction while not worrying about pinch punctures. I've done a couple of races with no issues, no burps AFAICT. I did split a sidewall on the Ridgeway a couple of weeks back which was a PITA and I had to put a tube in it. But as it was small I stuck a patch on it when I got home and it's sealed up nicely. The Maxxis I couldn't get to seat with a track pump, so I built a Coke-bottle compressor and that worked a treat, only needed 60psi.
I also tried Michelin Mud2s but they were too leaky even with the gunk.

Robb0

I'm having yet another go and converting Kinesis Crosslight Disc V3s to tubeless with regular tyres. These rims are quite wide - about 21mm internal. I've now tried 2 Stans conversion kits -
The cyclocross rim strips are too narrow and air leaks out.
The 29er rim strips are slightly too wide but more importantly too thick, so that there's no gap under the hook to get the bead in.
Is there another kit I should try? The standard (26" MTB) kit which, stretched onto a 700c wheel, should be narrow and thinner. Or should I just use a split 26" inner tube? If so, do I have the tube coming out the sides under the tyre, as in the videos, or do I try and replicate a conversion kit by cutting it to the exact width leaving the tyre bead to sit on top of it?

JoostG

What about 1 or 2 layers of stans yellow tape?

Robb0

I've got 1 layer of yellow tape on. I doubt another will make any difference as that stuff is so thin. The bead is too loose under the hook. It needs a rim strip to raise it up a bit I think.

Robb0

Ok, I've had some success getting those Crosslights tubeless with a homemade 23mm wide rimstrip cut from a 26" MTB inner tube. It was a bit too thick where it's built up around the valve so I had to sand it down a bit, seems to have done the trick. Got it to seat the bead with a floor-pump and even without sealant. I've raced on them once: the rear punctured with a flint cut that wouldn't seal up - can't fault the tubeless setup for that. Seem to be holding up ok. The valve did have to be locked tightly in place with the collar - while it was a bit loose, air leaked out if the valve moved (e.g. while pumping).

schlepcycling

I've just converted my Crosslights to tubeless, albeit the version 2s and I used a single layer of Stans tape (21mm I think) and fitted Hutchinson Sector 28mm tyres with about 40ml of Stans sealant. I used one of these http://www.airshotltd.com/ to get the tyre to seat as I couldn't get them to seat using either a track pump or co2. Once seated they've been great.

crossed

I've ran Schwalbe Racing Ralph tyres tubeless with no problems in the past on Stans Iron Cross rims.
I set them up the same as MTB tubeless with a layer of Stans yellow tape and a couple of Stans valves. The seated on the rims easily enough and I used about 50ml of Stans sealant. The only issue I had was splitting a sidewall but that was more done to my cack-handedness on the bike than a tyre issue!