Tubeless road tyres/wheels

pmorgan1

A very good morning to you all!

Anyone here uses tubeless road tyres? I'd like to know the pros and cons. Maintenance, costs vs literally never having a flat?

Looking at http://www.notubes.com/Road-Tubeless-Bu ... -P650.aspx

Cheers!

rhodrich

Never having a flat? Oh really? If something slices your sidewall, no amount of sealant is going to seal it.

Are punctures really that much of an issue? I've ridden 2500 miles in London over the winter, on tyres that have no puncture protection belt whatsoever (they hadn't been invented when the tyres were made). In that time, I had 1 puncture, which was a 15 minute job to fix, despite being on the back wheel of a fixed gear bike, with track ends and mudguards. I see these tubeless tyres as being an expensive, hassle filled solution looking for a problem. I can see their advantages in mountain biking, and perhaps when you're racing, where every second counts, and a puncture can put you out of a race. For everything else, the cons outweigh the pro's.

ugo.santalucia

There are two main drawbacks

1) Cost, a tubeless cost nearly twice as much as the equivalent clincher
2) Installation, which is always a question mark... sometimes it takes 3 minutes, sometimes you need to work for an hour to get the tyre seated and sealed on the rim

Once the tyres are on, they are fit and forget. I never had to fix a puncture, never had to remove flint or do anything at all to the tyres. Incidentally they also ride a tad better than clinchers and some of them have the same feel as good quality tubulars.
There is an extra element of road safety, if you believe these things... in that a spray of latex warns you you have a big puncture and maybe you should slow down, if you are going at 50 mph downhill... with a clincher you only know when it's too late

Finally, tubeless tyres are meant to be used and abused... it's no good to use them once a month, as the sealant will form big clumps and dry out. I tend to wear my tyres off in 3-4 months, so it;s not an issue for me, but if you have multiple bicycles, it might become an issue

drlodge

What Ugo says. I recently changed my tubeless tyres, it was quite a hassle but with Ugo's help I got it sorted. Once they're on they are fit and forget, just need to pump them up before each ride (which I would do with tubed tyres) and if you get a puncture there's an early warning by way of ejaculating milk before it seals. Then pump up and you're on your way again.

IRC Roadlites are £40 each, but a very nice tyre. Much like riding tubulars but with out the pitfalls.

ugo.santalucia

drlodge wrote:

Then pump up and you're on your way again.

I don't even bother with that... if you run 28 or even 25, the pressure drops 10-20 PSI in the event of a puncture and you can keep riding

drlodge

ugo.santalucia wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Then pump up and you're on your way again.

I don't even bother with that... if you run 28 or even 25, the pressure drops 10-20 PSI in the event of a puncture and you can keep riding

I run 23c :-) My emergency hand pump will be of no use to top up from 80psi however, so I might resort to using one of those evil CO2 canisters.