Hi All,

anyone got any experience with road tubeless tyres?

can they be used on any rims (assuming the holes are sealed – more the bead interface)

are they any good?

Cheers

Andy

eh? don't you just use tubs on a road bike.

Got them on my Shamals and they are a PITA, only used for TTs

Leave em in the 80's where they belong, far too much trouble. You need tubular rims.

And i love retro road bikes 😉

They work for me

Have only run using hutchinson fusion tyres though.

Converted two sets of rims with Stans tape and valves

had 1500 miles without a problem.
It takes a while to get used to running the pressures "that low" on the road bike

Tubs are fine 'til they get a puncture, then you are stuck and you pretty much throw the tyre out, unless you can be bothered to unstitch and repair. I am not gonna runs tubs in an IM race…… oh no no no no……. 🙂

tubeless tyres seem to offer some of the gains, but if they puncture they can be repaired, and in a race I can just chuck a tube in to get me home.

PITA? wassat then?

Ride is not far from Tubs and super easy to stick a tube in (having punctured my tubs 20 miles from home the other night and ridden back on an un glued tub)

Running Hutchinson Atom on Dura-Ace, and Intensive on Mavic Aksium, both with Stans.

I think the sealant has a harder time sealing a puncture at the higher pressures. The tyres might feel a bit flat so I'll pump to 100psi, and reopen an old wound. It'll repair itself when the pressure drops, but it's still a pain.

However, they've punctured in the rain and still got me home. And also in a road race, and I've even managed to get some points out of it 🙂

Can't really see the point?

One of the major benefits to running tubeless off road is the low pressure you can safely run. I'm struggling to see how that translates to a road setting. Then there's the puncture proof benefits,…again don't seem to get that many punctures on the road to justify it, and I can change a tube in a couple of minutes with a Co2 can anyway. Weight? I'm not racing and my wheels are pretty light.

Not for me.

can't really see the point either. Is there much benefit in running low pressures on the road? Road puntures in my experience have tended to be glass which doesn't seal well with tubeless or nails which need to be removed leaving a hole. Tubeless works well for thorns but you don't get many of them unless someones been out hedge trimming.

I'd be intereste to know the precieved advantages?

Sort of agree with nickc, can't see any appeal of low pressures on the road, obviously! I'd still be interested to try it, particularly as I like the tubed version of the Fusion.

s'posed to be lower rolling resistance, and lighter….

dunno……

hence the post…..

I think the sealant has a harder time sealing a puncture at the higher pressures

+1, my worry too

I tried slime tubes a while back, til I got sick of having a big snotty stripe up my back after punctures

I might give it a go sometime (when the wheels get cheaper) – it's little bits of flinty gravel that cause all my punctures & decent lumpy jizz 😳 might just stop them

(suppose you could try it on any old rims but I'd be worried about blowing the sealing tape right through the eyelets in a "normal" rim – maybe a layer of proper rim tape on top just to stop that ?)

The benefit is supposed to be more to do with deformation of the tyre and rolling resistance, somewhat like a Tub but without the hassle of the gluing up, repair hassle etc. It isn't to do with running lower pressure at all. Different requirements on the road than off. Not sure it's worth the hassle.

Always use two wraps of tape – that solves the spoke hole issue.

The argument is…… you can run at a lower pressure and therefore the tyre can deform more so moulds round pointy things – in theory. Its not lots lower – I run at 100psi (fat bastard) rather than 115 psi on normal road tyres or tubs.
Whether that is the key to the punture resistance I don't know but it seems to work for me.
When the tyre (then on the front) that had been the rear tyre all winter (squared and frankly a bit shagged) eventually gave up, the Stans sealed it up to about 80 psi and I kept riding on it for another 30 miles on the Sportive – Had I not pratted around with it and tried to get it back up to pressure it would have carried on fine at 80psi. I did get a mild shower in Stans admittedly but the smlee of putrid fish went after a few miles

On all the early season sportives I've done this year there has been a fair degree of muppetry in the puncture department as far as I can see – certainly there have been people all over the place with pumps and inner tubes out – I haven't suffered.
Either that is something to do with the tires or I just know how to ride around potholes ?!?

The Cafe Latex sealant might be better than stans as it is more solid to start with although you apparently need to spin the wheels before you ride first to distribute evenly around the wheel or it can put the wheel out of balance.

Now some one will say thats too much faff to spin the wheels but to be fair I do that as a matter of course before any ride just to make sure they spin straight and the brakes still work, just in case the fairies have been in the garage first !

Running 7850 CLs with Hutchinson Fusion.

Absolute **** to fit to the rims, probably the tightest fitting tyre/tube combo I've had for a while. Filled with Stan's, although I really want to give Caffe a shot as it's got no ammonia in it…

I can't give a definitive, because I went from Ksyrium SLs with Force/Attack straight to 7850's with Fusions. Compared to the old pair on the same frame, they roll faster, feel quieter and feel a bit more forgiving for the same pressure. Hard to know how much of this is the wheel or the tyre though.

The puncture protection is the main reason I went for them, given I ride in an area with a lot of farmers fields edged with hawthorns. I was curious how much better they cope in that regard (I get quite a few punctures, especially when they are cutting the bloody hedges…

The biggest difference in ride qulaity is when fitted to real stiff rims – I would imagine the differenc eon something like some Zipp 404's or something else of that deep rimmed clincher type will be like night and day.
On my 30mm deep reynolds allow rims they made a lot of difference.

PITA? wassat then?

Pain In The Arse

well i'm looking at putting them on hed-3 clinchers. so no tape needed to seal the spoke holes, but valve and sealant around the rim, and I should get most of the weigh gain of tubs, I never run my old tubs above 130psi even on a TT so 100-110 would be good.
if I get a puncture in the race I can just stick a tube in as per normal, if I don't I get a better ride, and lower rotating weight……. I love the feel of tubs over clinchers, and I'd like to get a bit of that back but be a little safer should I get apuncture.
Hmmmmm

Though..I'm probably worrying about it far too much….just keep pedalling….

I would put at least one wrap of tape on as it makes them seal well and helps them to inflate as the beads slide over tape better than over the rims I would imagine. ALthough I guess just about any tape will do the job.

Also for what its worth I have had more success overlapping the tape opposite the vavle hole as it seems to counter the valve weight a little and tighten the tyre bead around the valve to help it seat.

If you are running tubs at 130 a guess would be that you may well be able to go as low as 90 PSI.
I would also imagine that you will probably be better served just letting the sealant do its job than slinging a tube in.
Only thing to check will be which sealant is compatible with Carbon rims – I'm pretty sure the Hutchinson and cafe latex stuff is but not sure about stans

If you're around the midlands and run Campag you can have a play with one of my setups to experiment if you want.

I've run Hutch Atoms and Fusion2s, on DA 7850SL and taped up Open Pros. Prefer the Fusions.

Won't go back to clinchers now (except on the commuter, as they are cheaper).

No problems and much better ride and grip.