I’m in the hate phase of this relationship, and it appears to be long.

I recently fired a tube in after a valve went and I couldn’t get the tyre to seal. Today the valve.on the tube went, as I was inflating it pre ride. The tyre came off without levers (Bontrager on Stan’s Alpha)….but…having previously been too loose to seal…was now sufficiently tight that it took 3 attempts to seat

😡

My frustration may have been catalysed by standing up into an open kitchen cupboard door a few minutes beforehand 😀

Hate phase here and I’ve not even ridden them yet. Wasted a huge amount of time trying to get the bloody things on and seated. Ridiculous really as tubes and tyres have never been a problem for me on the road.

My 1 road tubeless set up has been very easy to set up and maintain. No problems at all.

The various MTB tubless set ups I have had have ranged from similarly easy, to very frustrating. I think it is simply the combination of tyres and rims you are using that reflect the difficulty level.

I think it was described as a solution to a non-problem in another thread?

It’s not lower maintenance (I probably get punctures at a lower rate than you’re supposed to refill/top up sealant)
it’s no lighter (sealant plus heavier tyres with thicker sidewalls offsets loss of inner tube)
it doesn’t roll better (see thicker sidewalls)

and I certainly don’t want to ride at pressures so low that I risk pinch punctures.

I’ve owned tubeless-compatible wheels for years and never had the inclination to go down that route, very happy with the performance of my latex tubes and tyre-du-jour.

crashtestmonkey – Member
I think it was described as a solution to a non-problem in another thread?

It’s not lower maintenance (I probably get punctures at a lower rate than you’re supposed to refill/top up sealant)
it’s no lighter (sealant plus heavier tyres with thicker sidewalls offsets loss of inner tube)
it doesn’t roll better (see thicker sidewalls)

and I certainly don’t want to ride at pressures so low that I risk pinch punctures.
I think out on the open road, pure roadying, it seems a bit marginal. Just because punctures aren’t that big of an issue like you say, and there’s no value in running v low pressure. For urban commutes, though, punctures can be a right ballache. Tubeless well worth a dabble there I reckon – a reliable system would make a difference.

I’d thought that Crashtestmonkey, but someone in another thread pointed out that most road tubeless tyres are the equivalent of MTB tubeless-ready tyres, i.e. thinner sidewalls that require sealant, as opposed to UST.

Either way I wouldn’t want tubeless on a road bike for the same reason I wouldn’t want discs, they may both offer genuine, bona-fide benefits when they’re working, and possibly even less maintenance, but my experience of both is that when it’s going wrong it’s a total ball-ache.

I’ll save it for the MTB when the benefit-to-ball-ache ratio looks a bit higher… 8)

I like it, im using schwalbe pro one tyres on shimano ultegra rims. Tyre go on v easily,no issues so far.

Had a puncture on a recent 100 miler,but didnt notice it until 3 days later when the front tyre was noticably softer than the rear. It had been about 9 months since i put some stans liquid in, so it was beginning to dry out hence not sealing the hole perfectly. So i Just added a bit more liquid and the hole sealed up straight away and holds 105psi no problem.

road bike is tubeless, so is my cx bike and my mtb…

on a shortish road ride the other day i heard a pop-hisssssssss noise and my seat tube was covered in sealant…. i got off the bike and was sure i’d have to throw a tube in there… but about a minute later it’d sealed and i’d lost 20psi… pumped the tyre back up and carried on 8)

never known to have a puncture on the other 2 bike, but maybe i have had one and they’ve just sealed up again?! ❓

currently in the love phase then (thoug setting the road tyres up tubeless took more time than i care to remember)

I’d thought that Crashtestmonkey, but someone in another thread pointed out that most road tubeless tyres are the equivalent of MTB tubeless-ready tyres, i.e. thinner sidewalls that require sealant, as opposed to UST.

In the hand the Schwalbe Pro One certainly feel less supple than a GP4000 and a hugely less supple than an open tub tyre. I’d be surprised if a latex tube negated that suppleness to that much of a degree.

After 3 days of buggering about with some “road plus” tubeless tyres I’m very much in the hate camp at the moment. I thought I’d sussed it as both stayed inflated overnight and I got back from a ride this morning without incident but the front is now flat (leaking around the valve).

Total PITA to get them off the rim too.

I recently fired a tube in after a valve went and I couldn’t get the tyre to seal. Today the valve.on the tube went, as I was inflating it pre ride

You’ve a hate phase on pumping up tyres as well ? 😉

I like road tubleless but “my” roads are flinty and punctures are common
(and the lighter road tubeless aren’t really up to it IMO so I use slightly heavier ones – Schwalbe One much better than Schwalbe PRO One, for example both for initial puncture resistance and for retaining a repair strip)

Thing is it went up easily, I may have even posted up about it.

I think it rides nicer.

Iain I’ve run BB5 s for 10 years, I’ll never go back. Not bothered about hydraulic either

Mixed thoughts. Having used GP4000s and tubes for years I put Pro One’s on tubeless when I bought some new DT Spline 23 wheels.

Having run GP4000s for thousands of miles with no punctures, I had a sidewall puncture (small hole too) on my second ride that wouldn’t seal and I limped home. Been fine for 10+ rides since.

They do seem to roll and grip better but that’s probably more down to the new wheels than the tyres. Running 80psi instead of 100psi is more comfortable.

Iain I’ve run BB5 s for 10 years, I’ll never go back. Not bothered about hydraulic either

Yeah fair enough, I binned the hateful SRAM Levels from my flat bar commuter and fitted some Spyres (with Ultegra flat bar levers 😀 ) and am finally coming back round to the idea of discs, no unbearable screeching so far although I haven’t got them properly wet. Anyway, topic for another thread.

Love. Been using road tubeless (on non=specific tyres and rims) for over 2 years. Recently switched to proper tyres on non-specific rims and they’ve been fabulous.

Lots of love here, not going back!

Lots of love here too, schwalbe pro 1 evo microskin tl easy on superstar arc rims. Easy to mount, held air with negligible loss for several days without sealant and now they’ve got sealant in they barely lose any.

They ride so nicely even compared to previous high end tyres.

Nothing has convinced me it is worth it. Not the same issues as my MTB where it is.

Had tubeless ready wheels but still on tubes.
Po

25mm Pro Ones on Pacenti SL23 by the way, 80/85psi just massively comfortable

First ride today, Schwalbe Pro Ones on DT RR411, tight, but went on ok, went up easily, leaked a bit, felt alright in use, hardly magic-carpet like, but perfectly ok.

Front still going down slowly, have added more sealant. Rear is perfect.

Jury’s still out.

I’ve found that due to the higher pressures and VERY tight beads Which can move the tape when mounting, I have to use tubeless tape which is wider than the inner rim width to prevent the tape moving and allowing air to escape. I’m on 25mm tape for 17, 20 and 22mm rims.

Feeling the love for them here too at the moment. Schwable pro-ones, s-ones & g-ones all tubeless across the road bikes & cx bikes on a mixture of rim combinations. Overall, I’ve done about 3000 miles since Christmas & made the switch after a continual run of punctures from potholes, etc. They have yet to let me down.

The g-ones on archetypes were a faff to get sealed, but I used 25mm tape as per Daffy above which sorted it out. Personally I love the ride of tubeless & the lower pressures. I don’t think I’d go back to inner tubes unless there was a particular tyre I wanted to run that wasn’t available in tubeless variety.

I’ve found that due to the higher pressures and VERY tight beads Which can move the tape when mounting, I have to use tubeless tape which is wider than the inner rim width to prevent the tape moving and allowing air to escape. I’m on 25mm tape for 17, 20 and 22mm rims.

Interesting that. I’ve also found with such tight beads I can’t use gorilla tape as just the process of mounting and trying to seal tears the tape. Might try some 25mm stans tape and see how that works. Bead is so tight on mine that I can’t even get it to seat evenly with a tube in pumped to 120 psi.

3 ‘incidents’ in around 2 and a half years, first two both sealed down to 50 or 60 psi. Plenty enough to get home in one case and enough to finish a race in the points in the other.

Last was a triple pinch flat on an off road section of a RR, two just about sealed and the third needed an anchovy to get back to HQ. Maybe a tube would have faired a little better in terms of confidence getting back, but it was a very heavy hit so maybe not indicative of a regular flat.

I ride 150 miles a week, mixture of commute and leisure, had 1 puncture this year with my tubes.

Wasn’t the first gen Schwalbe One close to 300g, and they’re still high 200s? Not tried tubeless but remember reading a (positive) mag review where he suggested he had to run really low pressure (like 60psi) to get the Ones to ride nicely due to sidewall stiffness.

I’m ~67kg, riding 25mm tyres (on new school wide rims so they’re actually measuring 28mm wide) with latex tubes at 75/80psi. Experimented as low as 60 and they’ve worked and not punctured but prefer the feel at the slightly higher pressure.

And riding tubeless without sealant – why? You’ve just sacked off most of the claimed advantage (see “got a puncture and didn’t notice” replies).

Schwalbe Pro One TL MS – 291g + sealant 30g + valve 20g = 341g
Conti GP 4S II – 266g + Tube 100g = 366g

My Schwalbes do ride a little firm at equivalent pressures on cold days, but substantially better on warm days. I usually ride with 10-15% less pressure in the SP1s.

My Hutchinson Sector 32s (312g) are the closest things to a tubular tyre that I’ve ever experienced with a clincher. They ride beautifully at 70Psi on wide carbon rims with 32spokes.

Love phase – G One Speeds are lovely on Ksyrium rims. 30c, roll fast, excellent in the wet.

Want fast and supple? Ride some Corsa Speeds! Just don’t ride them on nasty roads or near glass. These are simply amazingly fast (with a noise that has to be heard to be believed), and very fragile. I’ve been circuit racing them on my HED Jet 6/9 combo at Hillingdon in Vets races (no chance of crashing!). Mounting was simple for both sets of tyres and they are both being run on NON TUBELESS rims.

Partial Hate though – I removed them from my HED Jet Plus disc because they are so tight they pull the HED carbon cover out of shape!

Orange Sealant has been a significant improvement over Stans.

Conti GP 4S II – 266g + Tube 100g = 366g

Not sure where you got those numbers but I happen to have those and a set of scales next to me…

Conti GP 4S II – 222g + Latex Tube 90g = 312g

Rolling resistance of a 4000S with latex tube is also less than the Pro One (here).

28mm tyres.

Aha, you were looking at 28s. Ok for 25s on same scales…

Schwalbe Pro One TL MS – 265g + sealant 30g + valve 20g = 315g

You’d likely run it at lower pressure too to get a similar feel so rolling resistance would be higher.

28mm tyres.

Link to Road.

Love

Schwalbe Pro One TL MS (25mm) on Pacenti rims. Multiple small punctures caused by glass on the rear and a pinch flat when I went over bottle which all sealed up with Orange Seal (Much better than Stans IMO).

Tyres are inflated to 60psi front and 70psi rear. I weigh 62ish kilos and they ride beautifully. Wide as well, 28mm wide due to the width of the rims.

I used a specialized air tool blaster to inflate them and there is no way I am ever going back to tubes. Also run tubeless on my gravel bike with pressures down to 20psi with zero burping or issues, although the rims do get a tough time when its slightly rocky.

For me its about the ride quality and puncture resistance. Its not perfect, well nothing is and it can be faff to set up but I’ve been really, really impressed up to now. Sidewall cuts are what worries me the most but other than that I can’t be happier in the 3 years since I switched to tubeless.

Put a splash more sealant in my front last night and they’re now holding air perfectly, so it now does the thing that tubes do. Will see what happens in the next few rides.

(I probably get punctures at a lower rate than you’re supposed to refill/top up sealant)

That’s what putting me off. Suspect the small volume of sealant means they need topping up more often as well? Would be the same for commuting – using Marathon Plus or Specialized Nimbus I’d go whole years of daily 18mile round trips in all weather before puncturing. The chance of there being any goop left when I needed it would have been pretty low.

(that said, topping up through a valve stem isn’t a long job).

Just make it part of your 6/12 month maintenance.

What fluid are you using? I don’t really trust Stans after about 3 months.

(just bought some OKO tractor sealant to try)

25mm Schwalbe Pro One’s on 27mm wide Hunt 50Aero Carbon’s. Sealed first time with 30ml of Schwalbe Blue sealant. Running them 10-15psi lower than the Conti GP 4000s they replaced. Only have to top up pressure once a week.

This is the best sealant I’ve used so far

Firmly in HATE mode after todays ride. Riding along and noticed the front was almost flat (only tubeless at the front at the moment). Turns out that the bead had unseated and headed down into the bed of the rim, with air and sealant now leaking out between tyre and rim at a light press of the sidewall. Was just after quite a long descent down a fairly poorly surfaced road. Luckily had a CO2 to blow it back onto the rim. Very close to binning the lot and going back to tubes (which I never had any problem with in the first place!)

Anyone fancy one unused and one very lightly used Pro One? 😡

the rear on mine picked up three cuts from glass on the first ride. went down slowly enough for me to ride home, but would never hold air properly again, even with tyre boots.

the front has been OK though.

Turns out that the bead had unseated and headed down into the bed of the rim

another layer or two of tape ?

Anyone fancy one unused and one very lightly used Pro One?

Nope – too flimsy 🙁

I’m running pro one tubeless on both road bikes and after initial set up issues I’ve nailed it 🙂

I originally tried gorilla tape they lost air !

Removed gorilla tape used green scourer on rim bed fitted tesa(stansalike) tape and had no problems at all ..

All love now