Anyone running tubeless on a road bike?

I do on my mountain bikes and my new road bike has tubeless ready wheels. However, the tyres are conti GP4 seasons which don’t appear to be tubeless ready.

So – do we think it is worth it? (obv being able to run low pressure is not an issue but avoiding flats is).

And if so – any tubeless ready road tyre recommendations? Ideally 4 season type tyres.

Cheers

I am using schwalbe pro one tubeless tyres on my road bike. They seem fine to me, went up much easier than the tubeless tyres on my mountain bike.

Yes

Pro Ones are lighter than Ones. I run 28mm Ones on the commuter. No punctures in >10,000 miles on all sorts of surfaces. I run 25mm Pro Ones on the good bike.

I’ll never go back to tubes.

I did run Hutchison Fusion 3s for a while and I’ll never go back to tubeless.

The roads around here are just too rough after a wet winter that has created mammoth pot holes everywhere. I really liked the feel of tubeless but when punctured they don’t seal as well as mountain bike ones in my experience and there is no way to re-inflate them at the roadside unless you have a CO2 canister. The tyres are expensive too so getting a irreparable nick on the sidewall is a far bigger deal than with a decent quality budget clincher.

For a while I did consider putting them back on my ‘good’ bike for summer but decided it would only limit the roads that I was willing to take a risk on so stuck with clinchers.

I’ve ridden tubeless on the mountain bike for about 10 years and just don’t see the benefit of it on the road.

reggie ,do road tubeless have a maximum sealing pressure.
I run 100 all year round,and wondered if this would still seal?

I have visions of this at the side of the road.. 🙂

I run about 80 max myself but I’ve tried them at 100 and they were fine. I’m not sure what the theoretical limit of them is.

I’m not quite sure what your logic is whereisthurso… you can get cuts in clinchers too. If your tubeless tyre has a cut that the sealant can’t handle you just put a tube in like you would with a clincher. Tubeless tyres aren’t any more fragile than clinchers.

They are more ££ though, I’ll give you that. Pro Ones are about £35.

Do you get many flats at the moment OP? I don’t, so I have no interest in road tubeless personally.

Are those of you using it doing so for the weight saving?

cheers – reggiegasket – are the Ones tubeless as well as the Pro Ones? I want to use them for commuting so the Pro Ones may be a bit fragile. Schwalbe website and CRC et al are not clear.

Yes you can fix a road side puncture with a tube but it doesn’t stop you and the bike from been covered in sealant. Then when you get home you have to fix the tubeless tyre and get covered in it again. I’m sorry but personally I don’t see the point.

However if the Op wants to give it a try with some cheap Hutchison fusion 3s and valves then let me know 😉

Are those of you using it doing so for the weight saving?

I believe they have a lower rolling resistance than clinchers, and possibly even tubs

are the Ones tubeless as well as the Pro Ones

not all of them – read description carefully

Run pro ones tubeless and they’re brilliant. Any Ones you find at the moment will almost certainly not be the tubeless ones

I have run schwalbe pro one tubeless for nearly 2 years. Ghetto style set up! I was getting loads of punctures on the cheap stock tyres / horrendous road surfaces so wanted a permanent solution. My comments are:

I have had less flats but not eradicated the issue, I have replaced common snake bite flats with less common nicks that don’t seal. When I get a flat I just stick a tube in to get home – it is not hard to do without creating much mess. When I get a nick it’s a simple fix with a patch on the inside. They go up no bother when brand new but over time they are harder to seal as the sealant and rims start to gunk up and they need a good clean to get the seal working. I don’t think there is any significant weight saving – heavy tyres and sealant = weight of a tube. When buying again I will go tubeless however I tend to use tubes a lot now. I basically go tubeless until I get a flat – then run a tube until it gets a puncture then clean it up and go back to tubeless.

One tubeless will say tubeless on the side in big letters! Edit: Mine are quite old and i dont think they are ‘pros’ however they were £35 each from Germany and say Tubeless on the side. They are great tyres for grip!

my thinking on this is driven out of the fact that my new road bike has an unusual rear drop-out and disc brakes which makes removing and replacing the rear wheel a pain. So I want this for minimising punctures. Not persuaded by weight or rolling resistance claims. I commute quite long distance and get them (typically in the rear tyre) at least a few times a year – inevitably when its cold, dark and wet.

Given the responses all that is putting me off is changing to Schwalbe from my beloved Conti GP 4 seasons.

Another pro one tubeless fan.. 28c Run them about 60psi.. Surprisingly fast rolling and takes most of the little bumps and buzz out of the road.

Hmm,
I didn’t think there was a big advantage to begin with.
Then I did a gravel ride the other week.
That was an advantage with pinch flats all over the place!
Running Pro Ones on both bikes tubeless.
The 28mms I was running at 70 psi for the gravel ride and I am not particulary light.
Nice and grippy and fast!
Max

I’ve used them for years and like above don’t want to go back to tubes. The reason for having them is that the roads on my commute are often covered in glass and I’d get punctures with fast racing tyres. I was using more solid tyres, but that meant that it became hard work for the 20 miles and I was struggling time wise so needed to be as quick as possible. Tubeless gave me the best of both worlds, resistance to glass punctures and a fast tyre.

I have some GP4s on fast wheels which are not tubeless and I use these for ‘race’ use, but everyday use has to be tubeless for me now.

I have two road bikes both of which I run with tubeless tyres. On my commuter / audax bike (on which I rode PBP and all the qualifying rides) I have always used Bontrager R2s. I wore those out last year – I rode about 8,000 miles on them. I’ve just replaced them with Bontrager AW2s. My other bike, which I use most during the summer, currently has Bontrager R3s on. I can recommend the Bontrager tyres – never had a problem with them. The R3s wear faster, as they’re a softer compound. The R2s are better. I chose to put the AW2s on this time round to see if that would extend the life further. In all the miles that I did last year, I didn’t suffer a puncture. I clattered through a pothole on a descent at speed which ruined a rim, but the tyre sealed and I was able to get home.

I’ve run tubeless on Bontrager tubeless ready rims, Stans Alpha 430s and H Plus Son Archetypes. The Bontrager rims and H Plus were a doddle to fit the tyres too, the Stans much less so. In addition, even with the recommended two layers of rim tape in the Stans rim, it still doesn’t hold pressure as long as the H Plus which isn’t a specific tubeless rim.

I have used Hutchinson tyres before, Atoms if I recall correctly. They were painful to install, punctured twice and wore through very quickly. I won’t buy Hutchinson tyres over the Bontragers because of that experience. I have read and heard a lot of good stuff about the Schwalbe tyres. No personal experience mind you.

I won’t go back to using tubes on either of my road bikes.

For the winter commuter I went halfway house and put Stans inside the tubes,same as medders ,I just CBA getting manky rear wheel punctures,half way home ,in horrible weather.The other thing I used to get was the secret slow puncture.It would be waiting when the bike came out the shed,or at the end of the day heading home.Almost impossible to find without a bucket of water,which in the dark months I just CBA with.
I haven’t put any in the summer bike tubes,but I am kinda tempted.