I’ve been running tubeless on my Mountain Bikes for the best part of a decade now, and espousing the benefits of it to everyone who will listen.

So given that tubeless on road bikes is now within the reach of the average person in the shape of Shimano Ultegra wheels, or even a set of Stans 340’s on your own hubs, how much of an advantage does it present on the road in reality? Does the very small choice of tyres limit you in any way, or are the Hutchinson offerings any good?

Should say I’m not racing, purely out riding with a few mates or on my own. Took my bosses Pinarello out on Saturday though, with condom thin Conti’s on it, and punctured twice inside about 3 miles, so keen to hear about tubeless resistance to punctures in general… Oh, and how much Stan’s fluid per tyre, if any at all?

My experience has been a bit mixed. I run road tubeless on my commuter and it’s been very good up to a point. But I’ve found the higher pressure can break the sealant after about 60psi, so you end up having to patch the tyre. So that’s why they’re on the commuter – don’t run high pressure, and don’t want to fix punctures on the way to/from work.

Been using Hutchinson Intensives for a few years and they’re pretty tough. Used Atoms for a bit and they’re too thin. Fusion 3s running ok too.

Experiences ?
Fantastic !
Running Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels and Hutchinson Atom’s

Use the wheels all year for Commutes, Time trials, chain Gangs, training.
Punctures this year : x 1 😆

Always use half a cup of wheel milk and fit the tyres on with a Ghetto inflator 😯

I’m on Hutch Fusions and 340s. Does feel good, that could be the weight saving or the “I bought it so I have to like it” factor, but it does remind me of the tubs I’ve ridden in the past for ride quality. Has a kind of pingy feel to it.

in 2 years running tubeless mtb wheels, had about 7 or 8 flats, ripped 2 tyres to point of replacing. Personally couldn’t tell if they rolled better or not, the weight saving of about 100g per wheel was neglible to performance so i’m on the if i can i’ll run tubeless but generally just run tubes fence

I just can’t see the point on road bike.

I’ve had 1 puncture this year, it was my fault for running tyres too long and almost worn.

Buy the right tyres and you really don’t need to worry about punctures.

dont be a niche whore on a road bike

Ultegra, hutchinson intensive for a two years or so. only punctured audibly once, and it sealed losing a bit of pressure.
I’ll never go back to using tubes, just wish i’d done it years ago

my experience of road tubeless is with in out punctures/holes is that stans won’t seal over about 40 psi.

Nice spam salinabiber!

Tempted to try it myself. My road wheels are tubeless ready. But the tyre choice is bewildering 😐
Perhaps BMS cars can help? I’ll call them today.

I’ve run tubeless on a converted set of CXP33 rims, and now on Fulcrum 2-way wheels.

No problems at all, and I love running lower pressure, especially with the bad roads where I live.

For tyres there is only really Hutchinson. Atom for dry racing, Fusion for a good all rounder, Intensive for a tough training tyre.
The others are way too expensive (Maxxis).

And only use Tubeless ready road tyres else they will blow off the rim.

I ran Hutchinson Intensives for one winter, they were truly lethal, the worst road tyres I’ve ever tried! Fusions are good, but I’d not want to ride them on gritty roads all winter.

Several friends have tried road tubeless and all have drifted back to tubes, none have had any massive issues, but it’s not got the same benefits as the MTB IM/their/E.

Bontrager TLR tires should be available around now.

But the tyre choice is bewildering

I was thinking the exact opposite actually! 3 different tyres from Hutchinson, one or two from Maxxis (that don’t seem to be available in the UK from what I can tell), and the promise of a Tubeless Ultremo from Schwalbe sometime in the near future… What’s bewildering to me is the price of them, more than £50 per tyre!

I’ve run tubeless on a converted set of CXP33 rims

How did you convert them? Just a Stan’s rimstrip?

I ran Hutchinson Intensives for one winter, they were truly lethal, the worst road tyres I’ve ever tried!

How so? The compound? What made them so terrible?

Fusions are good, but I’d not want to ride them on gritty roads all winter.

Too flimsy? Or another reason?

but it’s not got the same benefits as the MTB IM/their/E.

despite having Ultegra wheels I would say this ^ in combination with lack of tyre choice and much higher price. Cant see the benefit of being able to run lower pressures on road as much as off-road (more rolling resistance, more likely to ding the rim even if you dont puncture from a ‘snakebite’) and am dubious about the ability to seal the bigger holes youd get on road (eg. from glass as opposed to thorns).

When theres more choice and price range in tyres I may give it a try.

I’m a bit confused why you can run lower pressure with tubes. It’s not like you are going to be running 25 psi is it. Low on a road bike would be 70psi and you can do that with no issues using tubes.

Tubeless on a road bike is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.