Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)
  • Road tubeless fail
  • nickliv
    Full Member

    Evening all.

    Out this eve for a spin on the road bike, downhill, braking hard (rim brakes) for a corner over a grotty surface, a deeply unpleasant noise emanated from my front wheel. (I will add here that bike + rider = nearly a small horse)
    Once I realised the noise was all the air whistling out between the tyre and the rim, I managed to stop, get off, do a selection of good swears, and try my tiny feeble pump, (because when you make the scales cry, you really need to ride with the smallest pump known to man. Dick.)

    No avail, sealant bubbled everywhere. I swear it was being manufactured in there, lots more came out than ever went in. All round the rim. It was never going to pop back on.

    Pulled out a tube, now coated in sealant up to the elbows on each arm, and popped it in. Because I am a gorilla I broke a tyre lever while simultaneously giving myself a snakebite. Slime patch didn’t stick. Second slime patch didn’t stick after I dried the tube. Third slime patch didn’t stick after I dried the tube again AND roughed it up a bit.

    3 slime patches are stuck to the leg of my bins and I can’t get them off.

    In the end I admitted defeat, and rang the ever patient Mrs L, who came out to pick me up.

    Is this a common thing with road tubeless? I don’t think there is a hole anywhere and I’m pretty sure I haven’t dinged the rim. They’re matched Mavic tubeless wheels and tyres, so ought to fit together pretty happily. I was running about 70psi front and rear.

    Might just bung a couple of tubes in, or do I buy a co2 inflator, some better tyre levers and a bigger pump and stick with it?

    I can’t remember the last time I had to be rescued, and I don’t think I like it. That said, I also can’t remember the last time I had a flat on my road bike so perhaps I’m overthinking things.

    And I’m only half joking about the slime patches on my bibs.

    prezet
    Free Member

    I never had positive experiences of tubeless on a road bike at those pressures. The pressure was just too great for it to seal. Much better now on big gravel tyres as I can run around 30-40psi and they seal great.

    DezB
    Free Member

    Is this a common thing with road tubeless?

    Nah, I’ve had to be rescued 3 times in hmm, 8 years probably, of commuting on road tubeless. 2 times cos my pump broke and once cos of a pinch flat by the bead, which sounds similar to what you had?
    But then I had to be rescued by a kindly family member far more than that on tubed tyres!

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    RoterStern
    Free Member

    If the air was escaping from the join of the rim and tyre it has nothing to do with a grotty surface. Most probably your rim band has moved/ failed or you could have dinged the rim. Even with a puncture the tyre bead should stay in the rim to keep a seal when you re-inflate the tyre. Maybe invest in an anchovy set for the times when you have a hole in the tyre to big for the sealant to fill.

    w00dster
    Full Member

    Also given up on road tubeless.
    I mentioned this in a post the other day, my issue was 9 miles into a ride had a slash that no dynaplug would seal. Made a mess of me and the bike.
    The tyres were actually OK to get off, tube in and ride away. But they were completely done and had to be thrown away, bought in March so not massive amounts of mileage.
    Pro-Ones tubeless, at 80psi guys on here told me to lower the pressure, I duly did but they were still awful. Loads of road chatter. I even had to pull over today to check the axle was in properly, it was. So had a bright idea to put a tube in and see if that helps. Holy mudder of God!! Trying to get that tyre of the rim was like wrestling a tiger, I think I sweated more doing that than I did on the actual ride. Tube in eventually and it was still awful. And yep I was caked in the white sticky stuff!
    Was thinking it might be the wheel/dodgy spoke, but new tyres went on tonight and a short ride seems to show it’s fine. The chatter was that bad it’s made my Wahoo Bolt mount work loose.
    I’m going to put the Pro-Ones on a spare set of wheels as I can’t imagine they are as bad as what I’m experiencing…..
    By the way C02 for the win!! So much easier than a pump!

    DezB
    Free Member

    I always run at about 60psi, unless mixing surfaces, then 40-50ish. I’m not one who needs precision in me tyre pressures.

    Aidy
    Free Member

    I’ve had far fewer punctures on road tubeless than I have with tubes, but if you manage to unseat a tyre, I don’t think there’s any way you’re getting it back on with a mini pump.

    didnthurt
    Full Member

    I’m a huge fan of tubeless on all my bikes and I very rarely have any issues with them. However when something does go wrong (like a cut/hole in the tyre) then I’ve learnt to go back to tubes until the tyres tread is worn out. At which point I replace the tyre and go back to tubeless.

    Edit:- trying to make a damaged and/or stretched tubeless tyre seat tubeless is a waste of time (IME) and a messy waste of time at that.

    razorrazoo
    Full Member

    Had my first road tubeless puncture a couple of weeks ago after 2.5 years and thousands of km.  proper blowout, 10mm cut.  Only issue was couldn’t get the valve out as nut done too tight, fortunately a 5 min walk to a shop with pliers and now have a mini set in my phone pouch, could’ve been a nightmare in middle of nowhere. I can tell the front tyre is getting on now, several spots that I can see have sealed.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    trying to make a damaged and/or stretched tubeless tyre seat tubeless is a waste of time

    Funny, my Terrenos on the gravel bike seem to get better with age, swapped for the third or fourth time recently and they popped up the easiest they have ever done and are even holding pressure better than they ever used to, weird!

    I’ve always thought on the road bike it needs to be a function of how often you puncture and how traumatic you find fixing it. I rarely puncture with tubes (latex) and don’t struggle to swap or patch tubes at roadside, so tubeless not worth it for me.

    wheeliedirty
    Free Member

    I’ve always thought on the road bike it needs to be a function of how often you puncture and how traumatic you find fixing it. I rarely puncture with tubes (latex) and don’t struggle to swap or patch tubes at roadside, so tubeless not worth it for me.

    ^^This

    Duggan
    Full Member

    Yeah there was another thread the other day here on exactly the same thing. I’ve gone back to tubes on the road bike after buying a Giant which came tubeless ready and using tubeless for a while.

    Everytime I hear about tubeless tyres on road bikes here it seems to relate to people being covered in slime, weird names for various patches and plugs, furious use of various pumps to try and get beads to seat, people taking pliers or nail clippers out on rides with them etc.

    I appreciate there are plenty of people using it who are benefitting from riding for miles puncture free and doubtless don’t post about that so we’re only hearing one side of the story. But I’m not a great bike mechanic so I’ve realised that for me, the benefit of knowing I can just stop and fix a puncture by replacing a tube outweighs that of running lower pressures.

    pdw
    Free Member

    Another tubes-for-road luddite here, despite being happily tubeless for everything off road.

    My only experience of road tubeless is on a friend’s bike. Sealant didn’t work, but did spray everywhere. Tyre worm lasted half a mile. Swapping a tube would have been far quicker to sort.

    Obviously it may have prevented some punctures that we don’t know about, but I find punctures with tubes so rare that it’s just not worth worrying about. I’m sure that most of my tubes last longer than the 6 months or so that you get before the sealant dries up anyway.

    mcnultycop
    Full Member

    Tubeless works on road for me in terms of allowing me to run lower pressures and I’ve had some punctures I’ve not known about until I took a tyre off.

    However, sometimes it just doesn’t seal (or it looks like it’s sealed then a bit later in the ride it has another little spurter and takes a bit more pumping) and I still carry a tube or two on longer rides.

    steve_b77
    Free Member

    I was road tubeless for a bit last year, really only because I had a spangly new bike with tubeless ready wheels and tyres. Fair to say I’m back to tubes, I don’t really puncture much if at all, i reckon less than 5 in 10 years of riding on the road.

    IMHO it’s just not worth it, as said above its a total arse to fix if it’s anything more than a little hole, I felt no perceivable difference in real world performance, nor did my Strava logs indicate any difference.

    Now off road with bigger tyres and lower pressures, like on my gravel bike at 700x42c or 650×47 and on my MTB, there’s no way I’d run tubes ever again, tubeless works just fine and dandy on those applicaitons.

    You mention that “you make scales cry” and “rider + bike = small horse”, I really don’t think 70psi is enough pressure on a road tubeless tyre for someone of your presumed mass.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    I’ve had to be rescued 3 times in hmm, 8 years probably, of commuting on road tubeless.

    On the other hand I’ve never tried road tubless and never been rescued!

    I’ve only once called the wife out and that was for another rider, but he’d just gone over the bars into a ditch and had a broken collar bone.

    DezB
    Free Member

    Wow! I’m going back to tubes! Oh, I haven’t got any. 😆

    Klunk
    Free Member

    On the other hand I’ve never tried road tubless and never been rescued!

    I’m glad you tempted fate, though I may or may not concur 😉

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Been running road tubeless for over 2 years now. Stans Race sealant seems to be the best for this (for me), regularly checked and topped up most holes seal and hold well under 4mm.

    nickliv
    Full Member

    You mention that “you make scales cry” and “rider + bike = small horse”, I really don’t think 70psi is enough pressure on a road tubeless tyre for someone of your presumed mass.

    The Mavic calculator comes out at 73 psi so maybe I’m lighter than I think 😉

    Haze
    Full Member

    For balance…

    6+ years on tubeless, never once needed to put a tube in or phone for a ride home.

    Punctures extemely rare, carry a Dynoplug which has been used twice – once after hitting a large chunk of rubble on a off-road section and the other on someone else’s bike.

    Run pressures at 65/70 max (63Kg rider, 28mm tyres, various rim widths 19 to 23mm), far more comfy than anything else I’ve ridden with no perceivable trade off – actually suspect I’m quicker/fresher over distances.

    Any punctures I have had have sealed easily at that pressure (Orange Seal).

    DezB
    Free Member

    I’d like to say wasn’t the fault of my road tubeless that my pump broke! If you have a shitey pump (as the OP did!) and can’t pump up the tyre, well you either walk, or call you brother/son to rescue you. Even if I’d had a tube to replace, if I couldn’t pump the bastad up, I’d be going nowhere. Dammit. And it was the same pump the second time, cos I’d thought I’d fixed it! DAmmmmmit!

    ransos
    Free Member

    For balance…

    6+ years on tubeless, never once needed to put a tube in or phone for a ride home.

    6 years here too. I’ve needed a tube just the once, because I’d let the sealant dry out, so entirely my fault. Repaired at the roadside without difficulty, and self-sealed as soon as I topped up with Stan’s.

    One one other occasion I needed an anchovy. Been running about six months now without any further problems.

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