Getting a few punctures at the moment running through invisible potholes in the dappled shade (it’s a tough life riding in the sunshine 🙂 ) and am tiring of changing tubes as well as buying them .

I’m tempted to give tubeless a go on my Archetype rims to see if it helps reduce punctures. Anyone have any experience with this set up or have any recommendations for tyres? Thanks.

I run tubeless on two pairs of Archetypes.

Currently running Schwalbe Ones (25mm on one set, 28s ont’other)

Taped up with 3M crossweave tape and Stans valves.

I’ve been tubeless on the road for about 18 months

Started with hutchinson and now on schwalbe one which are really nice in comparison and seem slightly more nick-resistant

I ride very flinty country roads and used to get a puncture every couple of weeks. Had one in 18 months since tubeless

Haven’t ever hit a pothole hard though – I guess they’d be more pinch-resistant but I’d look hard at the sidewalls now & then

What’s the cheapest tape I could use. Any reason not to just use insulating tape?

I have been using it for a couple of years now. I commute into Manchester and the amount of glass meant punctures were a regular occurrence with tubes. I went to heavy touring tyres, but they were slow and uncomfortable.
I am now using Hutchinson training type tubeless tyres and while they’re not race fast and supple, they are still a very fast comfortable tyre and I’ve not had any punctures since using them. Very difficult to fit though!
I’d like to try something like Schwable Ones which maybe more supple.

There’s quite a lot of pressure in a road tube so I’ve put stan’s tape over a “normal” rim strip that you’d have in for an inner tube. No idea if that’s necessary.

Any reason not to just use insulating tape?

I would suggest not. Compared to a mtb tubeless set-up, the higher pressures mean everything is a little more stressed and insulating tape might not be enough against the spoke holes. Superstar tubeless tape is cheap.

What’s the cheapest tape I could use.

Tesa Tape – 4289 – its the same as Stans

thats or Gorilla Tape

I currently run 80PSI rear and 70PSI front on 25mm tyres (i weigh 63KG).

Out of interest if i went tubeless could i look at dropping lower without increasing the rolling resistance?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-ROLLS-19mm-x-50m-Crossweave-Reinforced-Tape-/180337800278

Right, Reggiegasket has sorted out the tape I think. I love an ebay bargain.

Schwalbe Ones look too pricey at over £70 a pair. Anything cheaper that I should consider? The Hutchison Fusion 3 on Wiggle could be an option as they’re a bit cheaper.

got my schwalbe from ze germans – about 50 quid a pair IIRR

schwalbe one 23mm on alpha rims here, early days but like them so far. Running 85f/100r at 80kg riding weight. May drop them down a bit.

You could try some of the french/german bike shops.

Schwalbe One 23mm on SL23s here. Running at 90psi/64kg weight. Feel pretty quick, feel pretty comfortable.

They were a pig to fit, but the easiest tubless tyre to inflate I’ve ever come across.

Got mine from Germany too.

I have a pair of used (500 miles) Hutchinson Intensives 25mm for sale if youre interested – £30 posted. Ive swapped over to 28mm Ones…

I’ve been running Hutchinson Intensive on Ultegra wheels for a couple of years and have had only two punctures that needed attention. One was fixed roadside with a worm, one I limped home on. The worm held for months before I needed to unseat the tyre and fix with a patch

They seem to be pretty tough – I’m running around 80-90 PSI and weigh about 81Kg

Most of my riding is done on country lanes so plenty of sharp things, pointy things and pot holes.

Edit – Acycles is where I get my tyres from

The Hutchinsons are less grippy in the wet than the Ones, if that matters. And I’ve tried all of them – Atoms, Intensives, Fusions and Sectors.

I’d go 25mm+ to benefit from the lower pressures you can run tubeless at.

Bonty R3s are grippy but wear faster than the Ones.

I bought my last lot of Ones from ze Germans.

and to give you a good example of how tough a tubeless tyre is….

I hit a pothole last week which terminally dinged my Archetype rim – and Archetypes are tough rims – but the tyre didn’t even puncture.

How to throw the rim away but the tyre is fine.

Can you be more specific? The cheapest I can find Schwalbe Ones is from ze Ribble Valley 🙂

ze ribble valley is actually IN STOCK ??? ZOMGLOL !!!

( bike-discount.de is where I got mine )

(( ah, I see they’ve gone up in the northern vales from the permanently OOS price of £26 ))

I ended up going for the Hutchison fusion 3 from wiggle. I used some Joe’s no flats sealant that has worked on my mtbs. They were easy enough to get on and equally easy to inflate but they’re completely flat after a night in the garage.

I’ve not ridden the bike yet as it needs a new cassette so I’m wondering if it’ll take a ride to get everything properly seated and sealed up? If not where am I going wrong?

Started using the schwable one this january through till march and two tyres the wrecked by puncture that would not seal. On had a sidewall cut the other got a hernia. However most sorted themselves out. I get alot of punctures normally in winter and i have never found a tyre that i want to ride that does not puncture. These seem a good balance.

I’m using the one 28mm on original arch rims. Been great and the tyre is better than the previous Hutchinson sector. I used yellow stans tape but found the pressure distorted that. Cross weave tape to cover the spoke holes first is a good call.

So what makes a road tyre tubeless?

Edit: apart from the lack of innertube

stronger bead and an air-tight caracass

Don’t use normal road tyres tubeless, kids.

The beads are carbon fibre rather than Kevlar and don’t stretch significantly. A normal tyre can blow off the rim at typical road tyre pressures. They are also airtight and designed to run without sealant on the real-deal tubeless rims.
I use Hutchinson Fusion 3s with sealant and taped wheels and have had good results. Wore my last rear one down to the canvas without getting a single flat.

So I got the bike going now and so far not so good. If I hit a square edge pothole or ride up the small kerb to the driveway the front tyre burps about 10psi a time. I used gorilla tape and cut it narrower to sit on the flat part of the rim covering the spoke holes and not lapping up the side walls. Would adding another layer of tape help the beads seat in the rim better?

What pressure are you running?

I’ve pumped them up to 120psi to try and get them seated but still burping and probably still losing pressure but haven’t checked recently.

Have had some success with the rear tyre which now has 2 wraps of gorilla tape but the front which has only 1 wrap has deflated again during the day. The conclusion is that I need to get some proper tape, either tesa or stans as the gorilla tape just doesn’t work properly. Does anyone know if there are any high street shops that sell Tesa 4289?

Just a quick update on my tubeless conversion. Now set up with 2 wraps of Tesa tape and Joes No Flats solution with Hutchison Fusion 3 tyres everything seems to be holding air fine. There were a few little burps when riding to begin with but now that everything has settled down it seems to be sorted.

The Gorilla tape was a disaster, it wouldn’t hold air for very long and left an incredible sticky mess on the rim so that’ll tech me for trying to go down the cheap route 🙂

There is a huge difference in the feel of the tyres on the road compared to the cheap Vittorias I had previously. I’d say it is a big improvement over the veloflex masters that I’d used last summer too. Only time will tell whether they prove to be more puncture resistant as hoped but for now they seem to be a worthy upgrade even with the hassle of getting them set up.