After a puncture on the road bike this morning, i’m thinking about going tubeless. I run it on the mountain bikes but have been some what hesitant (for no real reason) about making the jump on the road bike. I run H Plus Son Archetype rims so just need some tape and valves and new tyres. So tell me about your experiences and what tyres I should be looking at please 🙂

I like it, though fairly expensive on tyres

Hutchy:
Intensive – solid
Secteur – quite nice ride but both tyres started to fray/unstick near the bead. Probably just cosmetic, but unsettling

Schwalbe:
One – nice. Seem pretty fast rolling, quite grippy and moderately durable
Pro One – will be my next ones I think

Hi, I ran some Hutchison fusion 3’s on a set of ultegra wheels for about 2000km, they were nice and smooth, could run the 25’s at 90psi amd they rolled really well.
Didn’t try any others as there was very little choice 2 years ago.
There were two downsides to them.
One. They were an absolute nightmare to get on the rim, very, very tight, however l, once on. They went up even easier than mtb tyres.
two. They appeared to cut up quite quickly,but it was more cosmetic than anything, they lasted pretty well.
Tried the atom as well, but didn’t get on with it, was pretty scary in the wet, fast in the dry though.

All in prefer tubeless on the roadbike now and won’t be going back.
As ever caveated with ymmv of course.

Been using for7 years, not going back.

Im on bontys, had fusions too, did seem to cut up more easily, but worth it

Cheers for the feedback guys, think I will give it a go 🙂

I’m running the schwale ones in 23 zero issues in the last year

Bought them from bike discount de quite cheap but they only list the pro version currently
Anyone know if the standard version has been discontinued?

I’ve put 500 miles on some shwalbe ones (28c) on some pretty rough roads, no issues at all.

I’ve had schwalbe pro ones on the winter bike since xmas. The rear had a catastrophic failure the other week from what I can only assume was a circular saw in the road. It sealed enough for me to get home but the tyre is borked (by the size of the cut any tyre would have been killed).

They feel really great and are noticably faster than the tyres they replaced (some other schwalbe). Just expensive to replace if you get something nasty in the road.

I’ll replace it with another the same type when they come back into stock in 25mm.

I’ve just committed to Vittoria Corsa tubeless. Going on Giant/D.T.Swiss Tubeless specific. I have high hopes.

oldgit, it would be nice to hear how you get on. I’ve just ordered some fancy schmancy Vittoria Corsa g+ tubeless to go on DT Swiss R23 Splines. It will be my first attempt at road tubeless after mixed results off road but won’t be riding until early summer due to injury.

Running older Schwalbe ones on Ksyrium Elites. Had a similar catastrophic failure on the rear, but the front has been peerless. Love them. Easiest tubeless tyres I have ever mounted. The 25c are nearer 27. And I’m tempted to revert to 23c next time. That or the Vittorias

Fusion 3 have been very good for me, only regret was buying 23 instead of 25.

Just fitted some 25mm Pro Ones, not ridden yet but loads easier to get on than the Hutchinson. They’re on the summer bike so will have their first proper outing in a couple of weeks (Mallorca).

Winter bike will be getting tubeless as soon as I need to replace rims…

The 25c are nearer 27. And I’m tempted to revert to 23c next time

Yeah the 25 look way bigger than the 23 they replaced, different models but a fair bit more than I expected.

Schwalbe:
One – nice. Seem pretty fast rolling, quite grippy and moderately durable
Pro One – will be my next ones I think

same here

both winter bike 28’s and summer 23’s have the ones on. I won’t run tubes again

oh and the 28’s are maaaassssiiiivvvveee!!!

What do you guys who run tubeless carry?
Tube plus stans plus a couple of tyre boots ? And 3 levers if thy are super tight .
Do road tubeless become easier to put on and remove after months of high pressure ? Do they weep air over time so need a whizz with a tracky weekly?

Mine needs a bit adding every few days, but it’s worth the benfefits.

I carry 1 tube and a boot (old toothpaste tube)

I don’t carry any Stans liquid

Bregante. I won’t be using them for a while yet. Mine are the open tubulars that seal without sealant. We’ll see.

I like it a lot and won’t be changing back. I’d suggest putting a layer of reinforced tape over the nipple holes before the yellow tape. For some odd reason, I had the yellow tape bow and fail over one nipple. Odd that it was just the one.

I’ve got some Schwalbe Pro Ones in 25mm. Now I know they’re partly rim width dependant, but they’re probably as wide as the 28mm Conti GP4S I have on the other bike. Massive!

They needed some decent tyre levers to get on, but not as hard as people on here sound as though they’ve experienced. Mine inflated super easy but seemed to have a few pin holes from new which needed the sealant to stop the leakage. A bit of a shake and it was sorted. Hope this wasn’t because they were duffers that I got from Taiwan! But they haven’t seeped air since, and need less topping up than normal tyres/tubes.

I always carry tyre levers and would just carry spare tube(s). Wouldn’t bother carrying sealant or tyre boots – why would you carry any more than you would with normal tyres??

On the road they roll nicely, but anything feels better and faster than the winter bike. To the touch though, they do feel like a different compound to other brands of tyre I have (which all seem similar), again I hope its not because I’m riding fakes from Taiwan!

Just fitted a pair of the new Schwalbe S-One tyres. 30mm with a nice file tread pattern. Went on by hand and inflated perfectly without any sealant. Looking forward to trying them on the commute tomorrow.

Got them from Bike 24 for £35 a pop.

Some great responses here, just what i’m looking for.

What rim tape are you guys using?

None. Ksyriums don’t need them :p

TiRed – Member
None. Ksyriums don’t need them.

This is interesting, I didn’t think Ksyium’s where tubless compatible. Going to check out tyres now 😀

Just using the yellow tape (Stan’s I think) that JRA supply.

Ksyrium wheels are not tubeless compatible. So an obvious disclaimer applies here. But the tubeless technology is really in the tyre bead rather than the rim profile. So I took a punt (have other proper tubeless rims as well) and have been very pleased indeed (over 1000 km now this winter).

In fact mounting the Ones was trivial, required no sealant, pumped easily with my track pump. Contrast that with my Stans rims, and mtb and CX tyres, which were a nightmare!

I’m delighted with them as a tubeless solution.

Good to see some real world feedback on the Pro One, I should be getting some 25s or 28s later in the year.

After seeing the Vitoria Corsa Speed Open TLR I was really hoping for a more practical Corsa version in 25/28. I’m loving the tanwalls on my Challenge tyres but I want tubeless tanwalls.

Onzadog was that with 2 layers of Stans tape?

Going down the tubeless route for the first time on the road (been doing it for several years now on the mtb) using carbon LB rims that’ll be going on my new build ( a Cannondale supersix high mod that I got from Paul’s cycles). Was going to use Schwalbe pro ones but seen as their rare as hens teeth atm I’m going to give the IRC road lights a bash :
https://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/irc-formula-pro-tubeless-rbcc-25-tyres-review.html#Uu4ptaJ4m63sUsp1.97
Seem to get good reviews and apparently last slightly longer than The ones.

Archetype rims are not designed for tubeless. With the higher pressures used in road tyres I wouldn’t risk going tubeless with any rim not designed to be used tubeless. You can get away with ghetto tubeless off-road because the pressures are so much lower.

Archetype rims are not designed for tubeless

Many sites on the net saying they are tubeless ready and the guy that built them for me also said they were? Anyone have some first hand experience with this?

Also, the Schwalbe Ones have a weight limit of 70kgs according to their website. I’m 90+kg so maybe not the ones for me 🙁

I’m using Ones, and I’m a fan.

Didn’t fit them myself though…

Also, the Schwalbe Ones have a weight limit of 70kgs according to their website.

should only be a problem on a unicycle.

gringo – Member

Archetype rims are not designed for tubeless

Many sites on the net saying they are tubeless ready and the guy that built them for me also said they were? Anyone have some first hand experience with this?

Does the H Plus Son website say ‘tubeless ready’? – No

I have also seen several people of various websites saying they are using them tubeless. It’s your skin but I wouldn’t risk it.

You might find this interesting though:-

Ghetto Tubeless Conversions

that article is about running clinchers tubeless.. now that is something I’d avoid! And I’ve tried it with CX tyres at lower pressures but I wouldn’t for road tyres, personally.

Archetypes work fine tubeless – (with road tubeless tyres). I’ve set up about 6 pairs now, and I’ve run my commuter for over two years on them without any issues. Currently on Ones on the commuter and Bonty R2s on the best bike. Will be trying One Pros soon.

Interesting, thanks Reggie. What rim tape did you use?

I just acquired a set of Pacenti SL23 rims on Novatec hubs with Yellow rim tape, and tubeless valves fitted.
The rims are really wide and my Krysiums fit inside them ( the ID of the Pacenti is wider than the OD of the Mavic )
So , once the bearings have been swapped out will be trying them tubeless.
Should make a really light wheelset . I am hoping the rim width and depth will add strength as they are the noodly 20 / 24 spoke model

I used SL23 on the Girlfriends bike with Bontrager tubeless tyres. Easiest conversion i’ve done, went straight away with a track pump.

Interesting, thanks Reggie. What rim tape did you use?

I use 19mm 3M crossweave tape. It’s what I tape all my tubeless conversions with. Reliable, long-lasting, sticky, cheap and very tough. Ebay has it.

Hutchinson fusion 3 tubeless tyres 23mm on hope/Stans Alpha 400. Love them!
Very comfy, no punctures over a couple of thousand miles though the rear is looking a bit worn with a few little cuts and a nice flat edge all the way round.
Have tried at different pressures but find that running them quite soft is good for me. 85 psi at the rear and 80 psi at the front mostly because the roads are quite rough round here and the bike jumps all over place when at 100 psi.
Like the recommendations above only use tubeless tyres on tubeless rims, I shudder to think about a tyre blowing off the rim whilst descending in traffic.