Tell me about... Tubeless tyres (mikey?).. on the road!

[GrahamG]

I've ordered a velocity A23 rim for the winter fixed, something of an experiment before I commit to maybe using them in future for audax wheels. They're tubeless compatible apparently - just the shape of the rim I think which means they should seal OK, they'd still need a rim strip kit type jobbie.

Any thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages with these? I know mikey swears by them but was wondering about the simpler things like ease of fitting tyres, tyre availability (particularly in 25/28mm equivalents), pros/cons, costs etc. etc. It's something that really doesn't seem to have been discussed at all on here, with the obvious exception of mtb'ing.

[PaulF]

There's a thread here on that very subject.

I've been running tubeless for sometime (10 months?) on my mountain bike and only suffered one visitation, but that's hardly a scientific test

I think the the key difference is in the size of tyre: I'm running high volume tyres (2.4" and 2.2") at  pressures in the range 20-25psi. In fact tubeless does allow you to run at a lower pressure because of the reduced risk of pinch flats. Whether you want to run at a lower pressure on a road bike is another matter entirely....

On a low volume/high pressure tyre I'd be concerned that whilst a leak would seal you may lose a lot of air and at least stop to add more air to the tyre. Having said that I think people have done it successfully on road/cyclocross tyres.

If you decide to go ahead you'll need a rim strip to stop air leaking out through the spoke holes - Stan's do a kit that contains all that you'll need. As for tyres, I don't know about road tyres, but I'd have thought that most tyres would seal eventually, you just may need to use a lot of sealant and shaking!

Also it's a good idea to carry a tube in case you get a hole that the sealant can't seal. That can be very messy DAHIKT , plus you'll need to have put some insulating tape under the rim strip to protect the tube else you'll get another puncture. Again DAHIKT.

Hopefully I haven't put you off, for off road I'll certainly carry on with it, on road I haven't tried!

[GrahamG]

I'm thinking more specific roadie experience.

[MacB]

I looked at this a couple of times and the official options were very limited, but it's a few months since I last looked so that may have changed a bit. At the time the best I found were people riding/running cross tyres as tubeless and one lengthy, and rather disastrous, tale of a high pressure attempt with 700x23s. There are quite a few running tubeless on big tyred tourers though.

Something you can do easily though is add some Stans, or similar, to an inner tube. As long as it's got a removable core, the Schwalbe ones have for certain, then it's very easy. I've even read of people making small slits in a tube, adding the sealant then putting a patch on the slit.

To that end I have purchased the large Stans bottle, a valve core removal tool and a supply of Schwalbe tubes. The idea being that I'd give some added protection to the boys 29ers, my 29er, try some in my tourer(700x40 tyres) and, if that was ok, then the road bike which runs 700x32s. But it's been one of those jobs I've been meaning to get round to and haven't yet. We're now 3 months down the line and the entire fleet has remained puncture free in that time.

[tiermat]

This something I have looked at as my current wheelsets are two way fit (Shimano 6700).

As others have said the tyre choice is limited, you have tyres from Hutchinson, Hutchinson or Hutchison (rebadged).

I might just hold off a bit until the promised tyres from other vendors become available (and if Schwalbe start doing Ultremos in tubeless I am there, like a shot!)