Tubless Wheel/Tire questions

rudycyclist

I have heard some pretty good things about Shimano's road tubeless system that seems to be picking up as of late. I was thinking about giving them a shot next year but I have a few questions about them first:

1) How easy/hard are they to install?

2) If you flat, do you need to replace the whole tire? Also, if you are training on them and you flat, can you still make it back home?

3) Can you put a clincher tire on the "tubeless" rim?

Thanks for any help anybody can provide.

__________________
Trek Madone SL 5.2
-Sram Force
Trek T1
Trek TTX 9.5 (Flying Ace)
-Shimano Ultegra

Powerful Pete

I cannot answer your questions, but may I ask why you would want to be an early adopter on that type of technology? I would wait 1-2 years and let other riders pay top dollar to help Shimano and Michelin sort out the difficulties with road tubeless systems.

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

gemship

I have the new Shimano tubeless wheeset and yes you can install clincher's with tubes. I'm not sure about running tubeless tires or how easy/difficult the installation is.Out of fear of what to do in case of a flat as I'm not a pro I opted for clinchers so I also can't answer that what if scenerio. I basically bought this wheelset because my local bike dealer gave me a great deal on a Cervelo frame in my size under the condition that did the bike build. He happened to have the wheels and honestly the Shimano scandium rims with logos and red spoke nipples look awesome, at least on my bike. It's not a cheap wheelset at about a 1000$ us. nor is it the lightest at 1500+grams. but the overall wieght with tubeless is said to be lighter than with clincher+tube installed.

Peter@vecchios

1)Easy but seating the tire is hard. Not really possible with a floor pump. A compressor is pretty much required.

2)There are tubeless patches available but like a regular tire, if you cut it badly , it is done.

3)Yes but you must use a tube. The tire must be tubeless specific to be used w/o a tube-Hutchison is the only tire maker AFAIK..may be a few others.

3)

Peter@vecchios

Depends on the tire and wheel. Tubeless tires aren't that li ght, in order to have a stiff enough sidewall to stay hooked to a rim.

gemship

Yes I heard the same thing but also read some positive reviews stating the wieght is about the same with less rolling resistance to boot. Anyway as far as I know Shimano is the only offering for a road tubeless wheel and I believe Hutchinson make the only tubeless tire for it? Perhaps I have to get a set later this year to compare to the Vittoria Diamante clincher's currently on.

sideshow_bob

IRC are making tubeless tires now. Don't know what their availabilty is.

Shimano are the only ones marketed off the shelf. You can't convert any clincher, some more easily than others however. Rims that dont have holes in the outer surface like some of the new campy rims are a snap, just need to add in the removeable valve. Standard rims require tape to cover the holes.

I gave it a go (using the Hutchison tire) and a no-tubes kit and it worked fine. Needed a compressor to seat the tire through.

--brett

sideshow_bob

Jsut for the record it's hardly new technology (just a new application of it). MTB'ers have been running UST tubeless since about 2000 or so, and in race wheels it's massively popular.

--brett

Powerful Pete

Fair enough. Sometimes I wonder why we road riders are so conservative...

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Peter@vecchios

I think you need to look at the advantages of tubeless on a MTB and how it may convey to a road bike(few items). Tubes in tires are an old technology but that's the way it evolved. It should have evolved like car tires did, with tubeless and then high tech tires but now, asking a whole wheel/rim industry to change, in a tough market, is a stretch, IMO. Few(none?) advantages of tubeless on a road bike but requiring special wheels/tires and as recommended by tubeless, lots of the goopy Stans stuff as well. Really little wrong with present tubed systems. It appears more like something different rather than something better, like so much in bikes these days.

rudycyclist

One question that was never really answered...if I were to flat 25 miles from home, how would I go about fixing my tubless tire?

__________________
Trek Madone SL 5.2
-Sram Force
Trek T1
Trek TTX 9.5 (Flying Ace)
-Shimano Ultegra

alfeng

If you aren't using a Stans-type sealant in the tire, then you can remove the valve from the rim & insert a tube ...

OR, "phone home."

Powerful Pete

Yup, I tend to agree, the way I have always looked at road tubeless is as something of a marketing gimmick - as a non-racing rider, I simply do not see the point (I am not a weight weenie or performance freak either).

And I would rather not purchase a new set of wheels with a completely different standard when it comes to tires...

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Peter@vecchios

What drives me nuts(lots does in this daffy biz) is how something 'new' is described as 'stiffer, smoother, lighter, longer lasting, blah', implying the old 'standard' was 'sloppy, crunchy, heavy, short lived'; which of course, was not true. Like aluminum chainring bolts, 'lots lighter' but steel ones aren't very heavy to start with.