I was up about 1000 feet yesterday in a part of Oakland called Montclair. I came down via Broadway Terrace. Near the bottom a car kept running up on me only to have to slow down for speed bumps and then taking a run at me again. So I just let off of the brakes and did the bottom turning steep part at about 35 mph. There is a light at the bottom and I came to a stop. Went across onto Broadway and stopped at a light there.. A couple of other cyclists were coming down Broadway from higher up and so when the light turned green I accelerated away from the light to clear the path ahead until it hit the bike lane again.
I cleared the Intersection and was going only about 12 mph when there was a really loud explosion followed by me losing control of the bike. My front tubeless tire had blown completely off of the rim. I managed to slow down to perhaps 8 mph before the bare rim washed out and dumped me on the road right out into traffic. Good thing I had accelerated so fast because I was far enough ahead of the traffic that they had time to stop. The other two guys helped me up and got my bike over to the side of the road.
I thanked them and they were on their way. I had given them the impression that I was going to call my wife and intended to. Then I thought that it would take less time for me to put a tube in the tire and ride the 16 miles home than for her to try to find me. So I pulled a spare tube out of my pack and did the messy job of trying to get a tube into a tubeless setup with all of that yucky sealant there.
I got it in and was taking the very slow way home. I had some slight abrasions on my elbow and hip and some large one's on my left knee. But the shock as usual kept the pain to a minimum though I was immediately tired.
I got home and cleaned up and I still had a lot of bandages around from hurting myself from seizures before I found a competent neurologist. (If you EVER have a concussion make sure that you or your friends find a neurologist to look at you ASAP.)
I've had a lot worse so I'm not complaining. I thought about that happening while I was going 35 mph and that wasn't very nice. But then I thought that I had clincher tires have a complete blowout as well so I suppose it was the luck of the draw.
Last night after 5 hours of sleep I woke up and lay there thinking about it. There was something really strange about it. Then it occurred to me. After I put the tube in I mounted the tire completely by hand. You CANNOT do that with a real tubeless tire. You have to use tire levers because they mount so difficult.
I have Michelin Pro4 Endurance tires on the bike and when I had bought them the ad said that there were "bi" tires meaning you could use them as a clincher or a tubeless. So I looked them up in several places and not one of them said that they were tubeless tires! All they said was "clincher".
So if you decide to go tubeless with all of its advantages (lower rolling resistance, very low probability of a flat and the ability to use low pressure without danger of pinching a tube) be ABSOLUTELY certain that you get real tubeless and that the factory actually rates them as tubeless. I have some Maxxi's on the way.
Keep the rubber side down.
I cleared the Intersection and was going only about 12 mph when there was a really loud explosion followed by me losing control of the bike. My front tubeless tire had blown completely off of the rim. I managed to slow down to perhaps 8 mph before the bare rim washed out and dumped me on the road right out into traffic. Good thing I had accelerated so fast because I was far enough ahead of the traffic that they had time to stop. The other two guys helped me up and got my bike over to the side of the road.
I thanked them and they were on their way. I had given them the impression that I was going to call my wife and intended to. Then I thought that it would take less time for me to put a tube in the tire and ride the 16 miles home than for her to try to find me. So I pulled a spare tube out of my pack and did the messy job of trying to get a tube into a tubeless setup with all of that yucky sealant there.
I got it in and was taking the very slow way home. I had some slight abrasions on my elbow and hip and some large one's on my left knee. But the shock as usual kept the pain to a minimum though I was immediately tired.
I got home and cleaned up and I still had a lot of bandages around from hurting myself from seizures before I found a competent neurologist. (If you EVER have a concussion make sure that you or your friends find a neurologist to look at you ASAP.)
I've had a lot worse so I'm not complaining. I thought about that happening while I was going 35 mph and that wasn't very nice. But then I thought that I had clincher tires have a complete blowout as well so I suppose it was the luck of the draw.
Last night after 5 hours of sleep I woke up and lay there thinking about it. There was something really strange about it. Then it occurred to me. After I put the tube in I mounted the tire completely by hand. You CANNOT do that with a real tubeless tire. You have to use tire levers because they mount so difficult.
I have Michelin Pro4 Endurance tires on the bike and when I had bought them the ad said that there were "bi" tires meaning you could use them as a clincher or a tubeless. So I looked them up in several places and not one of them said that they were tubeless tires! All they said was "clincher".
So if you decide to go tubeless with all of its advantages (lower rolling resistance, very low probability of a flat and the ability to use low pressure without danger of pinching a tube) be ABSOLUTELY certain that you get real tubeless and that the factory actually rates them as tubeless. I have some Maxxi's on the way.
Keep the rubber side down.