RiceAWay

Another problem with tubeless - sometimes the step is too high and the tubeless tires will not seal against it tightly enough to allow enough pressure to force it up. Rather than a tire pump pressure chamber such as is shown in many of the videos I use a CO2 cartridge which normally works of you push the tire bead out as tightly against the step as much as possible on both sides. But if the step is really too high it will pull off of the step and fall back into the spoke well when you release the pressure to install the sealant through the filler valve.

Here is an article that really describes the problems pretty well https://road.cc/content/tech-news/25...hy-matters-you

bbbean 

I'm 5000 miles or so (put them on after the road season ended last fall) into my first experiment with road tubeless. My Q&D observations:
1) They aren't a panacea. Many things that give you flats with tubes also flat your tubeless. Sidewall tears, potholes with jagged edges, etc, will cause you to flat.
2) I haven't found the hassle of a roadside repair THAT big a deal. There is some mess from sealant. Don't change tires in your living room. YMMV
3) They have gotten me home on with small punctures or tears that would have put me on the side of the road with tubes.
4) If you race (I do), there is a growing consensus that tubeless is faster than either latex tubes or tubular. If you race and are always on the hunt for marginal gains, this is a big deal.
5) Wheel and tire manufacturers are making huge strides in reliability and fit. Road tubeless today is better than road tubeless a couple of years ago.
Crux of the matter is that for me, I'm running tubeless on both training and racing wheelset, and plan to at least through the rest of this year. I fully expect to continue to use tubeless in the future.

WhyFi

Since this is turning in to a repository or tubeless successes and failures, tips and tricks...

I just ordered this from Amazon for 12 bucks -



I was actually just looking for a decent core removal tool, but this popped up for a very reasonable price. I've been wanting to try the syringe/tube setups. I have no problems checking levels and topping off, as is, but I'm hoping that this will also aid in removal of sealant that's gone bad. In theory, I won't have to break the bead to mop it up with paper towels - I should be able to insert the thinner tube through the stem and in to the tire and then suction it out.

Pizzaiolo Americano 

That set up works awesome until something inevitably gets stuck in the thin hose. Then, the attachment blasts off and sends sealant all over your shop. Ask me how I know . I now use the syringe without any of the hose threaded on to inject sealant. The end of it is perfect to cover a presta valve and there is no risk of it exploding sealant everywhere. I only use the hose to remove sealant before I break down a wheel.

WhyFi

Noted - I'll tread carefully. The small bottle of Orange Seal comes with a flexible tube that goes over the valve stem and has the same potential to make a mess if you ignore an increase in resistance and squeeze harder than you should. Ask me how I know.

noodle soup

Have you tried the Schwalbe Pro One TLE Addix-Race Evo yet? It's time to buy some more tires, and I'm not sure which ones to go with.

guadzilla

Specialized Rapid Airs. I've not had great luck with the older Pro Ones (maybe the new ones have less fragile sidewalls), but the ride quality of the Rapid Airs is divine. Smooth AF, and fast AF. They are the reason i am looking at tubeless one more time.

I have the 26mms, which measure 27.x on a 21mm ID Roval rim. Running the at 80psi (i know, i know... i should make it less - old roadie habits die hard).

noodle soup

From the little I've read, users are saying they are more durable than the previous version. They are also available for about $35 each at Merlin.

guadzilla

At that price, i'm gonna order a couple as well. Fool me thrice, let's see what happens

WhyFi

Not yet - roads still haven't been swept here and there's a lot of debris. Hopefully soon.

noodle soup

order 3. 2 rear/1 front, and you’ll have a spare in case something happens.

WhyFi

Three gets you in to free shipping, too; I'm not sure if two quite gets you there.

August West

I think their free shipping it the USA is now only above $125 orders due to COVID-19 and the disruption it has caused with the carriers.

WhyFi

Bummer.

Looks like it would be $10 shipping to MN, so three would be $120 or $40/ea - still pretty darn good.

tonymarch

When I bought my Madone 5+ years ago, I opted for Shimano tubeless rims with Bontrager tubeless tires (I think Hutchinson actually manufactured them). I didn't have much trouble mounting the tires. But I could never get the tires to seat. I tried most of the tricks mentioned above with no success. I don't own a compressor, so I bought a special pump that's supposed to deliver a large rush of air to seat the bead. That that didn't help. Switched to Hutchinson-branded tires - same result. I would have to go to my LBS and have them mount the tubes with their compressor. Even then, they would have to use a port closest to the compressor itself or the beads wouldn't seat, I guess due to the pressure drop in the satellite ports. Based on the above, are the Shimano wheels the culprit? Sounds like most people with Mavic rims don't seem to have the issues I had. I still ride the wheels, but I run them with tubes. Wouldn't mind going back to tubeless if I could mount the damn tires. Thoughts/suggestions?

WhyFi

Some flash chargers are better than others. I have one from Specialized and it's... so-so, at best. For the best chances of success, you need to be able to deliver a large volume of air very quickly, and the Specialized doesn't excel at that. As my technique has improved, I've gotten better results with it, but I still occasionally run in to a tire that doesn't want to pop. At that point, I'll put a Schrader adapter on to it and visit a local auto shop that has the best publicly available air hose in town - it has never failed to seat one of my tires within the first two tries.

FWIW, I've been running Hutchinson tires recently (Fusion 5 Performance 11 Storm) and they've gone on and seated with such ease that I've been a little disappointed - one of those deals where you're looking forward to a fight and you don't get one.

Anyway, a good compressor is probably your best bet, moving forward. If that doesn't appeal to you for whatever reason, and it really doesn't appeal to me, then look at some of the better pumps/flash chargers out there - the one from Bontrager/Trek gets a lot of love, and that's probably what will replace my Specialized when I've finally had enough with it.

bikeforum142

Lots of pinch flats? Weight, tire pressure, road condition?

DaveSSS 

The problem with tubeless is no single standard for the tires and rims. ERTO standard and UST are not the same.

As for those hefty wheels you posted, what makes you think the spokes have equal tension? With the rear wheel, the spoke tension can be more equal if the 2:1 lacing, like fulcrum uses, or the Campy's G3 lacing is used.

wle

no way tubulars!
for what?
to go .2 mph faster?
why>?
so you can get home 25 seconds sooner?
what are you going to do with the extra time?
you will certainly waste 100 times as much, ******** with the tubular cr*p!

wle

WhyFi

Just received this so I thought I'd try it out. The hard plastic insertion tube is about 0.2mm too big to get all the way through my valve stems. Worse, from the little dribble that did come out of the tire, I can tell that it's time to remove and replace the sealant in the front tire.

Since I'll have to break the bead anyway, I guess I'll go to the LBS and pick up some valves that'll pass the tube and get them installed at the same time.

WhyFi

I was able to squeeze most of the watery, old sealant out of my front tire. Leaving the valve core out of the stem overnight took care of the rest, so no need for me to break the bead to clean it out this time around (I want to get my new Schwalbe Pro1 Addix installed in the next few weeks, anyway, so I'll have the opportunity to swap stems at that time).

Even though the insertion tube doesn't fit all the way in to my current stems, I can already tell that the sealant syringe will be a welcomed addition and $12 well spent. It takes the guesswork out of dosing, it's easy and it's relatively clean. I did have one instance where I hit some resistance when injecting - rather than push harder, I pulled back on the plunger and tried again and I got smooth sailing in return. After filling the tires, I flushed the tubes/syringe a few times with some warm water and took it apart to let it dry. Good stuff.

bbbean 

Question asked and answered.

wle

what?
where and where?

bbbean 

From your post:
"for what?
to go .2 mph faster?"

BB

acole3

I'm not seeing the link to the Merlin site for the Specialized Turbo RapidAir tires for $35.