Tubeless road experiences
#26
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I threw the tire away. The cut was at the age of the tread and sidewall and the tire was toast and would have been even if it was a tubed tire. I made no effort to bacon strip it because I wasn’t carrying any at the time. I could have booted and tubed it to get home but it rode pretty well at 25#.
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Went for a 100k ride this weekend. When I arrived home I wiped down my bike, as I always do. Low and behold there was some dried Orange Seal on the rear stay of my bike. Looks like I rode over something that punctured my tyre on my ride. I didn't even notice, and likely never would have noticed if I hadn't decided to wipe my bike down. For my riding style, tubeless tyres proved their worth right there.
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Went for a 100k ride this weekend. When I arrived home I wiped down my bike, as I always do. Low and behold there was some dried Orange Seal on the rear stay of my bike. Looks like I rode over something that punctured my tyre on my ride. I didn't even notice, and likely never would have noticed if I hadn't decided to wipe my bike down. For my riding style, tubeless tyres proved their worth right there.
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I am resurrecting this dead horse…I have been riding Campy Bora tubular wheels for three years with Veloflex Vlaanderen 28 tires. For me at 175 lbs 98 rear and 95 front is the sweet spot. I have a 2020 Super Six which is a very fun responsive bike but the responsiveness comes with stiffness. I have thought about tubeless road wheels to ( theoretically ) ride lower pressure to take some harshness out of the ride without affecting rolling resistance.
Any experiences similar to mine would be appreciated.
Any experiences similar to mine would be appreciated.
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#30
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You must have really, really good roads for 95psi to be the sweet spot for Vlaanderens. I am a little heavier than you and 75-80 psi tests fastests on my local chip seal roads. Continental GP5000 tubeless or Vittoria Speeds will test quite a bit faster than Vlaanderens. The Vlaanderen tubulars run about as fast as Hearse EL tires. Can's use feel, you have to test.
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Tire pressure is a little complicated because road conditions vary and some of us are heavy and many pressure gages are inaccurate. I only go as low as necessary for my conditions. Silca's calculator lines up well with my experience. I run 85-90 psi 25 mm road clincher tires with latex tubes and 80 psi tubeless. If a TT and road surfaces are good, I might go to 100 psi just for that day
https://silca.cc/pages/sppc-pro
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You can always put a tube in a tubeless tire. It takes about 5 seconds longer to unscrew the valve stem than putting a new tube in a regular clincher. Admittedly the sealant makes it a bit messy, but when you consider how many fewer times you flat, I think the convenience factor swings way in favor of tubeless.
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You can always put a tube in a tubeless tire. It takes about 5 seconds longer to unscrew the valve stem than putting a new tube in a regular clincher. Admittedly the sealant makes it a bit messy, but when you consider how many fewer times you flat, I think the convenience factor swings way in favor of tubeless.
Also, particularly for road tubeless, getting the tire back on the rim after inserting a tube can be a horrible task.
#34
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Eh....The number of times I've seen somebody flat a tubeless, quickly put a tube in it, and ride on is zero. They seem to resort to tubes only after a long frustrating series of trying to get the tubeless tire back by pumping it up, plugging the hole, trying to pump it back up again, etc. So yeah, in theory you can "just put a tube in it", but that only saves time if you do that right away, before wasting interminable time trying to solve the problem without. So, I'm not buying this one.
Also, the way things are going, most new rims are made with the center channel design to be tubeless compatible, so any mounting difficulties are going to be similar whether you're actually running tubeless or not.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
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You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
#35
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Correct, but pretty meaningless in the face of actual experience. All those advocates convinced of the time-saving virtues of tubeless keep us by the side of the road while they demonstrate how their technology is superior.
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I took my tubed wheels to ride a gravel trail because I heard there would be deep gravel and I didn't want my expensive rims sinking into it. Snake bite as I rode over a lip onto a bridge. I had forgotten what a pain in the ass tubes are. The surface was dirt not gravel, I wouldn't have had to stop if I was on my tubeless wheels.
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I think it's a positive story because riding a bike is more fun than fixing one.
#39
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I will try the PM & HR method. Maybe I can quantify rolling resistance. Not super scientific but it would be interesting. Which variable do I want to keep constant? Guessing speed. I can do this on my rollers or use a hill near my house. Up for methodology tips!
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5500 miles with one sidewall cut and one roofing nail in my tubeless. The sidewall required booting the inside of the tire and inserting a tube which took only slightly longer than on with a clincher. The nail, I rode 7 miles on until I got home (lost 5 PSI) and baconed the tire and rode it 7000 miles with no issue. I ride Conti 5000 Tls at 65/70 and I weigh 165 and riding at reduced pressures (used the Silca site calculator) is so much more comfortable.
Seating tubeless helps if you have a compressor handy - and a cheap one can be purchased at Harbor Freight for $50.
After decades of clinchers and tubes and going tubeless 1.5 years ago, I will never go back.
Seating tubeless helps if you have a compressor handy - and a cheap one can be purchased at Harbor Freight for $50.
After decades of clinchers and tubes and going tubeless 1.5 years ago, I will never go back.
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Interesting tubeless tire pressure adjustment retrofit to be used by Team DSM at Paris Roubaix this year...
https://www.scopecycling.com/product/atmoz/
https://www.scopecycling.com/product/atmoz/
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Interesting tubeless tire pressure adjustment retrofit to be used by Team DSM at Paris Roubaix this year...
https://www.scopecycling.com/product/atmoz/
https://www.scopecycling.com/product/atmoz/

If you look at the photos, you can just see the air line snaking from the hub out to the valve stem. It would be pretty damn cool to be able to adjust on the fly.
#46
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Eh....The number of times I've seen somebody flat a tubeless, quickly put a tube in it, and ride on is zero. They seem to resort to tubes only after a long frustrating series of trying to get the tubeless tire back by pumping it up, plugging the hole, trying to pump it back up again, etc. So yeah, in theory you can "just put a tube in it", but that only saves time if you do that right away, before wasting interminable time trying to solve the problem without. So, I'm not buying this one.
Also, particularly for road tubeless, getting the tire back on the rim after inserting a tube can be a horrible task.
Also, particularly for road tubeless, getting the tire back on the rim after inserting a tube can be a horrible task.
This is how it goes for me:-
1. Tell tale hissing sound
2. Stop, locate hole from sealant spitting out
3. Put thumb over it
4. Reach in pocket for Dynaplug
5. Punch it through the hole and remove
6. Top tyre pressure back up
7. Ride on
Small punctures usually self heal and don't even notice them.
Also don't have any problem getting tubeless tyres back on my rims. Don't even need plastic levers with the right rim/tyre combo.
#47
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Sounds like you ride with guys who don't know how to plug a tubeless tyre efficiently. I can tell you it's a LOT quicker than changing a tube if you know what you are doing (and it's not even difficult). I like the Dynaplug Racer kit. I keep it loose in my back pocket so I can react quickly if I get a flat (which is rare with sealant anyway).
This is how it goes for me:-
1. Tell tale hissing sound
2. Stop, locate hole from sealant spitting out
3. Put thumb over it
4. Reach in pocket for Dynaplug
5. Punch it through the hole and remove
6. Top tyre pressure back up
7. Ride on
Small punctures usually self heal and don't even notice them.
Also don't have any problem getting tubeless tyres back on my rims. Don't even need plastic levers with the right rim/tyre combo.
This is how it goes for me:-
1. Tell tale hissing sound
2. Stop, locate hole from sealant spitting out
3. Put thumb over it
4. Reach in pocket for Dynaplug
5. Punch it through the hole and remove
6. Top tyre pressure back up
7. Ride on
Small punctures usually self heal and don't even notice them.
Also don't have any problem getting tubeless tyres back on my rims. Don't even need plastic levers with the right rim/tyre combo.
#48
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Be honest here. How many times have you really seen someone struggle to plug a hole in a tubeless tyre? Do you seriously think people would run tubeless if it was such a massive pita? For sure you can make it hard work with the wrong gear and no idea, but it's not inherently difficult.
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Be honest here. How many times have you really seen someone struggle to plug a hole in a tubeless tyre? Do you seriously think people would run tubeless if it was such a massive pita? For sure you can make it hard work with the wrong gear and no idea, but it's not inherently difficult.
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