Carbon Unit

Another thread recommended Stan's Road Tubeless and rather than hijack that thread, I thought it would be better to start another one.

I spoke to the manufacturer of my wheels, Topolino, and they said they heard good things about the results of Stan's but haven't tried them.

Is anyone here running Stan's? How does it compare to factory tubeless?

Also, I have Conti 4000s which I would need to replace with Hutchinson tubeless tires. Would I expect to see any improvement in durability or performance with the Hutchinsons. The one downside I have heard about tubeless is that I might need an air compressor to install them.

tagaproject6

I am interested in doing this as well.

Andy Somnifac 

I've been happy since I went tubeless. The conversion was as simple as putting in the valves and mounting the tires. I had it easy, as I have Mavic wheels, which didn't need the rim tape. Nor did I need an air compressor to install them. My floor pump was sufficient to get them going.

Being able to run them a little lower pressure smoothed out some of the rough roads around here.

Terror_in_pink

I was looking at Shimano wh-6700, but am surprised they are around 1700g. that's a bit heavy for tubeless, no?

Andy Somnifac 

There are lighter tubeless compatible wheels out there, but I doubt that 200 +/- grams for a wheelset is really going to hinder many of us in any measurable way.

AgentRedlum

You don't have to use tubeless tires. That's what the sealant is for. That said, some brands seal better than others. NoTubes.com has some pretty decent forums that can probably help.

Also, the Stan's Alpha rims might be worth a look if you are interested in building up a set of wheels meant to be tubeless.

Terror_in_pink

I don't know about you, but I'm counting grams. I dropped some coin on a custom bike and I'll be damned if it's not light! I know my saddle will put me over, but there's no way around that since I need a wider saddle.

BTW, 200 grams is almost half a pound. A few hundred here and there and your bike suddenly weighs 18 instead of 16 pounds.

Andy Somnifac 

Yes, you do. Running non-tubeless tires in a tubeless configuration on a road bike can lead to the tires being blown off the rim. I doubt I need to point out how dangerous this would be.

No, it's not. The sealant is there to seal punctures, and/or small imperfections in the wheel.

Carbon Unit

Maybe the best option is to buy light weight clinchers and convert them to Stan's Tubeless.

My 30mm Topolino wheels weigh 1490 grams. My previous 20mm Topolinos were 1360 grams. I will check to see how much weight Stan's adds to the wheels. I bet it will be less than 200 grams.

Andy Somnifac 

And I have a custom bike as well. Most of us have custom bikes because the geometry is more suited to our bodies, or just to make ourselves feel better. Most of us have more than an extra 2 lbs hanging around our midsections. Going from a 16 pound bike to an 18 pound bike will make such little practical difference to 99% of us out there that it is insignificant. If it makes a difference to your cycling-ego, fine, but that's all it is for most of us.

Terror_in_pink

You sure come off rude, mister. Has nothing to do with my ego. 2 pounds is a noticeable difference when you're doing sustained steep climbs. Everyone is fatter than they wish, and that has nothing to do with it. I worked a summer school session to pay for this bike and it WILL be light.

Carbon Unit

I spoke to Stan's. The rim tape adds 15 to 20 grams to weight of a wheel. The advantage that a factory tubeless will have over a converted wheel is that it might be easier to install tires and get the tire to seat.

Terror_in_pink

that sounds more like it

AgentRedlum

Yeah. Took my own advice and checked the Notubes forums. Looks like road wheels definitely need a tubeless tire. My experience has been on my other bike - mountain 29er. Lower pressures so tubeless tires aren't necessary. The sealant allows you to get away with standard or "tubeless ready" tires, rathern than having to use the heavier UST models.

Andy Somnifac 

And I worked a 2nd job to pay off my bike. We all have our crosses to bear.

And, as I said, you can do as you wish with your bike. But the fact of the matter is, most of us reached the point of diminishing returns on weight long before we stopped trying to cut bike weight. Maybe you're a world class athlete who hasn't. If that's the case, awesome. More power to you.

As for being rude, well... Oh well.

Terror_in_pink

A little less righteousness, please. I don't want to get too salty on here.

kwakster928

I was running tubeless when I had the Cervelo S1 (the stiffest aluminum frame I have ever ridden). It was combination of Hutchinson Fusion 2 + Shimano Dura-Ace scandium tubeless wheels + stan's sealant. Going tubeless effectively dampened the vibration and smoothed out the ride but I ended up going back to clincher once I upgrade the bike to R3.

Pros:
Smooth outs road vibration on very stiff frame.
Supposed lower rolling resistance (How can anybody effectively diagnose this?)
Flat protection - I think this is legit. I have never had flat or flat big enough that the sealant couldn't handle.

Cons:
Heavy (Tubeless tires are heavy + sealant) not much a weight saving
Pain in the butt to service - Stan's sealant has some ammonia, and corrodes the aluminum. My dura-ace wheel has countless corrosion spot that resulted from stan's sealant.
Messy - Some people say when you do get a flat, you can open the tire and put a tube in a go. Yeah try that on the open road when you have sealant spewing out, dry latex stuck to all over your rim and beads.


Road tubeless was a great concept. Until the day you can run tubeless without the need of sealant, I will be on board again.

Andy Somnifac 

Righteousness? Really?

Terror_in_pink

Good to know. I think I am going to pass on the tubeless.

Andy Somnifac 

Just a point of note (that I'm not personally recommending), but I ride with a gentleman that rides his tubeless sans sealant. He's yet to have an issue, and he does ride with a spare tube just in case a problem arises. He said he didn't want to deal with the sealant, which he felt would be too messy.

jamesdak 

Amen to this!! I do a good bit of climbing now and the lighter weight is significant to my fatigue factor. A couple of hundred grams does matter to me on my wheels on my long climbs and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Heck, I just drop a fair amount of change on some new wheels just to get about 250 grams lighter. When you are doing 100 mile rides with 7000 to 1000 ft of climbing it really matters. Especially when you suck at climbing like me. So I will continue to work the engine but I will also happily save some grams when it makes sense.

Oh and still losing weight too. Averaging a 1 to 1.5 lbs per week now with a total of over 70lbs lost in the last year or so.

Don't sweat the naysayers, you seem to know what works and matters for you and that's really all that is important.

Carbon Unit

Oh no. This would be a non-starter for me. A scratch on my bike or wheels would be worse than a scratch in my BMW so corrosion spots is something I would not accept. Does it make sense to run tubeless without the sealant? Or, I think someone else said that there were other sealants that would not cause this problem.

Andy Somnifac 

I know, right? How dare someone have an opinion that does not line up with your own! A witch! Burn him!

Andy Somnifac 

The Caffélatex sealant doesn't have ammonia, but the reports I've read report that it may not seal punctures as well as the Stan's. I only have experience with the Stan's, so I can't report on the accuracy of those reports.

Carbon Unit

Weight doesn't make much difference on the flats but start climbing and you will notice a pound added to your wheels. Especially wheels because it is rotational weight. I have heard that a pound removed from wheels is more noticeable than a pound removed from a frame.