the commuting-friendly wonderfulness of tubeless ...

[2manyoranges]

WTB 45c WTB Riddlers - 100cc of Stans 'ordinary' - Hope Hoops 23 internal - DT Swiss valves

June 2022 - on time for work - 9 miles in, 1 mile to go. PPPfffffffffffff. Spray of Stans from front. 30 secs to seal. Brilliant. Got to meeting.

Nov 2022 - very wet evening, very cold, very windy. 7 miles on way back, 3 to go. PPPffffffff. Spray of Stans from rear, big bubbling mass....turn wheel to bottom, bounce a bit to get some fibres in, seals in 60 secs. Quick pump, ready to go. Brilliant. Didn't need to struggle with tube and patch in the dark and wet.

Tonight - dark evening, need to et back on time, go across accumulated gravel and general debris on part of major junction - 5 miles back, 5 to go - PPPffffffff .... big spray of sealant from front tyre, stop and bounce. 20 secs to seal. Excellent. Didn't need to fret and faff.

Brilliant system.

 

[d8mok]

Riddlers are awful for punctures. I ran a pair for 4K miles and they were always picking up flats. Sealant spraying each time and then sealing. Had two sets and both the same.

Also ran Raddlers for about 2k and they were better but didn’t roll as well and had leaky sidewalls in winter.

Finally now on gravelkings and no flats in 3k miles , roll well and wearing well.

 

[Imlach]

I really ought to go tubeless sometime, especially now that I've made things extra finicky by internally gearing my bikes. Would you guys say there's any point doing the ghetto conversions for tubeless or should I get tubeless ready wheels?

 

[2manyoranges]

Riddlers are awful for punctures. I ran a pair for 4K miles and they were always picking up flats. Sealant spraying each time and then sealing. Had two sets and both the same.

Also ran Raddlers for about 2k and they were better but didn’t roll as well and had leaky sidewalls in winter.

Finally now on gravelkings and no flats in 3k miles , roll well and wearing well.

interesting - I'm happy but I guess 4K is pretty damn good....I've done about 3K on mine so far - so that's one PFFFFT per 1000 - so far my longest lasting tyres were SpeSh Armadillos which did 6k of puncture less but tubed miles - I have just bought some Schwalbe G-ones - any experience of those?

 

[2manyoranges]

I really ought to go tubeless sometime, especially now that I've made things extra finicky by internally gearing my bikes. Would you guys say there's any point doing the ghetto conversions for tubeless or should I get tubeless ready wheels?

I have done some ghetto conversions using Mavic rims and all has been completely fine. MucOff tape (2mm oversize re internal width) and meticulous cleaning of the rim, plus mount with tube overnight to really seat tape.

 

[Imlach]

I have done some ghetto conversions using Mavic rims and all has been completely fine. MucOff tape (2mm oversize re internal width) and meticulous cleaning of the rim, plus mount with tube overnight to really seat tape.

Will give it a go next time I replace tyres, ta

 

[d8mok]

interesting - I'm happy but I guess 4K is pretty damn good....I've done about 3K on mine so far - so that's one PFFFFT per 1000 - so far my longest lasting tyres were SpeSh Armadillos which did 6k of puncture less but tubed miles - I have just bought some Schwalbe G-ones - any experience of those?

No I’ve just been on WTB for first 8k miles and now on the GK which I reckon will do another 3k (6k total) but it’s away now for winter this year.

Running some Panaracer 32c on the winter bike and are truly awful. Like wood but no punctures yet and they show zero wear.

 

[ishaw]

My first ride on armadillos ended up with me repairing a puncture roadside. Quite annoying. Not sure I had another though.

I'm a new convert to tubeless, but have bought wheels already 'ready' so to speak. My only attempt at fitting tubeless myself didn't work out for some reason, have yet to try again.

 

[greencat]

Can't say I've had any luck with tubeless. Had tubeless ready tyres, rim tape and wheels on my last bike. No issue getting them seated, pumped up etc. They just never held air for longer than 30 minutes. I'd see sealant bubbling and trying to fill the gap between the spoke threads and nipples. It never did. After a weekend of trying, help from friends etc - I went back to tubed setup.

I do sometimes use tubes with sealant in. They work well until they don't. I once had a Brompton shooting a green jet of sealant out to a metre. Bloody thing never sealed either. Tubes with sealant are pretty much an essential if you have a Brompton - especial with Schwabe marathon tyres. You do not want to be trying to fix one of those by the roadside when it's pitch dark and pissing down with rain.

 

[2manyoranges]

Can't say I've had any luck with tubeless. Had tubeless ready tyres, rim tape and wheels on my last bike. No issue getting them seated, pumped up etc. They just never held air for longer than 30 minutes. I'd see sealant bubbling and trying to fill the gap between the spoke threads and nipples. It never did. After a weekend of trying, help from friends etc - I went back to tubed setup.

I do sometimes use tubes with sealant in. They work well until they don't. I once had a Brompton shooting a green jet of sealant out to a metre. Bloody thing never sealed either. Tubes with sealant are pretty much an essential if you have a Brompton - especial with Schwabe marathon tyres. You do not want to be trying to fix one of those by the roadside when it's pitch dark and pissing down with rain.

GC ... Agreed re Brompton tyres - not the biggest tyre-rim tussle I have ever had but pretty close - ‘will you just bloody well go on...!’ Was heard more than once...rather sore thumbs.

Interesting re tubeless - if you have sealant coming out from spoke holes then there’s something wrong with the adherence of the tape. The tape needs to be about 2 mm wider than the internal width of the rim, it’s ok to use exactly same diameter - I’ve used 35mm tape in a 35mm rim - but best if it’s a tad wider. Some ‘ready’ rims just don’t work. I have some Dartmoor anodised rims which just will not take tape at all. Nothing sticks. They have a slightly ‘shot preened’ finish which just shrugs off tape. I might try Gorilla tape but that is a pretty desperate move. The quality of the tape is crucial - I usually use MucOff but Stans (which is Tesa Swiss tape oem) is good too. Vital to really pull the tape when applying it...to an almost comical degree. It’s a bit of an acquired skill. And then always leave overnight with a fully inflated tube in before filling, which really makes sure that the tape adheres properly.