Tubeless for Road Bikes- BS or does it actually work

[Viv911]

Hi Everyone,

 

I endulged myself recently by upgrading my roadbike to a new Trek Madone SLR with Bontrager Aeolus XXX6 wheels and it came with Bontrager R3 TLR Tyres. Without me knowing the shop made them tubeless and on about my third ride I suddenly got a puncture (glass/ stone cut of about 2-3mm) which did not seal completely at high pressures. When the pressure went down to about less than 2 bar it sealed. As soon as I tried inflating it would blow the hole open again (around 7 bar). I replaced the tyre and three rides later the same happened. This time a small glass shard cut a hole of about 2mm. I managed getting the glass out but no matter how I spinned the wheel or rode back home, the sealant kept on spraying out. Back at low pressure it would seal again.

 

This all happened in the space of about two weeks. Afterwards it would be a 2 hour cleanup to get the bike clean from all the sealant which would litterally go everywhere. 

 

I am using "Stans No Tubes Race Sealant" which I was told was the best for higher pressures on the road bike.

 

Now, my question is just, am I doing something wrong or am I just unlucky with these two punctures? The way I feel now it would be better to put tubes in and I don't need to replace the whole tyre everytime. Also the cleanup afterwards is a real pain. As a side note, I ride mostly in the Cradle and surrounds and on average with my other bike (Continental Grand Prix 4000s II with tubes) I would get a puncture about once every 15 rides.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Regards

[Vetplant]

Personal anecdote:

 

I mounted my Tubeless Schwalbe Pro Ones on Victory 30s in April, and won the following Open Seeded start group I started in a 4 man sprint after bridging a 1min gap to the breakaway group 15km from the finish.

 

This probably has nothing to do with the actual tyres, but more to do with the lack of quality on race day

 

The mounting of the tyres was a major hassle, something to write a whole article about. Snippet, "by the time I finally got the rear tyre on I realized that I had put it on backwards, so I just left it as is, cause I didn't want to spend the next two hours getting it off and on again."

 

That said, I have no idea what they will do when I finally get a puncture. But I have people on speed dial if that bomb doesn't fix it cause I won't be able to get a spare inner tube in there next to the road.

 

The feeling of running those 25s(effectively closer to 27s on those rims) at 5 bar pressure is just so comfortable, I really hope they last because the switch back to rock hard inner tubed tyres will be excruciating.

 

I really hope you were just seriously unlucky, cause otherwise I am long overdue to be brought back down to the average tubeless experience.

[Furbz]

Personal anecdote:

 

I mounted my Tubeless Schwalbe Pro Ones on Victory 30s in April, and won the following Open Seeded start group I started in a 4 man sprint after bridging a 1min gap to the breakaway group 15km from the finish.

 

This probably has nothing to do with the actual tyres, but more to do with the lack of quality on race day

 

The mounting of the tyres was a major hassle, something to write a whole article about. Snippet, "by the time I finally got the rear tyre on I realized that I had put it on backwards, so I just left it as is, cause I didn't want to spend the next two hours getting it off and on again."

 

That said, I have no idea what they will do when I finally get a puncture. But I have people on speed dial if that bomb doesn't fix it cause I won't be able to get a spare inner tube in there next to the road.

 

The feeling of running those 25s(effectively closer to 27s on those rims) at 5 bar pressure is just so comfortable, I really hope they last because the switch back to rock hard inner tubed tyres will be excruciating.

 

I really hope you were just seriously unlucky, cause otherwise I am long overdue to be brought back down to the average tubeless experience.

 

i concur.

no way to get the tires off the rim to put a tube in. they are just too tight.

i also agree that they are vastly more comfortable the tube tires.

 

lastly. i have also experienced tires not sealing at high pressure. 

seriously not fun.

i now ride with a small pump in my pocket just in case.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Furbz

[Thomo]

So I'm yet to hear of successful sealing at high pressure.

At best, it seals just in time/with adequate pressure to roll back home.

Stans is the brand pushed most locally, but looking at online reviews Orange Seal and Effetto Cafelatex get recommended often so I'd be keen to give either of those a try.

Tyres have also been quite limited but are increasing with the introduction of Bontrager and more recently GP5000.

Schwalbe Pro still regarded as nr 1 by most, while Hutchinson make some good options too.

I've been on the side of the road fitting a tube ... not pleasant, but possible.

Also plugged a tyre with reasonable success so fix is possible - can also patch the tyre as an alternative.

Am I sold on tubeless, probably not but I'm still giving it chance.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Thomo

[stringbean]

Similar experience with running tubeless.

Great for sealing small holes like thorns but anything bigger you stuffed.

Cut tire on glass that wouldn’t seal on one of my first rides so ended up having to ride with a tube any way just to get the wear out of the 1K tire.Gone back to tubes.Tubless is too expensive and no guarantees so you got to ride with a spare tube anyway.

[MarcL]

Hi

I have been tubeless for a few years now and use Schwalbe One Pro.

To date, around 6000 km and no issues...

 

I see no reason to run tubes again, road or MTB. Maybe you were unlucky or maybe your tyres are crap?

 

Get some Schwalbe's and stick with tubeless is my vote...

[JJacobs]

I converted my Bontrager Aeolus 5s to tubeless about 5 months ago and up to now I have had no hassles using Schwalbe One Pros and Bontrager sealant. I had two punctures that sealed perfectly and did not open up again when inflating, and I still ride relatively high pressure, about 6.5 bar.

 

My personal opinion of the Bontrager tires you mention is not good. The Trek bikes come out with those and although they are tubeless ready, they are seemingly not very good quality. Maybe I was unlucky, but I got 4/5 punctures in the first 6/7 weeks with those and they wore down very quickly plus they were scary slippery in wet conditions.

 

Now, after about 4000km, the rear tire is starting to wear noticeably. Given the launch of the new GP5000s and the overall reliability of GP4000s, I would expect that those would probably be the way to go when I replace my tires. Although tubeless is still a "trial" for me too, I will keep them tubeless when I replace tires.

[-cK-]

AC Vic30 & Pro One combo

 

I'll summarize as follow:

Glass cuts your screwed

Thorns you should be okay to make it home on a low pressure wheel

 

Used to patch the tyres if they got a cut but found out after the 3rd time you take of the tyre it is a real   to seat again and ended up tubing it as you can't air it up.

 

Got another cut the other day and used one of those thin tubeless plugs to plug the hole and presto problem solved thus far (seals, no need to remove tyre and holds pressure)

[Schnavel]

Sounds like everyone has had similar issues with tubeless tyres on the road.

I tried running a set of Schwable Pro One tyres with Stans and had similar issues as mentioned above. I eventually went back to standard tyres (Gatorskins) with tubes and have had a lot less hassle and punctures.

 

Plus, tubes and gators are a lot cheaper than the tubeless tyres, which invariably, one ends up running tubed anyway.

[MDJ]

Hi Everyone,

 

I endulged myself recently by upgrading my roadbike to a new Trek Madone SLR with Bontrager Aeolus XXX6 wheels and it came with Bontrager R3 TLR Tyres. Without me knowing the shop made them tubeless and on about my third ride I suddenly got a puncture (glass/ stone cut of about 2-3mm) which did not seal completely at high pressures. When the pressure went down to about less than 2 bar it sealed. As soon as I tried inflating it would blow the hole open again (around 7 bar). I replaced the tyre and three rides later the same happened. This time a small glass shard cut a hole of about 2mm. I managed getting the glass out but no matter how I spinned the wheel or rode back home, the sealant kept on spraying out. Back at low pressure it would seal again.

 

This all happened in the space of about two weeks. Afterwards it would be a 2 hour cleanup to get the bike clean from all the sealant which would litterally go everywhere. 

 

I am using "Stans No Tubes Race Sealant" which I was told was the best for higher pressures on the road bike.

 

Now, my question is just, am I doing something wrong or am I just unlucky with these two punctures? The way I feel now it would be better to put tubes in and I don't need to replace the whole tyre everytime. Also the cleanup afterwards is a real pain. As a side note, I ride mostly in the Cradle and surrounds and on average with my other bike (Continental Grand Prix 4000s II with tubes) I would get a puncture about once every 15 rides.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Regards

 

I had the same experience, my bike came with Giant Gavia tubeless tyres, died with glass cuts - replace the tire and it happened again. Switch to Schwalbe pro-one (best ride feel I've ever had), but died with glass cuts x2 that wouldn't seal under pressure. I then moved to Gatorskins for 2 years - zero glass issues, other than missing the Schwalbe ride feel.

 

I've just switched to Continental GP5000TLs with Revo Sealant 10 days ago - so far so good, similar ride feel to the Schwalbe's, noticeably better braking and cornering than Gatorskins, especially in the bit of rain this morning. I've only done around 300kms as of this morning, but really loving them so far. They do seem to be wearing faster than the Gatorkins. Its too early to tell on 300kms how they hold up to glass long term etc - looks good so far, can't see any of the chipped rubber I would see even on the Gatorskins *touch wood*.

 

I plan report back on the thread:

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/179671-conti-gp-5000-clincher-and-tubeless-anybody-seen-them

 

PS: Love the bike, please post some pics!

Edited December 19, 2018 by Manuel De Jesus

[SurferChild]

I was seriously contemplating of going tubeless on my road bike to be used on my racing rims. After reading all the stuff above, I'm kinda in two minds...

 

Do you think it's the make of the tyre that is the problem? Are there better tubeless tyres than others to manage the inevitable glass cut?

 

I see the logic (as most would) in going tubeless, but if it's not practical and worth the cost... no sir

[Furbz]

i'd love to know how good the tubeless Conti 5000's are

[taito]

I have run the Giant tubeless on my TRC with no probs so far. I did get a small glass splinter that made the sealant leak out but it plugged itself quickly on the ride.

 

Compared to my race wheels with tubes --the tubeless really is a much softer ride.

[LOOK695]

Those of you who have had success, which sealant are you using? And what pressure are pumping the tyres?

 

Currently using panaracer 28mm gravelking which I’m pumping 4/5 bar. Thinking that at that pressure a tubeless tyre should seal

Edited December 19, 2018 by LOOK695

[YetiFan]

I ran Schwalbe Pro One 25c for about 8 months, for a couple thousand Cape Town kilometers and including Paris Roubaix sportive in April and 3 week trip to Alps in July. Most comfortable road tyre I've yet ridden, and no issues at all with sealing with Stans (except when I managed to get a chipboard screw through the sidewall). Soft tread doesn't last the longest, but comfort and grip worth the sacrifice.

 

Forced to change to Hutchinson Fusion 5 (newer ElevenStorm compound) in France - no Schwalbes in the local shops - and have had a far less positive tubeless experience. Grip is good, comfort okay (they run narrower on my Easton EC90's), but they spurt slime on every ride. Were also more difficult to seat. These will soon be replaced by Pro Ones or GP5000's

 

Short answer - with the right rim/tyre combo, tubeless is impossible to beat. 

[V18]

Try higher volume lower pressure.

Something in the line of 2.4" at 1.8bar.

Perhaps add some rubber knobbies.

Maybe try a frame with more clearance... And some suspension. And slacker head angle. Longer top tube. Shorter stem. Wider rims. Some disc brakes. Wider low range gearing. Ditch the drop bars for some comfy flat ones. Try routes with more ofroad options and maybe even a hill or two.

Should sort you out.

Edited December 19, 2018 by V18