? tubeless

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by slowfoot [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

are tubeless really worth the effort? or just a fad?

i ride road and CX , race occcasionally, clinchers only so far, rarely have flats (i use more durable tires)

our roads are lumpy, hilly, and frequently chipsealed.

i would love a durable smooth ride but not at the expense of weight/rolling resistence/hassle

those that have them love em but i cannot find objective data on them

dave

You're not going to find objective data that tells you whether or not tubeless tires/wheels are worth it or whether it's better to stick with clinchers. You will find a lot of opinions, but that's about it. As for objectivity this is about all you'll find:

• Tubeless tires will require tubeless wheels, although there have been a very small percentage of folks who've gotten away with using a tubeless tire on a clincher rim
  
• There are quite a few tubeless rims available, although I'm not aware of any tubeless aero rims (rims greater than 40mm or so in height)
  
• The choices for tubeless road tires are very limited right now and can be very expensive compared to clinchers
  
• If all else fails with a tubeless tire, it can be used with an inner tube, the opposite of which isn't really true of clincher rims
  
• Some claim the ride is better on tubeless tires. If this case it's because tubeless tires can be run at a much lower pressure than clinchers since clinchers become more vulnerable to pinch flats below a certain pressure, given a specific tire, rim, and rider/bike weight total weight
  
• Tubeless tires may have lower rolling resistance than some clinchers at a given inflation pressure and tire size, but there's been no exhaustive study comparing rolling resistance of the two different types of tires.
  
• Tubeless systems may or may not produce lighter wheel/tire systems
  

If you want a better ride, lower the pressure in your tires, get wider tires which can be run at lower pressures than narrower tires, or get wider rims. Any of these can change the rolling resistance and comfort of your ride, and it's possible these can change durability. Frankly though, it appears you want to eat your cake and have it, too. The rolling resistance on chipseal roads is going to suck no matter what. It's likely your "durable" tires don't have the lowest rolling resistance since rolling resistance tends to increase with increasing tire durability (stiffer tread and more puncture resistant layers increase hysteresis in thus rolling resistance, all else being equal). It's also unlikely that your tire weight is such that you would notice a tire of different weight (but same size) on your bike in terms of performance.

thanks alien,

i made the error of trying some tubulars and loved the ride and they "seemed " smoother, were lighter, and well for lack of other words.. rode better than my clinchers.

but i dont want the hassle of carrying a spare tire around, nor the prep work nor cost of the tubular system.

the tubeless seemed like a nice comprimise; flat resistence, maybe weight loss, smoother ride , they can be fitted on the clinchers i have so $ is not much.

the cake would taste quite good and there would be lots of it 🙂

but all there is is company sales pitches and some anecdotal remarks to back it up.

although there are LOTS of CX riders moving over to them, which is where i would be using them.

many people tout the benefits of losing weight , even though small, at the outside of the wheel (?spun weight?) as being really noticible.

as close as i can figure , reading all that there is, is that you'd lose 150 to 250 grams with the tubeless maybe less if rim strips are needed.

maybe i'll borrow some wheels and try it out

thanks

dave

A lot of people claim they feel a lot of things. The imagination is not known for being an accurate measurement tool.