Tubeless or not to tubeless?

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Permalink Reply by Josh on August 20, 2009 at 12:01pm

Another tubeless option from Shimano will be available this fall — Ultegra WH-6700. It should weight about 190 grams more than the 7850's, and cost several hundred dollars less.

As stated above, these wheelsets are primarily designed with road tubeless, i.e., high pressures in mind.

Wider rims + a snug fit between the bead of the tire and rim has worked well for me.

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Permalink Reply by Jason on August 23, 2009 at 4:43pm

No strip...Ksyrium SL have their spoke nipples on one side of the rim and not through the entire rim...no tape, no strip. Just valve stems, some Stan's and Hutchinson tires.

This set up is with the tubeless specific tires...I have seen regular tires roll right off...heard some use them but not me.

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Permalink Reply by andrew on August 23, 2009 at 5:03pm

Jason,
Glad that worked for you.
I tried that setup myself but definitely couldn't go low enough without burping (below 30). I would run lower with tubes than I could get by tubeless without the strips. Even with a strip, I still had some issues at low pressures.

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Permalink Reply by Wagabu on August 23, 2009 at 7:56pm

I ran 7850's with hutch tubeless last year for a couple of races. The wheels are great for training, but if you weigh 164 and run anything under 45psi the air will fart its way out when you corner hard in races.

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Permalink Reply by jmoote on August 23, 2009 at 8:06pm

So if it's only for training (i.e. fixing a flat does not cost you a race) then why? I weigh 185-ish and can run tubes in the 30 psi range, rarely worrying about flats, so why run a setup that requires you to go up to 45?

I had some luck with a tubeless setup last year down to about 35 psi with Ksyriums/tape+valves/Michelin Mud2, but ultimately I still think tubulars are better and more reliable and I can go much lower with the pressures.

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Permalink Reply by andrew on August 23, 2009 at 9:46pm

jmoote,

that ksyrium rim seems to be one of the less-than-ideal rims for tubeless, from my experiments and experience. if you get it all dialed, low 20s should be possible, but agreed that the ride is not quite like a high quality tubular. now if they made a sealable, high tpi open tubular, I might never glue again!

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Permalink Reply by cxchiva on August 24, 2009 at 7:28am

Yesterday I used Ksyrium SL's, Hutchinson Bulldog, 44mm valve stem and stans. Followed the mounting/installation directions everything seems to be ok. I have a mini cyclocross course accross the street from my house and rode the hell out of the bike; off camber turns, bumps, rocks, hard turns and bunny hopping. Everything was great with no burping but the lowest I ran was 35 psi. Since I am a mear 150lbs I think it might work for me. Just couldn't see dropping the big bucks on a new set of wheels this year. Gonna to try some lower pressure today, so far I am very happy/impressed

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Permalink Reply by Shore Local on August 24, 2009 at 10:36am

I have two wheelsets setup for tubeless for this season:

Wheelset #1
Mavic Open Pro + 2xVelox + Stan's CX strips + Michelin Mud 2's

Wheelset #2
Mavic Ksyrium Elite + 1xVelox + Stan's CX strips + Michelin Jets

Getting the tires on the Ksyriums was a challenge, so I hope that means they are sealed really well. I can run pressures around 30 psi without burping and I'm around 190-195 lbs. I haven't raced on either wheelset yet, but ran tubes in the same tires and wheels with constant pinch flats (around mid 30's psi). I'm going to experiment on lower pressures for the next couple weeks before my first race ... hopefully get to mid/low 20's without issues.

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Permalink Reply by Josh on August 24, 2009 at 1:16pm

Keep us posted on your experiences this season!

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Permalink Reply by jmoote on August 25, 2009 at 7:40am

yes, I'm interested to hear it. I think with the right build up of velox, stans tape and/or strips you can get a solid seal.

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Permalink Reply by Britton Kusiak on September 5, 2009 at 10:21pm

I used stan's kit with my easton wheels and bulldogs all last season. 32/34 psi and never had a problem.

This year I built up king hubs to Stan's ztr 355 29er rims. They are bombproof and work way better, plus a little lighter/stronger.


Definitely go with tubeless specific tires is my only recommendation.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Barton on August 1, 2010 at 9:16am

I was wondering if anyone had had any luck with the easton/bulldog combo. thanks for this.

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