The season has arrived, and its time for upgrading the tire game.
For me, i have always used inner tubes on the road bike.
I use pirelli p zero 26 on front and 28 on back on a DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut db wheelset with tpu.
Now, im problary gonna have a puncture writing in here, but last year i didnt puncture once on the clincher tires, and the year before that i punctured maybee one time.
I ride mostly on rather smooth pavement. some potholes, but not much.
On my gravel bike tubeless setup i have already puncutered twice for reference.
So i am contemplating. Is it really smart to go tubeless on road? I am thinking about all the hassle there is with this setup, and also pirelli has launched new clincher tires:
The weight is significant lower than the tubeless, even with tpu inner tube. And i have also read that the rolling resistance with tpu is not significant.
I am going 28 on front and 30 on the back Pirelli, either TLR or Clinchers. . What would you do in this situation?
I wonder if this is one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” scenarios .
I love tubeless and run it on road and gravel, but I’m also a bigger rider running 32mm tires at ~60psi. I’ve been riding seriously for about 7 years, and tubeless for 6.5 of those because I used to get flats all the time.
If you’re a lighter rider on narrower road tires and don’t frequently get punctures, there’s nothing wrong with some light TPU or latex tubes if you’ve been happy with that set up.
I converted all my bikes, except for my old 26" MTB basket bike, to tubeless five years ago, and I’ve only had one flat tire since then. Guess which bike it was on.
There are soo many benefits to tubeless tires. The comfort is amazing, but not having to deal with flat tires has been great.
I don’t expect my luck to last forever, but I do think that this is somewhat of a testament to how good tubeless tires are at avoiding small punctures.
Yes - I’m running 32mm GP5000’s at about 45psi - I’m 76kg but they are on WIDE rims with an internal on 25mm, external 32mm.
For what i ride on - a smaller faster tyre would be lovely - but i favour comfort over that extra bit of speed and the tubeless is great for surviving hedge cutting season without having to worry about thorns stopping a ride
I would say if you don’t puncture, don’t change.
I’m in Brazil for a few years and I basically puncture every 100k or less so Ii changed to the messy tubeless. I still puncture with the same frequency the difference is that I drag my way home with low air or a plug or pumping the tyres every 10k whereas before I would simply changed the tube.
Back in Portugal I’m with 20000k without punctures on tubes
Uh, im not really convinced yet the internal rim width is also only 20mm. So i dont think i would go any wider than 30 for this road bike. Normally i ride very fast crits and some 3-4 hour rides.
I just dont want that hassle of the tubeless setup, the times i have already punctured on my gravel bike, dealing with the plugs and everything just not very smooth.
dont know, i might end up with the clincher for another year, also the weight perspective in mind
What width and pressure? For 30+mm and =<60psi I have found tubeless to be great. For narrower width and higher pressure not so much - just doesn’t seal at higher pressures unless I run Stans Race Sealant but then that’s not aimed at long term use and when I have tried using it long term I’ve had other issues like valves getting clogged up. Which is more maintenance and more things to go wrong on race day.
So for racing on decent tarmac where the optimum setup for me is 28mm at ~70-75psi, I still prefer the simplicity of TPU or latex tubes and I mitigate the puncture risk by changing the tyres promptly when I see they’re starting to cut up.
But I hope I NEVER have to touch a tube again. I never road anywhere without a tube and patch kit, usually carrying two tubes and kit. And on more than one occasion, still walking. And yes, with good tires.
I’m standing next to my commuter bike right now, all those little dots on my tire are where the sealant did its job. I’m running 35mm at 25 psi right now, 25mm GP5000’s on my road bike at 50 psi. Haven’t had a flat in 20,000 miles if you don’t count the couple of times I hit something in the road that would have flatted my tubes bike as well
I ride my Crux mostly gravel but every two weeks or so take it out on the road and have a road wheel set I would put on. Would you set up tubeless (which could have the sealant pool and dry up) or just go tubes since it’s not my daily?
Another tubeless user here. Been doing so since about 2006 with original Dura Ace wheels and Hutchinson Fusion tires in 23. Have used many various tire widths and about 8 different wheelsets, all tubeless. Currently on 24mm internal rims with GP 5000 S TR’s in 28 f/r on one bike and 21mm internal and older Schwalbe Pro One 23’s on another as well as 38 Gravel Kings on my Gravel bike. Unless the market stops supporting tubeless I’ll never run tubes again. Simply not worth the hassle of roadside changes. Tubeless can indeed take more effort to set up but well worth the effort because I rarely have to fix flats in the road as it usually seals and lets me keep riding.
No hassle with Tubeless on road IME, if you get your sealant right. I started running it in 2018 but almost gave up. Id get a small p’ture (often I wouldn’t even notice that), then circa 30mins later complete failure. Then I realised it was the sealant, I was using FinishLine never dries out. A lot of reviews said exactly the same, it was useless. So I switched to Stans Race and I can’t recall an event since late 2018, which I had been running on my TT disc since 2017 without any hassle. Stans Race is a bit cloggy though so I switched to Peatys last year and touch would in about 6000 miles since I have had no problems. There that’s me hexxed it now
.
the internal rim width is also only 20mm. So i dont think i would go any wider than 30 for this road bike. Normally i ride very fast crits and some 3-4 hour rides.
