Road tubeless is simply awesome (with the right tire/rim combo).
I have about 10,000 miles on my tubeless setup and haven’t had a single flat.
With Conti 5000 TL, Bontrager 3V wheelset I can install tires with a single tire lever in minutes (maybe takes 30 seconds longer than clincher), seat the bead with a floor pump every time.
My setup is now lighter, faster and comfort improved 10 fold due to being able to run lower pressures. No flats is a bonus.
About every 6 weeks I check the sealant levels of my bikes (road, gravel and MTB all set up tubeless) with a dipstick and add sealant as necessary. I use Orange sealant for the road bike and Stan’s for the gravel/MTB. They have also not had a single flat.
I run tubeless last year but this year I moved back to tubes. I had roval clx 50 and conti gp5000tl tires and run 80psi but I simply didn’t have good road feeling (especialy in corners).
I’m thinking of going tubeless on my new wheels (hunt aero 50 or Aeolus 50), same weight. Currently run GP5000 clinchers, but after a few flats in crap weather I’m not so fond of pulling another innertube in hail/rain + headwind.
Just seeing anything below 100psi makes me smile thinking of the comfort.
@ZeroGravity , FWIW at 70kg I’ve been running 35mm GravelKing clinchers at 40/45 on some routes with pretty rough trail sections, so like jezza323 wrote your proposed 55/60 with the same sized tubeless GKs sounds high. I’d experiment with a lot less.
When I was running GP5k tubeless in 25s, I ran c.75psi, which is broadly in line with the SRAM online chart, out of interest. I certainly can’t imagine running much higher…
I’m just about to put on (tubed) Rene Herse 28s, and they suggest mid 60s front and mid 70s rear, which seems quite a large differential.
I probably could or should go lower and will play with it this year. I kept them higher since i I wasn’t really running on rough stuff. There’s still a lot of pavement just to get to crushed gravel paths let alone actual “gravel” riding.
So I have a local 30min crit with no returns to the race if you stop with a mechanical. Could I just use a tubeless setup without the Sealent as I would still get the benefits of the lower psi etc?
I’m not sure it would be as safe. I’ve had tubeless tires that wouldn’t hold air for even a couple of hours without sealant.
But why run without sealant? The beauty of the sealant is not having to stop during that race for a pin hole type flat. In a race like that, you could probably run minimal sealant - like 20ml.
I run CL50’s with 26 mm Turbo Pro tires at ~80 psi with tubes, and they feel great. (I’m ~ 74-75 kg). I will most likely switch to GP5000’s when new tires are needed, but I’m still debating a switch to tubeless vs latex tubes.
I would just think that a latex tube in a clincher would be faster/better riding than a latex tube in a TL tire, so if you already have GP5kTL they may not be as fast/comfortable with tubes compared to a regular clincher, but that’s just my theory. Also not sure how a latex tube would interact with any residual sealant depending on if it’s latex based or something else
What is there to clean? It’s not like you’d have to clean out your tires between races. With the right technique you’ll barely have a drip of sealant on installation.
The advantage of tubeless with sealant as a race day wheel is not getting a pin hole flat that takes you out of the race.
Another option is to just use a minimal amount of sealant - maybe 20ml. I’ve been using Orange Seal with my GP5000TLs and it doesn’t dry out when pooled at the bottom of the tire between races. The GP5000 is so well sealed that the sealant lasts a long time.
As previously said, a regular GP5000 + latex would be good for racing though you don’t get the flat protection. That combo may be a bit lighter.
I’m now on turbo cottons with tubolito and run them at 80 psi and feeling is much better (I run them with regular tubes and feeling was still much better)
I’ve had polarised tubeless experiences. First attempt was a Conti 5000 on a tubeless ready wheel, and it was a massive PITA. Tightest tire/rim combo I’ve ever had, tried every trick I’ve learned in the 3 decades or more since I first changed a tire as a kid, and it still took me 2 hours, a lot of cursing and a broken tire lever before it was on. I dread the day that thing punctures…
More recently bought a set of hookless Zipp 303 S. Paired up with the Schwalbe Pro Ones. Worked like a dream. Tires went on easily with no need to use levers, seated at first attempt with a high pressure pump, sealed well and holding pressure with the recommended 30ml. Still experimenting with different psi, I’m 80kg and the tires are 30mm, have taken them down to 50psi and they still roll well, think 60 is about the sweet spot for that setup and the local roads which aren’t great.
From my N=1 and reading up on this stuff, it seems like tubeless ready is still a bit of a crapshoot where some combos work well and others (like mine) are a nightmare. But the rims and tires that align with the updated ETRTO standards offer a much more consistently good experience. Just need more manufacturers like Continental to get on board.