UKH

Anyone using tubeless? 

Where i am in south Derbyshire all the lanes are hedgerow and cutting time means punctures aplenty! Tyre type seems not to matter, I’ve rode knobblies, conti 4S, Gatorskins, the bloody thorns always find a way in.

I’m going to try tubeless, I’ve read good things about HPlus Son Arcitype rims and so going to build a pair of wheels with these tubeless compatable rims. What tyres though? 25mm prob and fairly slick, fast road tyres, any recommendations?

Thanks

One of the huge benefit of tubeless is a big reduction in rolling resistance - my suggestion is to fit the largest tyre you can and enjoy the plush ride. On a group road ride, we were rolling down a long hill - me riding tubeless Schwalbe G-One Speed @ 40psi on my CX bike - a guy riding a far better 'summer' bike shod with 23mm Conti GPs was have to pedal to maintain the same pace. Apart from my 'race' bike that takes 25mm tyres max, I can't see me running anything less than 30mm in the future. 

Usual 25mm tyre pressure and tubeless might be asking a lot.

I'm running 32c Panaracer Gravel kings and Shimano tubeless rims at 60psi but experimenting with lower. 

This is placebo getting to you.

The rolling resistance of  g-one is nowhere near as low as a gp4k2. Even a pro one microskin is about 4w/wheel higher than a 4k2, and that's let alone the aero gains from the trips.

I’ve got two good road bikes, both now with dura-ace. One is tubeless, one is not. 25mm schwalbe pro 1 at 70-80 psi and 23mm Michelin pro4 at 90 psi respectively. The tubeless is more comfortable (but then so is the frame). When tubeless is working well it’s great- when it’s not you get covered in sealant.  The schwalbe tyres are desperate in the wet.  Overall, in terms of ride etc - no outstanding difference

Talking of tyre pressures, how much do you reckon you lose when you release the pump nozzle? I use a Bontrager floor pump before a ride and I suspect i lose ~5 - 7 psi as I flip the connector off. I adjust accordingly. Any thoughts?

If you have Presta valves, you shouldn't lose anything out of the tyre - the hiss will be the hose depressurising.

I was running 25mm tubeless at an experimental 80psi front 85 psi rear this weekend on our lovely potholed back roads (also South Derbyshire). Seemed to perform faultlessly.

The Hunt bike wheels website recommends the below for their tubeless:

60kg Rider
23mm - 87/92
25mm - 82/87
28mm - 77/82

70kg Rider
23mm - 90/95
25mm - 83/88
28mm - 80/83

80kg Rider
23mm - 93/96
25mm - 88/93
28mm - 83/88

90kg Rider
23mm - 93/97
25mm - 90/95
28mm - 86/91

Which recommends a bit higher for my weight but I think may be on the high side I think (I'm using Mavic, not Hunt but same principle...)

Also recommend going as wide as you can fit in your frame. Running Schwalbe G-One Speed 30mm front and rear at about 48psi. Grip, comfort out the wazoo. On British roads the benefits of easier deformation over bumps and ruts outweigh slicks designed for smooth tarmac.

I’ve some Mavic 319 rims with 28mm gatorskins and they are comfortable ride with 80 ish psi but that’s about as wide as i can go. my fames would allow wider but changing open pros for the 319’s can be done in a flash according to my needs but any wider and I have to get tools out to open the brake callipers, as it is now I can use the adjustment thumb nuts to slacken the cable enough for the 319 rims. Also they’d have to be interchangeable with wet weather bike that has mud guards and the 28mm gators just squeeze into them. 

Anyone made a ghetto air tank needed to seat the beads of the tyres?

Yep, just followed various youtube vids. Works for 27.5 plus tyres so must work easily on road bike tyre.

Does anyone else feel the "ghetto" tag is vaguely racist? How about just a "DIY pop bottle compressor"?

What the LastBoyScout said - the tyre has a cunning device called a valve to stop the air coming out;  the hose and gauge are pressurised to 90-odd psi but have a cunning design specifically to let the air out.

Yes - wouldn't care to inflate a tubeless tyre without one.  As far as 'explosions' are concerned - nothing to worry about.  If you were to take a tyre and pump it up to 100 psi, and then slash it with, say, a sharp flint, there would be a sharp hissing noise and that's it.  Happened to a friend yesterday.  No-one lost an eye.

Mine's made up using a bit of car fuel line which happens to fit neatly over a valve.  The pressure within is contained by the simple means of folding the tube over and popping a hair toggle over it to hold it folded over.  Release the pressure by pulling the halves apart - no need for clamps or mole grips and any such overkill.  There's a hiss and a pop and your tyre is hopefully seated on the rim - why anyone would pay £100 for a 'proper' one defeats me, when it's just 10 minutes work to make one.   I think the fuel pipe cost me 50p.  Two valves - off dead inner tubes.  And they weigh nothing if you happen to put your bike on an aeroplane.

Interested but struggling to picture it. My last reseating of existing tyres was a reminiscent of a rower’s sprint on a track pump. I think my face reached 100psi before the beads locked.

loads of vids on youtube, now that nniff has confirmed they work I’ll knock me one up. 

still after tyre recommendations though! 

in a nutshell:

A 2 litre fizzy pop bottle, with top.

Two old valves, with securing rings, cut out from tube, but leaving some rubber attached (enough to make a seal), or two old tubeless valves.

Remove the core from one valve.

Drill two holes in the bottle top, allowing enough room so that top itself will still seat and seal properly on the bottle, and far enough apart that you can get a tube and a pump onto  them.  Different length valves may help but mine works fine with average length valves.  The holes are about 5-6 mm diameter - I can't remember which.  Fit the two valves into the top and screw them firmly into place with the rings; a bit of silicone sealant may help to get a good seal.  Screw your fuel pipe or similar onto the valve without the core.  Screw the other end of the tube onto the tyre to be inflated, fold the tube in half and hold it folded with a hair toggle. 

Fit your pump to the other valve and pump the bottle up to about 100psi.  If the tube blows off, it just goes 'fssssst'.  No sign of a bottle popping, but 100psi seems to be enough, and it's not going to go bang, just fsssst.

When you're ready to go, pull the two halves of the tube apart so that the toggle pops off and all the air scoots into the tyre.  If you can hear air escaping between the bead and the rim, push the tyre there to help it seat.  Once it's on, I tend to pump some more air in with the bottle still attached to make sure it's properly seated - nothing worse than having it pop off again just when you think it's sorted.   Well actually there is, the wheel then falls over and sealant goes all over the floor and you get a lecture about doing bike things in the kitchen....