Advantages
Lower Tire Pressure
If you are the kind of person like I am who likes to inflate your tires to the maximum recommended PSI you may have suffered from a "skittish" ride where your (front) wheel seems to be jumping around on every little bit of debris that you can't avoid running over. By riding with tires at lower pressure, the tire is more compliant with debris and the road surface in general so you get a smoother, more comfortable ride. I have always felt that max tire pressure makes my ride (seem) faster but I can't say that riding at 90 - 100 PSI makes any great difference in real speed, in other words, it does not make me any slower than I already am.
No Pinch Flats
Properly inflating tires obviously avoids this outcome (along with riding style) but tubeless tires eliminate this problem so I do believe this is a real advantage.
Safety
Tubeless tires require a very strong bead. If you have a catastrophic blowout, the tire will not come of the rim, hopefully making it a little easier to come to a stop without crashing. Thankfully I have not had any need to put this to the test but this seems entirely believable. Riding in Japan just about anywhere involves climbing. On a typical weekend ride I'll do 600 - 1000 m of climbing. I find that tubeless tires, if nothing else, instill confidence on the descents.
Other
Decreased rolling resistance. "There is no friction between the inner tube and the tire" ... Sounds nice in theory. If there is any truth to this, it is certainly not something I have 'felt' in any way while riding. Some people may point out that there is no longer a need to carry a puncture kit or buy/ carry (spare) inner tubes. This is simply not true as fixing a flat on the road will probably necessitate using an inner tube and the patch kit to repair your tire when sealant is not sufficient is the same as you would use to repair an inner tube when you get a flat.
Puncture Resistance
This is a more accurate phrase to use than 'no more flats'. Just as I was planning to post something about going tubeless, I had my first experience with a puncture. This is one of the main points I hope to make in this post. In my limited experience with tubeless tires (about 1500 km on this set), running tubeless tires with sealant can definitely help you finish your ride and get you home. I'm getting to it, please be patient and read on.
Disadvantages
Price - Lack of Selection - Availability
A lot depends, obviously, on where you live. Living in Japan, near a major city, IRC tubeless tires are pretty easy to find and their entry level tubeless tire can be found for about US$52 (LBS or online). Hutchinson tubeless are probably the next easiest to find but are rather pricier at about US$ 75 or so for the Fusion 3s. The Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tubeless tires I opted for were about US$ 55 at my LBS. I don't know of any road tubeless tires for under US$ 50. A good LBS in my area typically has 3 -5 choices of tubeless tires (probably because Shimano's entry level tubeless ready wheelsets are easy to find and usually competitively priced). The situation where you live is probably similar or may be worse; tubeless tires are pretty expensive (compared to ordinary clinchers with decent tubes) and there is not a whole lot of choice, if you can even find them.
Weight
If anything, tubeless tires are a little bit heavier than clincher / tube combinations because of the way they are made. Assuming you add sealant for the tubeless tire, they are even 'heavier'. This is more a topic for weight weenies. Let's just say that if you were hoping to save weight by virtue of not having a tube, there is in fact no advantage (or disadvantage).
Installation
This was the biggest concern I had before going for tubeless tires; the endless horror stories in forums and posts about the difficulty of installing tubeless tires, mainly because tools are not supposed to be used for installation. I am sure that it may difficult for many people. This is really the second point I hope to make in this post.
Much to my surprise, the installation was easier than for some clinchers I have used. The combination of the DT Swiss wheels and Ultremo ZX tires I used worked very well. With different wheels and tires it may indeed be a lot more difficult (thus the title of the post). If you are put off making the choice for tubeless tires based on this fear alone, please don't be (don't choose tubeless for one of the other valid points already mentioned).
Installation
There are plenty of good how to videos on YouTube for installing tubeless tires. I found this one from Hutchinson to be the most useful: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBa88zZossE.
The only points I can add to this:
- The 'tool' used in the video to apply the water / soap solution costs about US$ 10 at my LBS. Unless I actually wanted to carry something with me on a ride for emergency repairs, this tool is a waste (some people will carry a small container of talcum powder for installing a tube when on tour, kinda like that I guess). I just mixed up a 50 - 50 solution of water and liquid soap for washing dishes and applied it by hand. The solution does make a huge difference. The 'special' solution sold by some companies for installing tubeless tires also seems to be completely unnecessary.
- I had to purchase a valve core removal tool. It was not included with any of my purchases (wheel, tires, sealant). You will need one and it sucks to start a job and not have all the tools.
- I used to install clinchers starting at the valve as this part of the tire seemed the most difficult to seat. With tubeless tires in particular, this is a bad idea. Absolutely finish at the valve, the 'extra' tire material you have to work with will help get it on.
- I found wearing gloves gave me a better grip on the tire and probably saved some skin.
- Once I got the tire on the rim, I pushed the valve up into the tire and then tightened the retaining screw to put it back into place. I found it easier to seat the tire next to the valve this way. It can be a tight fit (see pictures part 2).
- CO2 cartridges are pricey where I live. Schwalbe claim that the Ultremo ZX tubeless tires can be initially inflated with a floor pump. I am not saying it was easy, but they can be. Out on the road would be another story.
- I used Hutchinson's Protect'Air Max sealant in my installation. After deflating the tires, removing the tires, removing the core from the valve, adding the sealant and replacing the valve core, it is important to move the tires around or else the sealant will come up through the valve and make a nice mess (and make the core of the valve rather 'sticky' for subsequent inflation - you can guess why I am adding this comment).
The next biggest worry I had and of equal or greater importance is what would happen when I eventually had to remove the tire for repair. How difficult would it be to remove the tire and how messy would it be to deal with the sealant? This is the subject of the part 2 of the post.
No comments:
Post a Comment