I switched to Hutchinson 25 clincher intensives, and really like the way they run. Run them at about 85 PSI and find them much more comfortable than tubed clinchers. I had mine fitted with my new neuvation sl rims with stans tape. I have 1500 miles on them with no flats wearing well. The intensives run narrow though as the 25's are about the width of most 23's.

Have always ran tubed clinchers for 20 years but don't think I will go back to tubes.

 

I'm running tubeless on one of my bikes right now.
Setup is Dura ace C24 tubeless wheels with Maxxis Padrone tubeless tires, with sealant. Honestly? I don't feel much difference then when I was running a tube in it.

One thing I don't like about running tubeless is:
1) tires are expensive, and choices are limited
2) if/when you do get a flat, then putting in a tube on the road is a bit@!
You will still need to carry a tube, still need to carry CO2 with you in case you get an unsealable flat

 

I have this exact same setup, 7900-24-TL. Waiting on the new Schwalbe tubeless tires to finally hit the stores. Wore through the rear Padrone tire after about 3000 miles. Lots of little holes, but no actual flats that the sealant didn't handle as advertised.

My experience is similar. It's nice to have a feeling of confidence about not having a big blowout, but I can't honestly say there's a huge difference in comfort or handling (in my recreational only application). Changing a tube ain't a big deal, at the end of the day. I may go with mid-depth carbon clinchers for my next wheels, and keep the TL for back-up or riding in hurricane force wet and windy days.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.
Why would putting a tube on a tubeless be more difficult that a normal setup? You just have to remove the stem right? And mybe clean up the gunk.
I hear more tires are coming out. Specifically lighter ones from Schwalbe and others.
Yes the tires were quite expensive.

 

It's not about removing the tubeless stem per se'. Tubeless tires have carbon beads vice kevlar beads, so they don't stretch. According to tubeless owners, mounting them is very taxing. Imagine mounting one side, inserting the tube properly in such a tight tire so it doesn't pinch, and then mounting the other side of the tire.

 

Well I think I will be glad to have them. As an aside I'm not sure if I am saving much weight with the Hutchinson's but hope so.

 

I have found most of the supposed roadside issues with tubeless to be myth. I've had to install tubes to get home 3 times now, all on Hutchinson tires which I no longer use. It never took me more than a few minutes to get the bead off using a yellow plastic lever, install the tube and inflate. It was no harder for me than changing a tube otherwise, except in 2 of 3 cases the Hutchinson tires had blown out completely so I needed to slip something in to boot them.

Lately I am running the Bontrager R3 "tubeless ready" tires. My understanding is that they do not have the carbon bead like Hutchinson, but I find installing/removing them about the same, maybe slightly easier.

I haven't used the Stan's road wheels, but I do have a set of Stan's hoops on my mtn bike. They seem fine. The Hutchinson tires seem to be hit/miss. I missed badly with some Atoms - 2 massive blowouts after very low mileage. A guy I ride with has been on Atoms for a long time and is probably easier on them (he doesn't race) and hasn't had any trouble. My Fusion 3s have typically lasted longer, i had one split apart on me but that was after pretty high mileage and at a point I was already getting ready to replace it.

My general comment for you on tubeless is play around with air pressures. I like a bigger volume (25C) tubeless tire where I can run around 80psi (I am 165 lbs). Before I used to run 23C tires with tubes around 110 psi - 105 at the lowest. If I went lower I'd start to have pinch flats pretty regular. For me the tubeless setup has been performing fantastic in training, races and commutes. In about 8,000 miles of riding tubeless so far I've only had the 3 "flats" I mentioned above. I've pulled a thumbtack, a piece of wire and a chunk of glass from my tire all of which sealed up with Stan's while losing maybe 10 psi.

 

Tubeless rules! Say goodbye to 80% of flats with lower pressures creating a nicer ride. I have no idea why guys still run tubes except holding on to out dated technology.

 

I bought some Hutchinson Atom tubeless to mount on my WH6700 training wheels. Even after soaping everything up and carefully (checking many, many times) ensuring the entire bead was in the central "trough" of the rim, the tires were unbelievably tight to get on the rim. In general, I dislike having the lever tires onto a rim. In fact, I prefer not to use levers at all. The Atoms not only required levering, they actually required metal levers as plastic ones simply snapped. I felt as if I was going to damage the rim getting them on. Very stressful.

I finally got them on and inflated them. Sealant started to bubble out of the sidewall in many places. Not around the rim, air was leaking straight through the sidewall itself. Perhaps the force I had to apply to get the tire on damaged the sidewall? I immediately gave up, pulled the damned things off, installed regular clinchers and mailed the Atoms back. Stan's gave me a full refund, which was awesome.

I can't even imagine trying to get a tube into these tires mid-ride. I can change a regular tube in a matter of a few minutes, this would have been really difficult.

Tubeless clearly has potential, maybe I picked a tire/rim combo that was uniquely a pain in the ass? However, regular clinchers work just fine, thanks.

 

Take what I say with a grain of salt if you want...

MTB: I have Stan's Arch EX with Specialized 2Bliss tires. The bead is a PITA to pop on. People have broken levers installing them (removal is no issue). I don't look forward to a flat. Regular wire bead tubed tires are easy to install.

Cross: I have Alpha 400 with Specialized Captain 2BR. Super easy to install and remove.

Road... i have not gotten to tubeless yet. The Stan's videos on vimeo and youtube show it pretty easy to install Hutchinson tubeless tires

 

I have tubeless now on all five bikes I own (road, mtb, cross, ss...). It definitely takes the right tire and rim combo. I've found rims from Stans and Velocity to mount most tubeless specific tires without need of tire levers. That said, I had some major hardships early on with Mavic rims and previous generation Hutchinson tires (I run Hutchinson Atoms on my road with no mounting issues, velocity A23 rim). Changing flats I find to be slightly more annoying with tubelss; however, flats in general (other than a major wound) don't happen or seal themselves quickly. Be sure to keep sealant in your tires as that is the only time I've had problems is when things dry up inside. The benefits of ride comfort and even handling far outweigh the issues of the occasional flat repair and once you get accustomed to installing and maintaining these things, it is really no big deal.

 

What has been everybody's experience with sealant drying up. What kind of time frame are you looking at? 6 months, 1 year , two years?

 

When I do it myself and add the whole bottle of sealant it seems to last for quite a while. I've had problems mainly when bikes have sat for long periods or when shops have installed the tires (I think they chintzed out on the sealant because it was dry within three months).

 

How well does it seal punctures from wire or thorns? Here in HI where both are prevelant that's a major selling point of MTB tubeless. It seals instantly with very little pressure loss and you don't even know it happened. Does it work as well at road pressures? My only experience with road tubeless was a guy in front of me having his rear tire blow off the rim so that was eyebrow raising.

 

If you don't use a road tubeless tire it will blow off no doubt. It won't happen with a proper setup.

 

It seals as well as it does in mtb tubeless. However, the volume of air in a road tire is smaller so you're more likely to need additional air after a puncture. I had a blow off early on too. It was really scary and I didn't try tubeless on road or cross for a year afterwards. I think most of those types of problems come from using tires/rims not designed for tubeless use.

 

In my experience the shimano wheels are a pita to mount, the stans can be done by hand with no tools 95% of the time.

Stans has a deeper center groove allowing the bead more room in the rim to be fitted.

 

I'm running a S'tan 340 model 2013 with fusion 3 tubeless and S'tan sealant. Mounting was very easy when I made sure to put the bid in the drop channel of the rim (check Stan's website for the Alpha video), I have inserted the sealant through the valve while I was removing the valve core first. Very easy to use the 2oz sealant bottle for each wheel. The air holds perfectly, not leaks and great ride. I ride low pressure relatively like 80 front 90 rear. I think it is great set up and puncture protected as well.