When I pinch-flatted both my tires during a descent at GMR
last August, enough was enough. It was
then when I decided to make the plunge to road tubeless. And so I purchased four Hutchinson Fusion 3
Tubeless tires, four 44mm tubeless road valves (with removable cores), some
valve extenders (more on that later), Stan’s 25mm yellow rim tapes, and a quart
of Stan’s famous Sealant. This was
enough to convert four wheels.
Now some of you are probably asking why I didn’t just pick
up some tubeless ready wheels like Alpha ZTRs, Campy/Fulcrum 2-Way Fit wheels,
or Shimano Dura-Ace TR wheels. Let me
tell you why. It is because I have a set
of Zipp 101’s as well as a pair of Zipp 404 Firecrest clinchers that I love and
didn’t want to give up just yet. Yes, I
probably voided all warranty by doing this, but I guess someone has to be a
guinea pig!
Installation
I followed Stan’s video installation with the exception of
using his 25mm instead of the 21mm yellow rim tape. The 25mm tape was needed to accommodate the
wider rim profile of the new Zipps. Getting
the tire on the rim wasn’t as bad as some people claim, but it is indeed a bit
tighter. Due to my short patience and
lack of bike mechanic know-hows, I wasn’t really successful with this tubeless
conversion on my own. Maybe I didn’t
pull the rim tape tight enough? An air
compressor sure would’ve been helpful, too.
Air was escaping through the spoke holes and I could tell by the soapy
water test.
With my hands in the air, I resorted to let my local bike
shop do the conversion for me for a small fee since I provided them with all
the materials. I mentioned earlier about
“valve extenders”. Those were for my
Zipp 404’s deep 58mm profile. The special
valve extenders also accommodated removable valve cores, which is essential for
tubeless setup since you can easily add sealant through the valve instead of
unhooking a part of the tire bead from the clincher hooks (not to mention it is
A LOT cleaner too!).
For those of you who have tubeless-ready wheels, just follow
the video from Peloton magazine and you should be good to go!
Ride Quality
Upon picking up my tubeless converted Zipps from the bike
shop, I mounted my converted 101’s and went out for a nice long ride. Both tires are pumped to 95psi (I weigh
185lbs). The difference was
immediate! One ride in particular down
Laguna Canyon Road where the roads got rough on the descent towards the beach
is usually a teeth-chattering experience.
Riding lower pressures has made the same descent oh-so smooooooth! I was amazed! Cornering was also enhanced since riding lower
pressures allowed greater contact with road.
Rolling resistance, though more subjective than objective, seemed better
since lower pressure allowed better traction on the road. I experienced the same with my converted
404’s on my other bike.
People wonder about the sealant “sloshing” inside the
tire. What sloshing? I can’t hear anything coming from my tubeless
tires with sealant inside.
Now don’t get me wrong, going tubeless will NOT make your
bike ride as if you had a full-suspension mountain bike. It isn’t like that at all. It will, however, take that edge off yet give
you excellent road feel. I rode tubular
and tubeless is very close in terms of ride quality. Going tubeless will bring all-day comfort to
an otherwise stiff and harsh race bike.
Flat Protection
This is the number one reason why I went tubeless. Pinch flatting a tubeless setup is almost
impossible since there is no inner tube to pinch. Of course you can pinch the tire itself, but
you must hit something very hard and very fast to make that happen … which
you’ll more likely destroy your wheels in the process as well as being hurt
yourself. And when you go get a small
puncture, the sealant inside will seal it right up with very minimal air loss. In other words, you will not get a loud “pop”
nor excessive air escape like a regular clincher setup in case of a puncture.
Stan’s sealant can seal up to ¼” gash in your tires. Anything bigger than that will probably require
a patch. Hutchinson makes a tubeless
patch kit called Rep’Aire, but forums say that a regular Park Tool VP-1
Vulcanizing patch kit will work just fine.
You just need to clean the affected inner wall, apply the vulcanizing
glue, and apply the patch in the inner butyl wall of the tire and let dry. Don’t have the time? Then remove the tire, pull out the tubeless valve,
dump the sealant, clean off any rubbery mess, put in a regular tube, place a
tire boot on the gash on the tire, place the tire back on the rack, pump, and
go. Another great feature of tubeless is
that it can be run as a regular clincher in case of an emergency. That is why I carry a spare tube along with a
tire boot.
Knock on wood, I did not experience a cut this big yet. Then again, a cut this big on a regular
clincher will also require a tire boot as well if you think about it. If you got a gash this big with a tubular
tire … forget about it.
Maintenance
About 3 month into the ride, I needed to top off each tire
with sealant. It is imperative to remove
your wheels and let them suspend on a rack and the tires are off the
floor. I let out the air while the tire
bead was still in the clincher hooks. I
then removed the valve core and added another ounce of Stan’s sealant to each
wheel. It was MUCH easier pumping them
back up again after the initial conversion.
After 3 more months (total of 6 months from initial
installation), I removed the tires, flushed out the old sealant, cleaned off
all the rubbery, stringy mess, rotated the front and back tires, remounted them
on the rim, used an air compressor I purchased from Home Depot to “punch in the
beads”, put fresh sealant through the valve core, and pumped my tires back to
specs. I have to say that after the
initial conversion from the shop, reseating the tires using an air compressor
was easy as pie. Of course you can just
pay the local bike shop to do this for you for a small fee (which is well worth
it).
If you are going with tubeless conversion, getting it right
the first time will make maintenance a lot easier in the future.
Results
Nine months … zero flats.
The ever so smooth and comfortable ride is an added bonus. I won’t be going back to tubes again. Heck, cars and motorcycles have done away
with tubes decades ago … why not bicycles?
As Ben Edwards from Peloton magazine said: “it is more likely that
you’ll wear your tire out than to flat it.
It is that effective”. I believe
it now. And remember, I converted my
sets of Zipps to tubeless and yes … they work great as a tubeless conversion.
That, my friends, is my long term review on tubeless. After trying them out, I am a firm believer
and supporter of tubeless technology.
With more and more tubeless ready wheels on the market as well as other
tubeless tires from other manufacturer, prices have dropped and are competitive
to non-tubeless setups. I am looking
forward to putting many more miles on my bikes … without ever worrying about
pinch flats and small punctures again!
-James Lee
