tubeless or tubular ?

[molly47]

whats the difference ? looking to purchase new rims and tubular are $200 cheaper. ! what rides better thanks

[Louis]

I think purists will tell you that tubulars ride better.

One difference (I believe this is true, but am not 100% sure) is that with tubeless you can carry a spare tube and if you get a flat put that in. (I don't know how easy it is to patch a tubeless, but that may be possible.)

With a tubular you're pretty much screwed, unless you want to carry a spare, but that's another hassle, since removing and replacing with tubulars is not that simple.

[zmudshark]

With a tubular you're pretty much screwed, unless you want to carry a spare, but that's another hassle, since removing and replacing with tubulars is not that simple.
I carry a can of Vittoria Pit Stop and a spare. I can change a tubular faster than a clincher, usually.

[ultraman6970]

Tubular is something that been in the market for over 50 years if not more, tubelss is new stuff.

I dont think you can run too much pressure in a tubeless, but in tubulars is the same than clinchers.

Pricewise tubular is cheaper apparently.

Wieght ? no idea.

Tubelss rides better than tubular? no idea i really doubt it.

If you want to run tubeless you can buy a kit that transform any clincher rim to tubeless.

[Louis]

I carry a can of Vittoria Pit Stop and a spare. I can change a tubular faster than a clincher, usually.

A while back I asked about these and the feedback I heard is that folks were getting mixed results. (i.e. sometimes it just didn't seal the leak and fill the tire)

What's been your experience?

[fogrider]

I think this has been discussed...but here's a summary:
tubeless:
1. new to the game and for road tires, you will be happy with hutchinson...I think they have 3 tires available.
2. the kit is not the neatest way to go and might be about the same weight as a tube, rims designed for tubeless is the way to go.
3. you should have a good pump to seat the tire, many mini pumps may not be enough to seat a tire on the road.
4. many clinchers tires ride pretty good with a tube.

did I miss something? I have yet to try tubeless, I just love my carbon tubulars too much.

[zmudshark]

A while back I asked about these and the feedback I heard is that folks were getting mixed results. (i.e. sometimes it just didn't seal the leak and fill the tire)

What's been your experience?

I haven't had a flat on tubulars in over two years(hoping I haven't cursed myself). Pit Stop works well as long as the hole isn't big. Following instructions helps, too.

[BillG]

Tubeless ride really nice. I like my tubeless as much as my tubulars. They corner super great. You can inflate them as much as a clincher but you can also run them a lot lower. They don't flat nearly as often as clinchers.
The downside is the bead is super tight, it's more of a pain to slip a tube in on the road than a clincher. The upside is that you don't have to carry a spare.

[redir]

I LOVE tubuless for me MTB rig because you can run insanely low pressures and not get pinch flats. So if that is the most pertinent reason for running tubeless then I don't know what value they would have on the road where you don't want to run crazy low pressures.

For me the jury is still out on tubeless.

I've been riding tubulars for at least a decade. My guess is that since a tubeless set up is using a clincher rime then you will not get the performance of a tubular. When cornering for example a tubular tire flexes and deforms in a dynamic way because it is not bound up by the rigid walls of a clincher rim. Tubeless would not have that free form on the rim.

BUt like I said for me the jusry is out and I typically like to wait till technology proves itself over time.

[oldpotatoe]

I LOVE tubuless for me MTB rig because you can run insanely low pressures and not get pinch flats. So if that is the most pertinent reason for running tubeless then I don't know what value they would have on the road where you don't want to run crazy low pressures.

For me the jury is still out on tubeless.

I've been riding tubulars for at least a decade. My guess is that since a tubeless set up is using a clincher rime then you will not get the performance of a tubular. When cornering for example a tubular tire flexes and deforms in a dynamic way because it is not bound up by the rigid walls of a clincher rim. Tubeless would not have that free form on the rim.

BUt like I said for me the jusry is out and I typically like to wait till technology proves itself over time.

Tubeless road 'technology' has been around for over a decade....

The 'big boys' in road bicycle tires have not 'taken the leap'(Conti, Vittoria, Michelin), IMHO, I think that says a lot.

Another anecdotal, MTB tubeless tire story. Granted, my shop is pretty new to this 'technology', and in certain instances, like MTB, I think it has real value.

Wheels-DT tubeless specific wheelset(brought in for Moots build, 29er)

Tires-Stans tubeless tires.....sooo big, will not seat.

Try a WTB tubeless tire...soooo small, cannot get onto the rim

Try a Conti non tubeless tire, with goop and a valve...seats w/o problem.

So what's up?

Ended up putting tubes into the DT rims with Stan's tires..

[93legendti]

I just switched to tubeless via a Stan's conversion kit for one of my road bikes.
Installation was fast, easy and painless. Tires were installed Wednesday, with 80 psi in front and around 90 in back. Today they are still rock hard, but riding smooth. In the rear, 90 was a bit high and when they need more air, I will max the rear at 85psi and try 75psi up front.

I'm about to buy 2 more conversion kits so my 3 favorite road bikes will be covered.

The tires roll and corner great and eat up the imperfections in our local roads.

Our shop's mechanic is the best I have met in 22 years. He had done lost of mtb tubeless, but this was his first road conversion. He followed the directions to a "t" and I was riding 45 minutes after he started the conversion. The tires seated perfectly the first time and the seal is nice and tight.

[Bob Loblaw]

Pretty much everyone loves the ride and performance of tubulars, and the ones that don't ride them (myself included) say that clinchers, while not as nice to ride, are better than ever, are easier to repair, and it's easier to soldier on if you have multiple flats on one long ride.

I know five people who have tried tubeless. Three of them flatted once and went back to tubes. One is waffling...he hasn't flatted but he says periodically (twice a season) you have to replace the goop because the tires start weeping air as the goop dries out, and he is not sure about the benefits. The last guy remains an evangelist.

So with all that in mind, I'd say tubies over tubeless.

BL

[FastVegan]

This is the first time this has ever been discussed on a forum.

[redir]

Tubeless road 'technology' has been around for over a decade....

The 'big boys' in road bicycle tires have not 'taken the leap'(Conti, Vittoria, Michelin), IMHO, I think that says a lot.

Another anecdotal, MTB tubeless tire story. Granted, my shop is pretty new to this 'technology', and in certain instances, like MTB, I think it has real value.

Wheels-DT tubeless specific wheelset(brought in for Moots build, 29er)

Tires-Stans tubeless tires.....sooo big, will not seat.

Try a WTB tubeless tire...soooo small, cannot get onto the rim

Try a Conti non tubeless tire, with goop and a valve...seats w/o problem.

So what's up?

Ended up putting tubes into the DT rims with Stan's tires..
Yeah I've heard that some tires are a real PIA on some rims. I just went with the recommendation at my local shop. Kenda Nevegal on Stans rims work out well. I think you have to be careful with the tire/rim combo or you run into problems like that unfortunately.

[snowcrash19]

So with all that in mind, I'd say tubies over tubeless.

There is no direct comparison between tubeless and tubular. There are brief similarities. I like to say tubeless is the closest you'll ever get to tubular in a clincher format.

I've run Hutchinson's and Maxxis tubeless tires (both fairly meaty and heavy). They have excellent handling and traction but cost about the same as tubulars. The real benefits are ease of changing or installing a tube if needed and eliminating pinch flats.

Most people I know that can't get their tubeless to work correctly did something incorrectly in installation. Its really neat technology but is it better? Maybe, I certainly like it. Not going to run it on every bike but its fun to have in the fleet. That said I'll probably end up selling my set of wheels here soon enough to get a new grouppo. =)

[martinrjensen]

Tubular is something that been in the market for over 50 years if not more, tubelss is new stuff.

I dont think you can run too much pressure in a tubeless, but in tubulars is the same than clinchers.
The whole point of running tubeless is that you can run lower pressure than clinchers. With clinchers you have to follow the rim mfg. max tire pressure. tubular does not place the same kind of pressure on the rim and most of the time can be run at way higher pressures

Pricewise tubular is cheaper apparently.
tubular is not cheaper

Wieght ? no idea.
tubeless tires are heavy. the combination of tubeless rims or even standard rims converted to tubeless plus tires is almost certianly heavier than a comparable tubular setup

Tubelss rides better than tubular? i really doubt it.
You won't get a better ride (if that's important) than a tubular

If you want to run tubeless you can buy a kit that transform any clincher rim to tubeless.
Most any rim.Mavic Open Pro is not recommended for tubeless conversion

Tubeless do ride nice though. I have a set. I would recommed a rim designed for tubeless as opposed to a converted rim. the big issue I have with converted rims is that if you get a bad flat where all the air leaks out, I don't think you could fill the tire up with air without a compressor as you have to get the air in really fast in order to seat the bead. I don't think you would have this issue with rims designed for tubeless. Also you patch tubeless tires prety much the same way you patch inner tubes. Just don't try those glueless stickon patches. Also run sealant inside the tubeless tire. I had 3 bikes running tubeless and I "re-converted" 2 of them back to clinchers because I considered them too much o a hassle if i were to loose all the air in the tire I got tired of having to carry a pump plus CO2. I'm in the market for a tubular set which I have run in the past.

[socalspeedsk8r]

You can usually picks up a set of Dura Ace 7850 tubeless on eBay fairly reasonably and will ride close to the way a tubular rides and you won't have to worry about getting flats.


Scott