Tubeless, how narrow have you gone? Results?

[DHallerman]

I’m still pretty new to tubeless. Set up my first ones last year on our gravel and fat-tire road bikes - none less than 35mm wide - and they’ve been working well. I’ve run the tires mostly in the 35-45 psi range. And my wife and I like them a lot.

Soon I’ll be trying 700x32 tubeless, either GK slicks or Conti GP 5000s, on a rim brake road bike, and they don’t appear too much of a step smaller than 35s. For mainly paved roads, I’m thinking tire pressure about 45-55 psi. Good?

So if these 32s work well, it makes me wonder if I could try even narrower with one or two road bikes. But several things I’ve read said how tubeless 25s and 28s are getting chancy. More problems than pleasures.

Is that your experience? Or have you run thinner tires tubeless with mainly thumbs-up results?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Dave, who really likes how tubeless tires roll but needs to limit their usage among our bikes because of the extra maintenance they involve

[joevers]

I've had plenty of 25-28mm tubeless setups. I run under 70 psi in my 25mm tires. I usually flat bad enough to need a tube once or twice a year, which is probably 5,000 road miles.

In my experience plugs aren't as effective on higher pressure road tubes, and if it's a big enough cut to need a tube the tire usually ends up in the trash, but that's really the only downside I can think of.

[Dave]

Try the tire pressure calculator at zipp.com. I use 28mm michelin tubeless on my road bikes and the mid 60's air pressure recommended for my weight works well. The ride is great. My main goal was eliminating pinch flats that can occur from hitting rocks on mountain descents. I rarely get any other puncture and that's been the case since last October when I switched to tubeless. I've hit a rock big enough to bend my rim a Iittle with no pinch flat or loss of air.

I carry a spare tube and two CO2 cartridges. I won't mess with darts or plugs.

[nmrt]

Have only used 25mm tubeless tires for the past ten years.
72 psi front and rear.
works great. only one flat in ten years. put a spare tube in, and then was off riding again.

[ntb1001]

I had a pair of Campy Eurus 2 way fit from 2010 with 23mm tubeless.
Used that set up more than 10 years with zero flats.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tomato coupe]

My experience:

38mm tubeless => pretty effortless
32mm tubeless => not perfect, but worth the effort
25mm tubeless => total pain in the butt and not worth the effort

But, I don't think the width is the real issue, it's the pressure. So, if you're a lighter rider you might find 25mm tubeless works for you. (I'm at 80kg.)

[kppolich]

25mm Road, 35mm gravel, and 2.3" MTB
no issues mounting or riding with carbon and alloy rimes.
no issues seating with hand pump.
Add sealant AFTER you get the rim, tire, and valve holding air consistently to greatly reduce the chance of a mess.

[makoti]

Running 25s on my road bike, 32s (for now) on my gravel. Both are good, but I will go bigger for gravel. Can't see any point in >25 on the road. People whinge about "high pressures" on road tires, but 75f/85r PSI work great for me. Comfortable, seals well, fast (well, fast-ish. Motor issues more than tires)

[OldCrank]

Schwalbe 23s on Ardennes+, so they probably measure almost 25.

Several seasons on potholes, glass, metal fasteners and general road crap.
Just add a slosh of Stan's now and then.

I did bend one rim slightly, a gentle nudge on Mr. Crescent Wrench and we're back in business.

A good-size hole sometimes weeps a little sealant after a brisk ride, I've been waiting all season for a failure. Might just replace the tire in the spring.

[bshell]

5+ years on 25mm tubeless at @55F/58R pressure and I'm 180 pounds.

It's been puncture dependent in my case but over all, definitely worth it. I wouldn't go back to tubes.

Loads of little punctures from glass/wire etc that you'll never know about. The larger punctures that require a plug to get home almost never hold my desired 60 pounds of air but at least I don't have to do the messy swap with a butyl tube. That's only happened a couple of times w/sidewall damage requiring a roadside boot or if the bead came off the shelf.

I got home from a CX ride (35mm tires, 35F/38R) a few weeks ago and the next day my rear tire had 5 small wet spots in the tread zone that all would have required patching had I been using tubes. I added an ounce of sealant, spun it and have been fine since.

I know of people using #110 on 25mm tubeless which sounds entirely unsafe and uncomfortable.

[MikeD]

28mm. Seems to work well with sealant.

[mtechnica]

25c, it’s fine, usually run 80-85psi

[AngryScientist]

i've just been putting some miles on a vittoria corsa speed tubeless. man, they are a really, really good ride. 25mm.

they are very light and probably wont go too many miles, but i've rallied them over some smooth gravel and most recently been checking out the NJ disaster zone we have post flooding and they have held up brilliantly over lots of road debris, glass, etc. i'm a fan.

no issues at all setting them up or anything else. i do feel like i'm cheating because i use a 30 gallon compressor to set them up, but really, there is no voodoo magic to tubeless once you get the hang of it.

[Likes2ridefar]

Like others, 25mm, sublime ride and this is back when there were only a few brands (mostly Hutchinson fusion) to try.

Hopefully they’ve improved in the 10 years since, as I decided they weren’t worth it due to the high pressures not working well with sealant when things went south.

Couple that with the high price, wasn’t worth the smoother ride..

Now I only ride fat tires mostly 650b and 48-50mm. They are effortless to mount and usually don’t leak and almost never flat…user error almost always when I do.

[Dave]

Anyone who thinks they run under 60 psi in a 25 or 28 should check their gauge for accuracy. My old silca pump gauge was reading 8 psi higher than the readings from several brand new Winters liquid filled gauges. None of the pressure calculators would recommend that low, even at my 61kg.