refthimos wrote:
The puncture resistance (or perhaps more accurately, the ability of tubeless sealant to fix punctures on the fly) is also a significant advantage. The increased air volume and ability to run a lower pressure without risking pinch flats is another.
Case in point: A few weeks into my switch to tubeless and running Pro Ones on Aeolus TLR wheels, a buddy decided to lead me up a dirt path "shortcut" instead of taking the normal route up a local 3 mile climb. We were transitioning a bunch between curbs and the dirt and when I got to one of the curbs, I got my front wheel over fine but speed was low and I pulled a fred and fully slammed my rear wheel right into the edge of the curb. I would venture to guess that with a clincher wheel, there is a 90% chance that I would have pinch flatted right then and there. With the tubeless? Nothing, just kept riding along.
I'm a convert. Well except on the TT bike, as there seem to be faster clincher/latex combos and even if there was a faster tubeless tire option, I am not yet aware of a tubeless disc wheel. Oh and track of course - tubulars there. Oh and cyclocross. But other than that, tubeless is the bee's knees.
Don't forget that:
A.) Latex tubes are much less likely to pinch flat than butyl (which is part of the myth of tubulars pinch flatting less than clinchers)
B.) It's OK to run sealant in them as well ;-)
I'm not following how tubeless results in "increased air volume" as compared to the same size clincher tire...
Don't get me wrong...if someone finally makes a tubeless tire as fast as the Turbo Cottons with latex, I will probably run them at some point on my road bike, especially for certain events (such as the Belgian Waffle Ride :-)
This thread wasn't started to debate the pros/cons of tubeless though...it was to discuss the new Silca offerings. That said, though, if we're going to discuss any possible advantages of the technology, then I think it's important to also discuss the drawbacks.
IME, the main drawbacks or road tubeless have been:
1.) Most road punctures don't actually seal...especially if you continue riding on it. If the size of the hole is near 1mm or greater, then you MAY be able to get it to "clot" by stopping and rotating the tire so the sealant can work...but, as soon as you start riding the flexing of that "clot" will eventually cause it to fail again. That said, if the majority of the punctures you suffer are from things like goatheads, then it'll work fairly well...then again, so do latex tubes against that. So, in the end, the result is having to stop and swap in a tube. I have suffered 3 punctures with road tubeless setups, all of which required a tube swap. Which, brings up the biggest drawback...
2.) They are a royal PITA to swap a tube into on the side of the road. Not only are the beads necessarily tight (to work as road tubeless) but the sealant makes a total mess of everything.
So...in many ways, running latex tubes in clincher tires gives the majority of the advantages of tubeless for the road (ability to run lower pressures without worry of pinch flatting, can effectively run sealant) while giving (at present) better choices in regards to other tire properties...all while not suffering the drawbacks.
But...my mind is still open and I'll try the new tires as they come along :-)
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