Tubelessness

Apparently, tubeless tyres are great. My bike came fitted with “tubeless-ready” rims and tyres, so I decided to give it a go.

The process is straightforward:

  1. Replace your rim tape with a special plastic rim strip
  2. Refit the tyre, and lube the bead with soap bubbles
  3. Pump vigorously
  4. Add sealant (for puncture proofing)

And it really was that simple. The tyre inflated first time, beads cracking loudly into place. I let it sit at 60 psi for 5 minutes, then emptied the air, added 60ml of Super Juice, reinflated to 36 psi… and that’s it!

There’s a small weight saving (80g per tyre), but I should also get more grip, less rolling resistance, more comfort, and no punctures. Sweet. 🙂

This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 11:14 pm and is filed under kit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to Tubelessness

  1. James says:
    Fri 12th October 2007 at 11:48 pm

    Weight weenie section…
    My front wheel assembly (i.e. wheel, tyre, brake disc, QR skewer, sealant) now weighs in at 1776g. That’s exactly 1 lb lighter than the front assembly from Fionnuala’s (v-braked) Hardrock!

    Reply
  2. Farqui says:
    Sat 13th October 2007 at 12:01 pm

    Well done, I guarantee that you won’t regret it

    Reply
  3. James says:
    Mon 26th November 2007 at 12:34 am

    After much slip-sliding in the Chilterns last week I went to get some winter tyres, but the bike shop guy Jon (at Leisure Lakes Daventry) suggested I stay with the Bontrager Jones XR, but at 25 psi. That seemed very very low but I tried it this afternoon and it was brilliant! More grip, more speed, and I can torque my way through seriously swampy sections where I’d usually spin out and get stuck. Awesome. 🙂

    Reply

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