Bruce B
Well-Known Member
Has anyone converted the Cruzbike A67 wheel to be used with tubeless tires?
http://cruzbike.com/A67-wheels.html
http://cruzbike.com/A67-wheels.html
Cruzbike A67 Wheel - Tubeless
- Thread starter Bruce B
- Start date
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Now that I'm back to my desk. Right now probably the most comparable wheel that is available tubeless ready is the FLO30
http://www.flocycling.com/wheels_front_flo_30.php
http://www.flocycling.com/wheels_rear_flo_30.php
Kinda rare for them to be in-stock; they are about double the price of the excellent Cruzbike wheels; so you have to be sure tubeless is what you want; but they are miles cheaper than the comparable. After that if you want to run the price/quality we've got a couple threads floating around on wheels; and of course we can start another discussion.
http://www.flocycling.com/wheels_front_flo_30.php
http://www.flocycling.com/wheels_rear_flo_30.php
Kinda rare for them to be in-stock; they are about double the price of the excellent Cruzbike wheels; so you have to be sure tubeless is what you want; but they are miles cheaper than the comparable. After that if you want to run the price/quality we've got a couple threads floating around on wheels; and of course we can start another discussion.
Personal thoughts here...
I am not sold on the benefit (if any) of tubeless tires and specifically on a FWD MBB like a Cruzbike. We ask a lot of the front wheel - powering, turning, poweing while turning and leaning, taking a significant load... much more force is acting on the tire for us than on a DF or even a RWD recumbent.
A good solid and well fitting clincher tire is going to stay on the rim.
The A67 are clincher only as noted above.
I am not sold on the benefit (if any) of tubeless tires and specifically on a FWD MBB like a Cruzbike. We ask a lot of the front wheel - powering, turning, poweing while turning and leaning, taking a significant load... much more force is acting on the tire for us than on a DF or even a RWD recumbent.
A good solid and well fitting clincher tire is going to stay on the rim.
The A67 are clincher only as noted above.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Solid point.
I'm not sure how many people (that have posted) other than Me and Mrs. Ratz have been running tubeless. If you are, now might be a good time to raise your hand. I think it's a pretty darn small data set. Gary just started this year, and I thought I read that the Moose got tubeless Moosebooties.
My one bad tire failure was of my own doing; and not one I'll repeat. That said we now have 2 full seasons on tubeless and they have held up well to the FWD demands of both the Silvio and the Vendetta.
As to the benefits we probably should be making a list and comparing notes. Here's what I have learned so far. We have had two failures that required a "boot" to fix so no gain over a tubed tired; and two flats that required pulling over; pausing for 1 minute and then re-inflating to continue the ride. On top of that I've had numerous punctures that sealed without pulling over and stopping (evidence) being the sealant all over the frame on occasion. Ride is good and we run really low pressure 85-95psi. Previous years I'd go through about 10 tubes a year, with the likelihood of a flat directly tied to rain and darkness in most cases as such things tend to go.
So bringing this back around, what Robert said is important, this is new and should be treated as such, and the FWD demands considered. Those that venture onward please share what you learn so that there is more data to learn from. If you want to know what NOT to do:
1) Don't put the wrong size tire on to your match the tubeless tire to the rim width
2) Don't use non tubeless rims; yes you can do a ghetto convert but I think Robert just gave us plenty of reason not to.
3) If you dent the rim, it's no longer a tubeless RIM
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Rick Youngblood
CarbonCraft Master
I can add number 4 to the list.
4) Don't use non-tubeless tires on tubeless rims unless you use a tube, then what's the use. Many have done this, and it's worked. But not in my case. I had the same unfortunate thing happen to as what happened with Bob. Scary, messy, like riding in snot on ice, but the snot did not freeze
!However, I'm not opposed to tubeless and want to try them out someday...but I will be doing my research and checking in with the pro's first.
trplay
Zen MBB Master
Tubeless is better than sliced bread. Don't listen to the skeptics Tubeless is the future. The tires mount easy enough, they seal easy enough, and they are fast enough (for me anyway). They may not be for the casual low mileage rider due to the sealant drying up but for the fanatics they are a Godsend. Put them on and ride them like a rented mule. Rarely will you have to pump them up and flats are far and few. The new Schwalbe promises to be even better. My shameless blog post on tubeless here.
Bruce B
Well-Known Member
Flat tires. By June of last year I finally had enough and began researching road tubeless tires. I decided to go with Bontrager and ordered wheels and tires through my LBS.
On July 1, 2014 I put my new Bontrager RXL wheels and Bontrager 25c tires on my Silvio 1.0 replacing Mavic Ksyrium wheels and Vittoria Rubino Pro tires .
There was no transition at all with the new setup. With pressure at 80 psi a smoother ride on chip seal was evident compared to 105 psi with the Vittorias
With these new wheels and tires I put an additional 688miles on the Silvio before cannibalizing it to set up my V20. I now have ridden 1518 miles on the V since last December.
So far I have had no flat tires. However those particular Bontrager tires were a problem. They did not hold air pressure well. A loss of 10 psi in 24 hours was not unusual. When parked the tires would weep sealant through the sidewalls leaving very small white puddles on the rubber. Dismounting the tires and coating the inner wall with sealant and letting it dry before remounting did not resolve the problem.
Last July I replaced the tires with "22/25c" Roubaix Enderant tires. They hold air better, ride even better, seem faster. Maybe its the V20!
No, no going back for me.
On July 1, 2014 I put my new Bontrager RXL wheels and Bontrager 25c tires on my Silvio 1.0 replacing Mavic Ksyrium wheels and Vittoria Rubino Pro tires .
There was no transition at all with the new setup. With pressure at 80 psi a smoother ride on chip seal was evident compared to 105 psi with the Vittorias
With these new wheels and tires I put an additional 688miles on the Silvio before cannibalizing it to set up my V20. I now have ridden 1518 miles on the V since last December.
So far I have had no flat tires. However those particular Bontrager tires were a problem. They did not hold air pressure well. A loss of 10 psi in 24 hours was not unusual. When parked the tires would weep sealant through the sidewalls leaving very small white puddles on the rubber. Dismounting the tires and coating the inner wall with sealant and letting it dry before remounting did not resolve the problem.
Last July I replaced the tires with "22/25c" Roubaix Enderant tires. They hold air better, ride even better, seem faster. Maybe its the V20!
No, no going back for me.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Maybe we should create a dedicated thread to the tubeless topic it seems we have few more people that have been getting the experience and we might be able to make it easier for other people to get started. Example Bruces Bontrager experience mirror one set of B's that I had but not the other 3 sets. I solved the wheaping problem using dawn dishsoap added to the sealant of the troublesome wheel set, I'm guessing that might have been useful to him; turn out there was a know bad design in one series of the tires; and the Internet came to the rescue.
trplay
Zen MBB Master
There is a lot of negative stuff on the internet regarding Tubeless. Much of this is from folks who have never tried them and simply parrot info they have heard from elsewhere. It is a lot like the things you hear about FWD Cruzbikes. I cringe when I hear well known recumbent riders who will tell you Cruzbikes are dangerous. Hopefully, we Cruzbike riders are more open minded and are more willing to try new developments before jumping to conclusions. You also find people who have tried tubeless and either had problems or just didn't like them. The problems are usually mounting them and holding air. I can't attest to any tires and wheels except the ones I used but have found the following seem to work without any more hassles than a tradition tire and tube:
1 If using tape use a minimum of two wraps and make sure all air bubbles are removed.
2. Use soapy water on rim and tire, it makes a big difference.
3. Make sure you hear popping sound of tire bead to rim when inflating.
4. Take bike for long ride right after mounting to seal rim. (important)
Once my tires are sealed they hold air much longer than the traditional tire and tube, even the ones using Schwalbe tubes which I believe is the best tube for holding air.
1 If using tape use a minimum of two wraps and make sure all air bubbles are removed.
2. Use soapy water on rim and tire, it makes a big difference.
3. Make sure you hear popping sound of tire bead to rim when inflating.
4. Take bike for long ride right after mounting to seal rim. (important)
Once my tires are sealed they hold air much longer than the traditional tire and tube, even the ones using Schwalbe tubes which I believe is the best tube for holding air.
DuncanWatson
Well-Known Member
I am on the fence vs tubeless and conti gp 4000 IIs with latex tubes. I just don't know enough, I am going to try the latex tubes first since it has lower incremental cost for me but so curious about tubeless.
