Mountain Biking - Why aren't...

All tires compatible with tubeless? They mount on the rim essentially in the same manner. So is it possible to use a tubed tired in a tubeless manner? Someone once said on here that all Michelin's tires were UST compatible.. any truth to this?

My guess is that the beads are designed differently, in that the UST seals air.

So if you use Stan's tubeless conversion, can you use regular tubed tires in a tubeless manner?

Yeah

It might actually be worth the few dollars just to have more tire selection, and cheaper tires. Because tubeless tires are not only rediculously expensive, but there aren't too many good selections out there.

What are the advantages of tubeless tires anyway?

Reduced likelyhood of pinch flats.

By the way.. if anyone knows of a good online retailer for UST tires, let a brotha know! I've seen all the mainstream ones.. pricepoint, cambria, jenson, supergo.... but still none of them have as good of a selection as I'd like.

Tubeless tires roll faster, reduce the amount of total flats especially if you're running sealant, and when they do leak, they leak slowly, they ride softer and plusher, and you can basically run whatever pressure you like. I love em.. I'm just hoping they'll make more tubeless tires for cheaper.

Cheers :) Nice to know this stuff..

Shimano owns the UST movement...It's a conspiracy I tell you!!

;)

Stan's no-tubes is pretty cool.

Originally posted by sha-sha
Shimano owns the UST movement...It's a conspiracy I tell you!!

;)


SAY IT AINT SO!



:D

Originally posted by Jim311
Tubeless tires roll faster, reduce the amount of total flats especially if you're running sealant, and when they do leak, they leak slowly, they ride softer and plusher, and you can basically run whatever pressure you like. I love em.. I'm just hoping they'll make more tubeless tires for cheaper.

Why do they roll faster?

"Why do they roll faster?"

Supposedly, because there is no friction between the tube and tire. Whatever difference there is, it's GOT to be minimal. I run both and I can't tell a difference.

The main reason I like UST is because it's less hassle. And I'm always trying to buy the latest thing.


Yeah, I know.

I actually felt a big difference in rolling resistance... about 1-2 mph on the street, definitely noticeable, especially on hardpacked terrain.

Ok...now I am curious...are they harder than a typical tube setup. I run around 30psi front and 34 back which is REALLY soft for a 260 pound man. Would it feel the same with tubeless or would it feel harder?

Originally posted by Jim311
By the way.. if anyone knows of a good online retailer for UST tires, let a brotha know! I've seen all the mainstream ones.. pricepoint, cambria, jenson, supergo.... but still none of them have as good of a selection as I'd like.

I've been hearing good things about the Conti Vertical Pro. But everywhere I checked they were 61.99 ea. No way. Found them at 123bikes.com for 36.99. Just ordered two yesterday. They seem to have a large selection of tires, but I didn't look at all the UST's.

maelstrom, IME the tyre will feel harder ie as if it had more pressure in it.
This is because the casing is more elastic without a tube in it so it reacts faster. This elasticity reduces the rolling resistance, hence you can run lower pressure for a bigger contact patch so more knobs hookup with the ground for a similar rolling resistance as a tubed tyre with higher pressure with the only exceptionbeing you would not have as much traction.
This is the secret of tubeless.

Thanx Tim. Thats the one thing I haven't been able to test ride. I will have to see if I can find someone with a tubeless setup to see how it feels on drops and stuff. Traction is always a big issue here :)

I was honestly amazed at how well the tires ride, and how durable they've been. I've heard things about Michelin's having a soft compound, and others saying tubeless wasn't reliable, hard to patch, blah blah blah. I've had NO problems with mounting (I use levers, but I'm careful) and generally they've been maintenance free. They hold air very well, too. I think it's the newest wave, and that eventually it will catch on for the downhill crew because of it's resistance to pinch flats... as soon as a wider range of tires and UST wheels (Right now the only UST wheel is the Deemax by Mavic for the downhillers I believe) gets on the market. Just a matter of time until tubes are a thing of the past.

You can keep your tubeless tires.:D

:rolleyes:

Originally posted by danka24
You can keep your tubeless tires.
Danka Danka. I think I will. And another thing about tubeless wheels; If you want to you can still mount regular tires and tubes on them.
I ride with a guy who rides tubed tires. We've stopped to fix several flats on his over the years. Fixed a pinch flat earlier this week. Never had to stop for my tubeless yet. :)

Can you get tubeless for road bikes?

Brendon

It's only a matter of time. I think that's next for Mavic... I think the problem will be the high pressure.

Yes they are called tubulars NzLcyclist :) Basicaly a tube is sewn in to the tire. There was a big discussion on this a short bit ago.

it is possible to set up any rim and any tyre to be tubeless using a bmx tube and whatnot. many dhillers will use a setup like that to reduce rotational weight. if you guys want i can give as best of a description as i can as to how to set it up.

peace

Originally posted by danka24
You can keep your tubeless tires.

Sorry words came out wrong. should have put a :D in it.

Danka can we keep yours too???

SShock4, it is not possible to reliable seal any road rim for use for tubeless. the high pressure combined with unreliable spoke hole sealing is the reason.
Mavic's FORE technology rims ie Ksyrium are the only ones which can be sealed reliably.

You can, but I don't use tubeless tires.

Tubeless is da bomb. You're missing out man!

Originally posted by Jim311
Tubeless is da bomb. You're missing out man!

Actually I've been thinking about getting the stan's no tubes for my Atom Labs wheels. I refuse to go back to Mavic.

Whn I start getting lots of flats I will consider it. But 3 flats in 2 years isn't much.

Originally posted by danka24
Actually I've been thinking about getting the stan's no tubes for my Atom Labs wheels. I refuse to go back to Mavic.



I think that it's honestly the best invention for downhillers and freeriders because they get pinch flats pretty often. I was surprised that it hit the XC scene before you freeriding types.

Originally posted by Jim311
I think that it's honestly the best invention for downhillers and freeriders because they get pinch flats pretty often. I was surprised that it hit the XC scene before you freeriding types.

I think it has to do with the size of tires. I and my friends don't flat as much as our xc friends. Our tires tend to be thicker sidewall and wider so pinch flatting happens less. At least from my experience.

Yeah, but reguardless of how thick your tires are, bombing through nasty rock gardens is hard on a tire.


:)



I saw some footage once of an INSANE rock garden.. my God.. I have no idea how he made it through without blasting his bike and his tires apart.

Like I said Jim, I am pretty rough (many many rock gardens and I weight a buttload) and I have had very very few flats. I am sure that has to do with my lack of concern with weight and heavy duty sidewall ;) One of them was a spoke ribbon moving over and popping the tire internally and the other two were actual flats. I have never seen a snake bite style flat before though. The real bonus is I have never had a blow out (knock on wood). I could feel the air leaving and was able to finish my ride and get home before total flatage :)

I love watching skilled riders flow through rock gardens. It is definately one of the most impressive high speed skills.

That's Maelstrom, Tubeless was tested by Downhils firt but it was the XC racing crowd who grabbed it with both hands. thin walled narrow Xc tyres are susceptible to pich flats, Tubeless solved that problem. DownHillers did'nt quite seee the benefit so easily but many guys at the Fort William World Cup were using Tubeless, both DH, 4X and XC.

Nup mate, you can not use a normal tyre.
They have to be a special tyre which has a seal on the tyre wall, and are twice as expensive as normal tyres.

Before you get jumped on, let me just say, this thread is a couple of years old and no one that posted in it is left around besides a couple. :)...