FIVE ONE SIX

chad, i'll reply to comment that you deleted, cause it seems that you're a little misinformed...

you say that Stans is $3 for a small bottle, and you're right, but you should know that you can't use Stan's with the Shimano wheels because of what it contains. so OrangeSeal would be first choice for those wheels, and on Amazon the smallest bottle usually sells for around $10, which is also what it will cost if you get it at a LBS. so i'm not exaggerating the $10 at all for sealant, at least not for the OP using Shimano wheels...

how don't my valve stem comments make sense?! if you ever used sealant with a Shimano wheel, you'll know that the original valves that come on those wheels are garbage for two reasons. first, they don't have removable cores, which makes setting the beads more difficult (translation, it'll usually take a bit longer) cause sometimes you can't get enough air pressure through the valve with the core in it to set the beads. second, they will just get clogged with sealant, every single time. mine took about 6 weeks, and every time i put air in the tire (with the valve at 12:00 of course) after it eventually got clogged it would lose air while i was threading the valve closed until it was as tight as possible. this is why everyone that uses Shimano wheels for tubeless tires changes the valves, cause anyone that runs tubeless and know about it will tell you that Stan's valves are the best valves for it, so spending $15 or so is a no-brainer...

and as far as the "As for LBS tire costs, if you're concerned about controlling costs, why would you buy tires there?" comment goes, it's because i've known the owner and the mechanic that built my current bike for over 10 years, and i like to support them whenever i can. they had the tires in the shop, so i got them there. here's a little fyi, you can search the internet to try to save as much money on parts all day long, but when you're in a bind and you need your bike looked at or fixed in a pinch the internet isn't going to stop what it's doing to help you. the mechanic at the LBS that you support will, however...

and as far as tubeless being the "ability to enhance grip, increase comfort, reduce rolling resistance, eliminate pinch flats, eliminate sudden flatting from punctures, and reduce likelihood of flats overall" comment goes, right now i'm running a set of S-Works Turbo 700x24's with Bontrager X-Lite tubes on a set of Ultegra 6800 wheels and i can say for a fact that they grip BETTER than the IRC's, and are just as comfortable as the IRC's were when i used them. and as far as pinch flats go, coat the new tube with baby powder before you put it in and if you're careful you will never experience one...

and that's it, have a nice day...

rbrsddn

If you don't want to run tubeless, fine. But don't make stuff up, to try and dissuade people from trying it.

JamesInSJ

My Hutchinson Intensive tubeless (not Intensive 2) arrived from PBK in time for me to mount them to my DA C24 on Saturday morning and see how they would hold air using the included Shimano valves and NO sealant. Tires mounted relatively easily to both wheels, probably a little tougher getting it around the front then the rear, and not much different than a tight clincher. No tools required.

I got the beading just right on the front...immediately starting holding air as I pumped with my floor pump, and the bead popped into place as I got it up to 50-70psi. Took it right up to 115psi (listed max) and left it there. Rear was a little tougher to get to hold air...had to find just the right points to pull at the tire a little with one hand while pumping with the other. Once I got a little pressure holding, that was enough, and it pumped right up. Left both tires overnight (~20 hours total) before measuring on Sunday morning and deciding to ride. Front dropped about 5psi, rear 10psi.

Set pressures to about 90psi on the front, 100psi on the rear, based on my floor pump gauge, and you lose just a tad when pulling off the connector. Went out for 50 miles and enjoyed the ride. Given it was my first ride on the C24s, as well as my first time on tubeless, I can't give a perfect clincher vs. tubeless comparison, but I can compare with my experience running Vuelta Corsa Lite (nice, stiff wheel, semi-aero, no deflection, pretty lightweight) and various tires. Even compared with running the Vueltas with Lithion 2 or Pro4 Service Course tires, the Intensive's were just all around smoother. The 700x25 Lithion 2s measure about 27mm at the widest, Pro4 SC about 26, and Intensive Tubeless only 24.5mm. A little disappointed but not bad. After the ride, I popped my digital gauge on each tire and saw 85psi on the front, 95 psi on the rear. Not bad...there is enough margin for error in popping off the pump connector and difference in the gauges that it's possible I didn't lose much or any air on the ride.

Overall impression with tubeless was that it made good roads -> immaculate, ok roads -> good, and bad roads just a little more tolerable. Granted, all of this could be just as much the C24 wheels themselves (carbon/aluminum, overall quality build, spokes, etc.) as benefits gained from running tubeless. Fresh out of the box, the tires seems to be grabbing and throwing little sand/rocks at my bike all the time. Probably a sticky coating. I also heard many "pings" coming from the wheels for at least the first 15-20 miles...probably the spokes settling in.

Long term, I'm not concerned about running tubeless without sealant for now, but perhaps carrying a small sealant on the road with me. However, the Shimano valves do not have removaable valve cores (stupid!) so that looks like a problem I'll need to correct. In the meantime, just carrying a tube with me like I usually do (along with a patch kit and a couple levers too) so I have the ability to handle a problem in should one occur in the meantime.

Those are my thoughts for now...hope they add some value.

beatlebee 

What is your weight? You can probably drop your tire pressure by 5-10 psi and get an even better ride.

JamesInSJ

I'm typically about 190lbs. Prior to these, I was running my 700x25 tires at 90 front, 105 rear without problems (note the actual measured width of 27mm on the front is probably why 90 has been working great on that tire). I figured 90/100 was a good starting point and would work down from there. Since my ride ended at 85/95, and I never felt like the ride was squishy, there is probably some room to lower that.