Originally Posted by
ColinL
weight savings? no way... I thought so too, and then researched it. ... the fusion3 is the tire everyone ought to be on, which is 312g.
you will easily add 30g of sealant ... grand total is 342g if your wheels are UST / roadtubeless ready. if not then you have to install two layers of the stans rim tape and add that.
a conti GP 4000S, very comparable tire to the fusion 3, is 205g. ultralight tube is 75g. grand total is 280g ... mr tuffy ultralight liners ... still only 310g to the road tubeless 342g+.
Fusion 3's are 290g--not 312g. But even accepting your 342g calculation, we're still talking about 30-60g difference. That's not much for what you get in return: better ride quality, less rolling resistance, great handling, no pinch flats, and you hardly ever flat. I've been on Fusions for 2+ years now. One flat in roughly 11K miles. While rounding a curve, the rear tire hit a sharp rock which punctured the sidewall. Such a puncture would have caused an instant tube flat. I rode about a mile before I noticed the tire was low. Put a tube in, and went on.
Originally Posted by
Hiro11
First of all: mounting these things is a huge pain in the ass. They are ridiculously tight and levering them on (something I hate doing) was absolutely necessary. I've changed many, many tires in my day and I spent a few hours getting the damned thing on. I can never, ever imagine having to tube-up on the side of the road with these things.
There is a technique that works. I've done every one of my tire changes by hand. Yes, it takes some learning. Yes, it's more difficult than
some tubed clinchers. No, it's not necessary to use levers. I never have. Gets easier every time I install a new tire.
Originally Posted by
Hiro11
Secondly the sealant is a bit messy...
This is somewhat true. Also gets easier to avoid mess with successive tire changes.
Originally Posted by
Hiro11
Thirdly inflating the things initially is a bit tricky. You either have to use a compressor or you get lucky with a floor pump and get them to inflate. Once the bead seats, you're good but it can be tricky to get them to do so.
Wrong. You gotta follow the directions. It's only tricky if 1) you don't use soapy water around the entire bead, and 2) if there is some kind of trash on the rim that interferes with the seal. It ain't rocket science. Yes, I've had the above problems. But you sit there and figure it out, and then you know why. As before, it gets easier with successive....
Originally Posted by
Hiro11
Lastly (probably unique to me) after all of this hassle, the GD sidewall on one of the tires leaked air. Not the bead which seated well, the actual sidewall. Soaping up the side showed about a foot of bubbles hissing out of the sidewall. the sealant did nothing to stop the leakage. So then I had to reverse the entire process and splash sealant everywhere getting the tires off.
Newbie error? The sealant will easily seal any small leaks. I had a small leak in my first brand new road tubeless tire. Sealant worked perfectly. Watch the Stan's video in this thread...those were some big punctures.