Long story about Tubeless Carbon Clinchers
 

**Pictures Added to post #19 *** I have been riding my bike with a set of Ultegra wheels tubeless for quite some time and have worn through two sets of Fusion 3's and a set of Schwalbe One's with no flats and what I believe to be a better ride on my Caad10 so I'm a believer in Road Tubeless but a few months back I got the itch to buy a new set of wheels to improve both the ride characteristics and appearance of my bike and chose a set of the new Reynolds Assault "Tubeless" Carbon Clinches, this after doing research online and test riding a pair at my lbs.

Upon bringing the new set home I attempted to install the tubeless valve stems, the front was no problem but the back wouldn't go in all the way and found that there was some leftover carbon shavings from drilling the hole at the factory so I blew it all out with compressed air, lubed it up, and snugged the nut down until it finally went in. I then dismounted my Schwalbe One's from my Ultegra wheels cleaned all of the old sealant from inside and beads of both tires and mounted them to the assaults with hardly any effort which was a pleasant surprise compared to the snug fit of the Ultegra's. I used my compressor to pump them up to 100psi and they lost pressure within about 20 seconds all the way down to zero. I was a bit discouraged at this point because with the Ultegra wheels I could and have run them without sealant and they'll hold pressure for weeks but figured these carbon wheels must need sealant to complete the installation and put 2oz in each wheel, spun them around, and they seemed to be holding. At this point it was late so I inflated them both to 100 psi and went to bed excited to ride on them the next day.

I woke up and they were both down to about 40/50psi so I spun them around to get the sealant working and pumped them up to 90psi front and 100psi rear which is what I like with the Ultegra wheels and headed out for a ride which was one of the best I'd been on in some time, don't know if it was the old placebo effect or what but the bike just felt great. Upon my next ride 4 days later I went out late in the afternoon which I never do but I was still excited about the last ride and took the opportunity to go out again but got a flat quite a ways from home and being a bit cocky from riding tubeless and no flats for almost two years didn't have my saddle bag under the seat. I walked the bike a mile or so to a nearby station along our local mup and found a guy with a pump and attempted to find the cut in the tire but neither one of us could figure it out so I called for a ride.

Upon getting home I used compressed air to pump up the tire and found it was actually leaking from the valve stem and a result of me over tightening the stem causing it to pull through the rim, I had to contact Reynolds for the correct valve stems due to the rim depth and inside shape which they sent right out, after I replaced the stem and mounted the tire I found that it was leaking down faster even with sealant plus my front wheel was flat again so I started investigating where the air was leaking and found that both wheels have an uneven seam that is a result of the manufacturing process on the opposite side of the rim from the stem that will not allow the factory installed rim tape to seal. The air escapes through the seam, under the tape, and into a spoke hole located right next to the seam, then into the rim cavity, and finally out at the point of least resistance which is around the valve stem nut/o-ring. At this point I contacted Reynolds again, voiced my concerns and sent them in for inspection where they found them to have a manufacturing defect that they've never seen before and sent me a replacement wheelset which I received today.

Upon opening the box they came with everything a new set comes with and pulled the wheels out only to find the same uneven seam on this set and I believe to be a bit more defined. Discouraged but hopeful I mounted a brand new Fusion 3 on the rear rim, inflated it to 100 psi, and it was leaking fast. I sprayed it with soapy water and sure enough the air was only leaking from around the stem and you can actually hear air leaking into the rim cavity opposite the stem but spray the outside and no bubbles. My question is this, sure the leak may seal up with enough goop but how much? The 40mm deep hollow rim cavity can probably hold a quart or so and one could assume the performance capabilities of these wheels would be greatly diminished with all of that sealant sloshing around in there too. I was frustrated and contacted Reynolds again only to hear that they can't believe that I'm having the same problem and I should send the wheels back in but this time with my tires so they can properly set them up for me. Are you ******* kidding me? I believe I know how install a stem and mount a tire. Do they expect me to pay $90.00 to ship them to Utah every time I get a flat or wear out a tire? I don't think so!

Sorry for the long rant but I'm a bit frustrated with the product and my decision to purchase them in the first place. I also hope this will give anyone considering the new "Tubeless" Reynolds lineup pause and consider something else if tubeless is a main consideration for their wheel purchase as it was for me. At this point I'm thinking they'll ride pretty well with std clinchers so maybe I'll just pick up a set and ride them that way, contact Reynolds again and see how it goes, or possibly sell them to get something different?

wow

Get your money back one way or another. Buy a decent set of wheels.

Maybe a record?

One word: Paragraphs

Do I get a prize?

Sorry, I was just typing like a mad man.

my friend purchased a set of Reynolds wheels last summer. he rode on them 3 times and the rear one was pretty warped, to the point that it hit the brake pad warped. so he brought them to the LBS that got him the wheels and the mechanic tried to straighten the wheel, but the spokes were so inconsistent with tension that no matter what he tried it was just a no win situation. so the LBS called Reynolds and they sent them back to get repaired, and got them back with the rear wheel straight and all of the spokes were tightened. sure enough, a month or two later the same exact thing happened to the front wheel with the same exact result. after this experience with Reynolds wheels, neither him nor i would ever use them again. i use the same Ultegra 6800 wheelset that the OP uses, and while i went back to using tubes after using them tubeless last season, it will take a lot for me to switch those wheels. and if i was, i definitely wouldn't get a set of Reynolds wheels after my friends experience with them...

Wall o' text crits 41 for 653 damage...

Yeah, just get your money back. I had a similar issue when I tried to use non-Shimano valve stems on my C24s, the rim dip is the wrong shape for the stem base, and I couldn't get a good seal. Works fine with Shimano stems, unfortunately, those don't have removable cores....grr...

yes

No problem. I'm old and have sore eyes. ;)

Scrolled down to here looking for Cliff's

-OP has experience with tubeless tires/rims and likes them.
-got new set of carbon tubeless rims that won't seal and hook looks out of spec
-got rims replaced but new one(s) have same problem.
-Should he get different rims?

I'd say, yes.

Not a great idea but could you sand the seam flat and give it one last try? You should not be expected to do this, they're tubeless wheels, but if you found out that you could get a proper seal, it would fulfill your wishes and if NG, then you still have the return option.

I'm still trying to catch my breath after reading the OP.

The answer is no, if you like the wheels, just run them as regular tube/tire clinchers. Unless the shop will take them as returns, he's got lose some pretty good money on them.

Possibly relevant: I have been on Stans 340s running tubeless for about 8K miles. Recently the front end has begun to shuddering under hard braking. It is progressively getting worse. All the usual suspects have been dismissed (headset, brake pads, brake surface, tire, etc.). The wear dimples are still visible on the rim. After hemming and hawing, I have decided to rebuild with a new 340 rim. The rear has not been a problem. I am thinking (as is the LBS) that maybe there is some defect or severe thinning of the rim wall that is causing this. It is not visible and the wheel is absolutely true.

My plan is to run these for about another year before I go to a deeper carbon tubeless setup.

That idea has crossed my mind and I'm almost certain that filling the void with epoxy then sanding it smooth would solve the problem but would I then be voiding my warranty with Reynolds? I could contact them and get written approval before I proceed and have them send me some rim tape? Good Idea!

Again, sorry about the long post, it was more of a frustrated rant after receiving the second set of wheels and realizing that they did absolutely nothing for me. I do however like the wheels, they look great, ride awesome, braking is up there with my Ultegra's, and the quality is there but missed a finishing touch to make them perfect. As far as returning them to the shop, I don't think I'd even ask? I do plan to ride by there this weekend to voice my opinion of the product and tell them what has taken place with concern to Reynolds and if they offer to help me out great, if not I understand. Right now I have a brand new set of wheels sitting here in the box so this is probably the only time I would consider returning them.

Just wanted to give you guys a visual of what I'm talking about. Look closely at the obvious seam and how far it runs up the rim from the spoke hole toward the bead hook. When the rim tape is installed, the seam is still exposed, there's no way it can seal especially with high inflation pressure. Just think, every time I add sealant and "attempt" to seal the rim it all goes down that hole leaving the tire defenseless to a common puncture and also where the air is traveling so when I inflate the tire I'm also inflating the rim. But there's NO Problem? This photo was taken of my first set of wheels just after peeling off the rim tape and you can just make out the still wet sealant and where it was going.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...psygn0wxto.jpghttp://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...psssftuxfa.jpg

Get your money back, obvious manufacturing defect.

Thanks for the feedback but not sure how its relevant to my situation? As far as yours goes, I had a similar shudder with my Ultegra's and it was some kind of greasy road grime that got on my brake track and pads. I cleaned the brake track with an sos pad and lightly sanded the pads and all has been well ever since. May not help but thought to mention it.

According to Reynolds, after seeing this picture e-mailed to them and visually inspecting my 1st set of wheels they said "we passed your wheels around to everyone in or service department and we've never seen this issue before and don't have a fix so we're sending you out another set so you're not without them for a long period of time". While I appreciate the new set of wheels, they too are just like the first. There's no way possible that I'm the only one having this problem, NO WAY!

God, that's an awful and obvious defect. Shame on Reynolds!

Sell the rims. Go to tubular. Better end result, less hassle, lighter.

J.

OP, I wouldn't be surprised if that defect would attack tubes and cause flats in them as well. I still don't understand why you simply don't return the wheels for a refund. This is not your problem, yet you are accepting it. This is between the shop and Reynolds. You properly should have nothing to do with it.