new wheels - tubeless or tubular?

[Deleted]

Not for me (I'm far too rubbish to warrant any such nonsense. In fact I should probably ride solid tires) but for Fred, my teenage son. He wants new wheels for his cross bike. To be fair the ones that came with it are an absolute disgrace - heavy, impossible to hold true...

Thoughts? I can get chinese carbon tubulars or nice hand-built ali tubeless or tubular for similar prices. I've glued my own tubs for track and road so that's not very scary. I've never dabbled with tubeless at all.

[James Malone]

For me, if you are only gonna have 1 set of racing wheels go tubeless as changing tyres for different conditions will be easier. If you will have more than one set of race wheels then go tubular.

[mick vance]

having seen the 'tubeless' crowd riding off road, I don't think I would ever switch to it for cx - what a mess! have you considered latex tubes? these are a great way to get the tubular feel without the glue.

[Deleted]

I actually don't mind glueing tubs...there are worse jobs.

I don't really want to faff about changing tires for conditions anyway so would go for an all-rounder and tell him to live with it when it's very dry or very sloppy.

I'm leaning towards tubs. tubeless seems strange and slightly frightening to me....it'll be handbuilt with Mavic reflex or Ambrosio Nemesis. Nothing fancy...or cheap chinese carbon although they aren't that much lighter and build quality is an unknown

[david emery]

I dont race cross, but cant understand why an amateur would choose tubular for cross versus tubeless, especially if running one wheelset.

Nearly all of the world cup MTB riders will be on tubeless, running low pressure perhaps 1.4 or 1.5 bar. A latex tube wouldn't last a couple of minutes at that pressure.

Surely if it's good enough for the demands of World Cup XC and DH, it would work for cross. It's also much easier to change tyres.

As for a mess, if you're unfortunate to puncture and sealant squirts out, fair enough. However, it's likely the sealant will fix the puncture and you can carry on.

If Mick means the riding's a mess, surely that's a skill thing not a tyre selection?!

I've ran tubeless on the road and MTB on and off for years. It's a no brainer on the MTB. Marginal on the road bike

[mick vance]

The difference to MTB is the pressure that cx tyres are run at. This means burps are common and yes, when you get a unsealable puncture, you've got to put a tube in anyway which is a mess (not that that is a deciding factor in a race). Latex inner tubes are more supple than butyl and ride a bit like a tub, so the feel is good.

Cost ~ £8 per tube and 50g rotating mass weight saving FTW!

[david emery]

www.cxmagazine.com/going-tubeless-cyclocross-tires-racing-recommendations

food for though. recommends running tubless at similar pressures to mtb to avoid burps - eg 25-30psi on the fattest cx you can get that's a tight fit. covers the negatives too

ps latex all the way on the TT rig and best road bike, until tubless rear disc become affordable!

[Deleted]

Chris, My first CX season was ruined by pinch flats from inners. For proper grip cross tyres need to be run supple enough but the London X League courses have too many hidden tree roots so it's risky at <40psi.

I went tubeless after and they've been brilliant. 25-30psi with no burping and no danger of pinch flats. Much easier to mount than tubs with the only disadvantage in a race is they'll be harder to ride around to the pits if the tyre was slashed.
Plus the tyres are cheaper than tubs by a significant margin.

[Deleted]

I've got clinchers and got a few pinches recently so looking at doing a tubeless conversion, but a little scared that I'll mess it up. Has anyone done one and got advice, or know a shop that could help me out - my local won't do it?

Apologies for somewhat change the thread topic

[david emery]

have done on it on MTB wheels - extra wide stans tape, double layered. Gorilla tape can work as can a smaller innertube. Google Ghetto tubless ...

[Deleted]

Yes, easy to set up tubeless.
As David said, double layer of stans tape and follow YouTube videos to convert or setup a new pair of wheels. Have a bottle of soapy water and spray around the tyre bead edge which helps the tyre pop onto the rim much easier.

One golden rule I learnt through trial and error is when removing a tubeless tyre with levers is to never stick the lever in over a spoke hole. Otherwise you're in danger of puncturing the rim tape on the inside which means you'll never get the tyre inflated again.

[Deleted]

Cheers Michael, I've also been told to get hold of a compressor if possible .... is this people just being pedantic ?

[Charliecod]

Chris - go tubeless - it's a no brainer, just get some decent tyres and you'll be set for the season.

Mick is correct - they're not infallible but in the skills sessions and training rides I have led, it is almost always those with inner tubes that are faffing about in the freezing mud desperately to fixing another pinch while others wait patiently shivering......

[James Malone]

Sept 1, 2017 16:37:41 GMT alexwindett said:

Cheers Michael, I've also been told to get hold of a compressor if possible .... is this people just being pedantic ?

A compressor does make it easier but if you have tubeless rims, have built the rim bed up with enough tape so the fit is super snug (I use 3 wraps of gorrilla tape) and have decent tubeless tyres you may be able to get the seated with a track pump. 

Alternatively you can use C02 to seat the tyres but that is obviously a bit wasteful. Personally as a tight arse I made my own inflator from a coke bottle and some valves from punctured tubes. Basically this singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p

[david emery]

No need for the extra expense of compressor, but a new style track pump - like Bontrager Flash. Lots more available now. They're essentially a fat chamber , that can release a large volume of air in a single hit. It's worked first time every time