Message #19366

[jim-ratliff]

It seems that most reviews on road bike tubeless are equally enamored of the superior ride.
However, apparently development of tubeless tires is considerably more challenging on road bikes due to the higher pressures.  Hutchinson developed a carbon fiber bead for their tubeless road bike tires because the Aramid beads stretched too much at road bike pressures and would blow off.  Not as much of a problem for Mountain Bikes, but may explain why Bushwacka was saying not to run high pressures with ghetto tubeless for fear of blowing the tire off the rim.


In a 2006 article Hutchinson recommended their "StickAir bead lubricant" for mounting, and also recommends against the use of latex based sealants.


Hutchinson recommends 90-95 psi road bike pressures, and said that their tires behave much more like automobile tires, that even with a puncture it results in a slow leak and you can often still finish the ride.