Road Tubeless vs Tubeless Compatible

[Razors Edge ★]

Is there some nuance to consider with the new road tubeless vs tubeless compatible tires on the market? So the plain tubeless would not require any sealant once properly installed (they are "airtight") but traditional tubeless compatible would require sealant since they are fairly gas permeable until the sealant gets into all the tiny holes? 

Regular Conti GP 5000 tires vs Conti GP 5000 tubeless tires:

Seems like Conti is going "full" tubeless and that is sort of born out by the heavier tire weights (vs just the tire weight for the ones requiring tubes), but Heine thinks that means stiff and slow:

Of course, tubeless tires are nothing new. Car tires have been tubeless for decades, but translating that technology to much more flexible and lighter bicycle tires has not been easy. (We don’t want to ride on rubber that’s as stiff and heavy as car tires!) Modern bicycle tires fall into two groups:

• ‘Tubeless’ tires are covered with a rubber membrane – basically an inner tube is permanently vulcanized into the tire. These tires are airtight. You can just install them, and run them without inner tubes. However, the extra rubber makes them relatively stiff and slow.
• ‘Tubeless-compatible’ tires are not airtight, and they roll as fast as conventional tires. Their bead has been designed for tubeless installation, so you can run them tubeless – but they require sealant to make the casing air-tight and to seal the tire against the rim. The sealant also will seal small punctures that otherwise would cause a flat. Most Rene Herse tires are ‘tubeless-compatible.’

I gotta say, the Conti's recommended PSI at a low of 65 still seems pretty high for a 32!  I run 80 or less into my 25 and 28 front tires routinely, so a 10-15 PSI reduction with tubeless seems surprisingly little. 

[donkpow]

On 2/21/2019 at 3:25 PM, Razors Edge said:

I gotta say, the Conti's recommended PSI at a low of 65 still seems pretty high for a 32!  I run 80 or less into my 25 and 28 front tires routinely, so a 10-15 PSI reduction with tubeless seems surprisingly little. 

I imagine it has to do with what comes out of the engineering department. Still, there's no reason that a tire running at 65 psi shouldn't have similar characteristics to another tire running lower pressure.

[ChrisL]

On 2/21/2019 at 12:25 PM, Razors Edge said:

Is there some nuance to consider with the new road tubeless vs tubeless compatible tires on the market? So the plain tubeless would not require any sealant once properly installed (they are "airtight") but traditional tubeless compatible would require sealant since they are fairly gas permeable until the sealant gets into all the tiny holes? 

Regular Conti GP 5000 tires vs Conti GP 5000 tubeless tires:

Seems like Conti is going "full" tubeless and that is sort of born out by the heavier tire weights (vs just the tire weight for the ones requiring tubes), but Heine thinks that means stiff and slow:

Of course, tubeless tires are nothing new. Car tires have been tubeless for decades, but translating that technology to much more flexible and lighter bicycle tires has not been easy. (We don’t want to ride on rubber that’s as stiff and heavy as car tires!) Modern bicycle tires fall into two groups:

• ‘Tubeless’ tires are covered with a rubber membrane – basically an inner tube is permanently vulcanized into the tire. These tires are airtight. You can just install them, and run them without inner tubes. However, the extra rubber makes them relatively stiff and slow.
• ‘Tubeless-compatible’ tires are not airtight, and they roll as fast as conventional tires. Their bead has been designed for tubeless installation, so you can run them tubeless – but they require sealant to make the casing air-tight and to seal the tire against the rim. The sealant also will seal small punctures that otherwise would cause a flat. Most Rene Herse tires are ‘tubeless-compatible.’

I gotta say, the Conti's recommended PSI at a low of 65 still seems pretty high for a 32!  I run 80 or less into my 25 and 28 front tires routinely, so a 10-15 PSI reduction with tubeless seems surprisingly little. 

I haven’t fillowed tubeless in the road market much but am looking into a tubeless wheelset for my new crosser.  I believe tubeless tires also have a reinforced side wall as there is no tube to add internal strength when cornering.  

I believe you still want to run sealant tho for the puncture resistance value.   Most mtn wheelsets & tires are tubeless now and sealant is always put in them.