|   tubless | choices
Dec 11, 2003 2:35 PM | | when i got my bike they came with tubless tires. now i have two questions one should i stay with the tubless and 2nd is there a special tool i ahve to have to put air in the tires cause i had trouble getting air in one my tires
thanks for your help |
| re: tubless | FreeRangeChicken
Dec 11, 2003 2:50 PM | | Might as well stick with them and give them a try. A lot of people llike them, some don't. They are usually lighter than a tubed tire setup and more resistant to pinch flats. A friend of mine switched to tubeless this year because he couldn't finish a race without 2-3 pinch flats per race with tubed tires. He loves his tubeless setup.
As far as a special tool, you'll probably need a compressed air tire inflator (not too expensive and air up your tires really fast). I hear it's nearly impossible to seat the bead and get air into tubeless tire initially with a pump. Personally , I'd carry a small pump too.
FRC |
| BUILDING A VOCABULARY | CHOICES
Dec 12, 2003 3:32 AM | | WHAT IS A PINCH FLAT? |
| Pinch flat.... | FreeRangeChicken
Dec 12, 2003 7:49 AM | | A pinch flat occurs when you hit a rock or something hard and the tire gets compressed all the way down to the rim. The tube gets pinched between the rim and the hard object and pinches through the rubber. Sometimes this will happen on both sides of the rim. This is called a "snake bite" because you get a pair of holes(one caused by each side of the rim) that resemble a snake bite. Tubeless tires don't have the relatively weak tube to get pinched like this, they use the tire casing to hold air, which is very tough compared to an innertube. I would say that 75% of the flats I've had were pinch flats. More aggressive riding tends to lead to more pinch flats. Tubeless tires should virtually eliminate pinch flats.
The other type of flat that typically occurs is a puncture flat. This, obviously, is cause by something puncturing the tube (or tire casing on a tubeless setup)..... glass, thorn, etc. Tubeless tires don't protect you from these, so you need to learn how to patch/repair your tubeless tires.
FRC |
| what kind of rims? | laffeaux
Dec 11, 2003 8:33 PM | | I have Mavic x3.1 rims (UST) and you don't need an special tools to inflate them. You do need to be sure that the tire is completely inside the lower inner "canal" portion of the rim before you add air. I've not filled it with a trail-side pump, but I have used a standard floor pump, and it works fine.
As far as tires go, I've only usd Hutchinson Pythons (of the tubeless variety) and can't say that I liked them much. Nothing wrong with the tubeless portion of the tire, but they don't hook up well where I live.
With UST rims you can use tubless or tubed tires. I mostly use tubed tires because I have extras lying around. I think that finding a tread pattern that works is more important than if you have a tube or not. |
| what kind of rims? | CHOICES
Dec 12, 2003 3:38 AM | | I HAVE UST TUBLESS. IM NOT SURE WHAT SIZE THE RIM IS THOUGH. I THINK I FIGURED OUT HOW TO AIR IN THE TIRER IT JUST TOOK A LITTLE AJUSTING |
| re: tubeless | john beardslee
Dec 14, 2003 7:36 AM | | I just got a set of UST tubeless and I had no problem pumping them up with a hand pump, BUT I also added some of Stan's no tubes (www.notubes.com) before I tried to put them on. I haven't had too much time to test them, but I did a lot of reading and talking to people and here's what I have discovered. Pros: run lower air pressure(better grip, softer ride), lighter (less rotating mass), better made tire. Cons: more expensive (tires and rims), more prone to puncturing, not as many tire choices, difficult to install and set the bead (inflate).
One last word of advice, always keep a spare tube with you when you ride, because you can use it in a pinch in case you flat the tubeless. Also, check out the reviews under tubeless tires for Stan's No Tubes and you will see why so many people use it.
Good luck |
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