In my road racing days I was an early adopter of high pressure tubless tech. My results were at best mixed. I found that due to their more rigid side walls, road tubeless tires actually had a harsher ride, than good high end tubed clinchers with latex tubes. The only advantage I could see, was that with sealant, they were more resistant to punctures. If you did puncture or had a sealant failure however, fixing the flat on the road could be a nightmare. Particularly the Bontrager Tubeless tires and rims I was using. Almost impossible to get on, and get off. So with some trepidation, I decided to try the highly recommended Maxxis Rambler 40mm TR tires on my new HED Tomcat wheels which came with my Diamondback Haanjo Comp. Although the Tomcat's are not spec'd tubless, I was assured by Diamondback rep's, and others on this forum, that they could be set up using good tubeless rim tape. I chose Stan's 21 mm tape and Stan's valves for the project. I also chose Orange Seal Endurance sealant based on a positive review on Gravel Cyclist. Here are my results: - Taping and converting the wheels to tubeless was extremely easy. Just follow the videos on Stan's site. - Installing the tires was also fairly easy - no more difficult than installing any clincher. To get them to seat however, I had to use a compressor. - Installing 2 oz. of sealant was also very easy using a Stan's injector. Frankly, I coud have easily injected directly from the Orange Seal bottle. But the Stan's injector made it easy to measure 2 oz. BTW, I didn't even use the plunger on the injector. Just let the sealant run in using gravity. The final test -- how do the tires work? The answer, night and day compared to the stock tubed Kenda Happy Mediums that they replaced. I'm running the front at about 30 PSI, and the rear at about 35 PSI. They roll great on the packed dirt roads in my area, giving me a much smoother and more comfortable ride, and even seem to roll faster on smooth pavement. I can't really say how they will hold up in the long run, but so far, no issues. At least for gravel and dirt, tubeless is definitely the way to go! I'm glad I switched. Thanks to everyone here, and the boys from gravel cyclist for all the good advice and encouragement.
I've been riding the last couple days between rain storms on the gravel roads here near West Yellowstone. I'm using the Rambler tires. Near some summer homes, the stutter bumps are bad. I was using the same pressure - 30 psi front/ 35 psi rear and that area of stutter bumps was just hammering me. Today, I lowered the pressure to 28 psi front/ 32 psi rear. No problems yet and the ride was better. Speeds weren't high and I ran over a few rocks just to see how the tires responded at that pressure - no "tink" of metal rim hitting rock. My gear and I add probably 200 lbs to the bike. I'll probably experiment with even lower (slightly) pressures as the bad sections of stutter bumps are still fairly obnoxious.
jonz wrote:I've been riding the last couple days between rain storms on the gravel roads here near West Yellowstone. I'm using the Rambler tires. Near some summer homes, the stutter bumps are bad. I was using the same pressure - 30 psi front/ 35 psi rear and that area of stutter bumps was just hammering me. Today, I lowered the pressure to 28 psi front/ 32 psi rear. No problems yet and the ride was better. Speeds weren't high and I ran over a few rocks just to see how the tires responded at that pressure - no "tink" of metal rim hitting rock. My gear and I add probably 200 lbs to the bike. I'll probably experiment with even lower (slightly) pressures as the bad sections of stutter bumps are still fairly obnoxious.
Jonz- thanks for the update. My routes aren't as tire challenging as yours; but I too have been experimenting with slightly lower pressure. BTW, there are 2 versions of the Rambler 60 and 120 TPI. I chose the lighter weight 60 version because my rides are mostly on maintained dirt and gravel roads. I suspect that you are using the 120's which got a glowing review by JOM on Gravel Cyclist.
