Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Tubeless tires and the dilemma

So last weekend, I did a full conversion of my wheels to a tubeless system. Find more info here:http://www.notubes.com/

I have to admit, it wasn't very difficult to do. The tires I'm using are Kenda Nevegal 2.35 DTCs. I've read that they're some of the hardest to seal. It was a day long process, but I was able to ride on Sunday. The performance gain was instantly evident, but I could not get past the fact that they might leak on me or something. They had been slowly leaking air all day Sat. but seemed all sealed up. Either way, the ride was good and the tires were doing thier job.

Well, come Monday, I find the front tire flat, leaking sealant. I went through the steps to reseal it and on Tuesday, it had lost some air but was doing ok. I rode Tuesday afternoon (just ahead of the snowstorm, I might add. Temps close to 60 degrees) and they held up pretty good. The rear has a wobble in it that's a bit annoying (I've noticed this on new Nevegal tires before) but on the trail it's not noticeable.

Come Wednesday, the rear tire was flat overnight! I pumped it up before work to 40psi and it was holding air, so that's not the issue. It seems that maybe it's not sealing or that during riding, the seal is breaking. I can't figure it out. I'm not giving up yet, but it seems that tubes are much easier to deal with. I just love the faster rolling wheels that tubeless provides. And with all the thorns around, the flat resistance is a must. But how resistant is it?

To be continued...

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