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Road Tubeless Tire Recommendations

zircon

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Shimano Dura-Ace C24 wheel set

Those C24s can take a beating for being partially carbon and having so few spokes. I occasionally *ahem* forget and treat my road bike like my cross bike and I'm shocked that they're still rolling undamaged and true.

Do people have thoughts on a road-to-light gravel capable tubeless tire in the 28-32mm range? Currently running 28mm Teravail Ramparts on the CX as an off season tire, but they're kind of meh and heavy. I'm a fan of Vittoria tires, but don't want to step all the way up to Terrenos for road use.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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Dropped off my road bike for tune up. They noted cracks in my tires, so we decided to go with new tires. Given @Ron's praise of the Conti 5K, bit the bullet and went tubeless too. Also need new brake pads. I'm going to guess they'll call about chain and cassette soon enough. It'll be pretty much a new bike when overhauled. Hopefully it'll be ready by Sunday for my long ride.

Fingers crossed. Hoping to be able to tell the difference. Definitely hoping braking experience will be better. I've been going down some long steep slopes and the hands do get tired.

So the bike was dropped off last Monday. It's Sunday and I missed my long ride today, and two other shorter rides during the week.

I think the Conti 5K are on back order. Any other tires I should consider? Don't want to miss another week of riding. Riding has been helping the sanity.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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I have some old Specialized Armadillos. Just looked at them and they appear to be servicable.
Will probably tell them to use those until the 5K appear.

Any tire is better than no tire. Get the shop to give you something decent.
That's my feeling too.
 

scott43

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I have some old Specialized Armadillos. Just looked at them and they appear to be servicable.
Will probably tell them to use those until the 5K appear.


That's my feeling too.
I mean they do tires all day long. They may not give you exactly what you think is best but they'll give you something pretty good.
 

Tom K.

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I have some old Specialized Armadillos. Just looked at them and they appear to be servicable.
Will probably tell them to use those until the 5K appear.

Good plan.

You are going to LOVE those new Contis after riding the Armadillos! Hardest riding tire I've ever owned, by far.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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Good plan.

You are going to LOVE those new Contis after riding the Armadillos! Hardest riding tire I've ever owned, by far.
My 2014 Roubaix has the original Specialized Roubaix Pro 25C which has some small cracks. Any knowledge on where of the soft - hardness spectrum they fit compared to the Armadillos and Conti 5K? I've ridden Conti 4Ks before, and think the Roubaix pro are similar, maybe a touch former.

Hmmm... Sounds like I'm going to take corners a little slower (with the Armadillos) until the 5Ks show.
 

Tom K.

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My 2014 Roubaix has the original Specialized Roubaix Pro 25C which has some small cracks. Any knowledge on where of the soft - hardness spectrum they fit compared to the Armadillos and Conti 5K? I've ridden Conti 4Ks before, and think the Roubaix pro are similar, maybe a touch former.

Hmmm... Sounds like I'm going to take corners a little slower (with the Armadillos) until the 5Ks show.

Somewhere in between. Ha! The Roubaix Pro was a great tire for its time, but at six year old, the rubber is probably have hardened up a bit.

But anything rides more softly than an Armadillo. Tradeoff: I've never had a flat on an Armadillo.
 

Wannabeskibum

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Those C24s can take a beating for being partially carbon and having so few spokes. I occasionally *ahem* forget and treat my road bike like my cross bike and I'm shocked that they're still rolling undamaged and true.

Do people have thoughts on a road-to-light gravel capable tubeless tire in the 28-32mm range? Currently running 28mm Teravail Ramparts on the CX as an off season tire, but they're kind of meh and heavy. I'm a fan of Vittoria tires, but don't want to step all the way up to Terrenos for road use.

For my gravel bike, I am using PanaRacer GravelKing + . They are tubeless and 32 mm. Mounted on a nice pair of Hollowgram carbon wheels. They are great on the road and dry gravel/trail.
 

Wannabeskibum

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Slick - but the sidewall says GravelKing+
The tread pattern looks like the slick
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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I have some old Specialized Armadillos. Just looked at them and they appear to be servicable.
Will probably tell them to use those until the 5K appear.


That's my feeling too.

Well my Conti 5Ks came in on Fri (4/22). I did a ride Saturday morning where my front derailleur failed. I thought, great timing, now my bike can get refitted with the tires. Picked up the bike Monday afternoon (4/25). It sat in the garage until this morning for a quick ride only to be found with two flats and sealant leaking. Argh, will this be a dreaded mismatch of tubes and rims?

Took the bike in. A few hours later get a call that the tires were regular clinchers, not tubeless. Argh.
I'm back on my tubes and armadillos until new parts can come in.

Hoping most of you have had better experiences with your LBS. I'm starting to think of doing most of the work on my own. A few less people with to be dissatisfied.
 

Wannabeskibum

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Well my Conti 5Ks came in on Fri (4/22). I did a ride Saturday morning where my front derailleur failed. I thought, great timing, now my bike can get refitted with the tires. Picked up the bike Monday afternoon (4/25). It sat in the garage until this morning for a quick ride only to be found with two flats and sealant leaking. Argh, will this be a dreaded mismatch of tubes and rims?

Took the bike in. A few hours later get a call that the tires were regular clinchers, not tubeless. Argh.
I'm back on my tubes and armadillos until new parts can come in.

Hoping most of you have had better experiences with your LBS. I'm starting to think of doing most of the work on my own. A few less people with to be dissatisfied.
I find it hard to believe that your LBS could not figure this out before mounting the tires, but I guess it depends on how many “untrained” mechanics work at your LBS.
 

zircon

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+1 this should be obvious to any "mechanic." For one thing, the tubeless ones are at least 25% more expensive... Anyway, mounting a tubeless tire is probably the second easiest maintenance task you can do (after replacing a regular clincher). Don't bother paying your shop to do it when you can do it yourself in the same amount of time with half the headache.

The more I hear about other people's local bike shops, the more grateful I am for mine.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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Well my Conti 5Ks came in on Fri (4/22). I did a ride Saturday morning where my front derailleur failed. I thought, great timing, now my bike can get refitted with the tires. Picked up the bike Monday afternoon (4/25). It sat in the garage until this morning for a quick ride only to be found with two flats and sealant leaking. Argh, will this be a dreaded mismatch of tubes and rims?

Took the bike in. A few hours later get a call that the tires were regular clinchers, not tubeless. Argh.
I'm back on my tubes and armadillos until new parts can come in.

Hoping most of you have had better experiences with your LBS. I'm starting to think of doing most of the work on my own. A few less people with to be dissatisfied.
Well my tubeless Conti 5Ks came in. Picked up tubeless valves and sealant locally.
Now I need a (video) tutorial on how to put on the tires. I can't get the second bead on without a 15in gap. Ouch, these tires are strong. My thumbs are sore from a 30min attempt.
 

Wannabeskibum

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Well my tubeless Conti 5Ks came in. Picked up tubeless valves and sealant locally.
Now I need a (video) tutorial on how to put on the tires. I can't get the second bead on without a 15in gap. Ouch, these tires are strong. My thumbs are sore from a 30min attempt.
What Rims do you have? Some Rim and tire combinations are notoriously difficult. You may want to invest in a tire bead jack
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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What Rims do you have? Some Rim and tire combinations are notoriously difficult. You may want to invest in a tire bead jack
I have fulcrum racing 5s. Thanks for the idea. Looking at videos now. Could be wrong, but initial gut feeling is that it's not much easier than tire levers. Can't imagine taking the jack on the road; just too big.
 

Tom K.

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Well my tubeless Conti 5Ks came in. Picked up tubeless valves and sealant locally.
Now I need a (video) tutorial on how to put on the tires. I can't get the second bead on without a 15in gap. Ouch, these tires are strong. My thumbs are sore from a 30min attempt.


1. The opposite of what I was taught with regular tires, the last part of the bead goes on at the valve stem.

2. Once you start feeling resistance to getting any more of the bead over the rim, ake sure you have the already-mounted portion of the bead dropped into the center channel of the rim, so it is as "relaxed" as possible.

3. After you can't get any further by hand, finish with a plastic tire lever, only targeting a few more inches of bead at a time.

Rolf Wheels has some killer videos.
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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Thanks @Wannabeskibum. After watching the videos, I figured how to use the tire levers as @Tom K mentions. Then I learned how to move the beads off the valve so air could inflate the tire. Right now the one tire is inflated and I'm gathering strength to attempt the second. After that, sealant will probably be tomorrow. It's been a long day.

Thanks again.
 

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