Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Winter tubeless tyres?

I'm currently running a pair of Schwalbe Pro-Ones and find them a bit slippery on wet roads (and they're not new, so I have run them in).

With winter around the corner, I'm looking to get some 28mm tubeless tyres that are more confidence inspiring. Any recommendations?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

Add new comment

35 comments

Avatar
Johnnyvee | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've put 32mm Sectors on my bike and very pleased with them. See wiggle has them back in stock. They went on easy and have stayed up.
Good grip on last couple of club runs.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've just had a hell of a time getting the IRCs 28mm to seal on my back wheel (I'd bought them over a month ago, but have been waiting for my Schwalbes to wear out).

I tried a few tricks - seat one bead by fitting an inner tube, inflating and removing it. I was trying to get it to seat with a track pump and also a Beto tubeless canister and had no luck at all. I then thought I'd try a Milkit valve/tubeless kit to see if that made a difference and fitted it this morning.

A few hours later and still no luck at all.

Then, I thought I'd supplement the rim sealing tape (original tape supplied on the wheels) with some Gorilla tape (you can rip it to the desired width). Fitted that and re-fitted the Milkit valve. Then, I just tried the track pump and watched in disbelief as the tyre seated itself without even any sealant being added.

So, the moral of the story is to check your rim tape.

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Sorry only ever used schwalbe for tubeless, been perfect once installed correctly by me, correcting wheel builders poor rim tape installation

Avatar
Aminthule | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've just bought a set of Hutchinson Sector 28 tyres to run tube less and asked my local bike shop to fit them for me. The first tyre has gone on fine and snapped straight into the rim bead, however it will not maintain pressure and when tested with soapy water the mechanics have found that the tyre is leaking heavily from the side wall, especially along what appears to be the join between the side wall and the siped tread part of the tyre. The tyre has lost around 50% of the initial 80psi in around 6 hours, so pretty impractical. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?no

Avatar
Miller replied to Aminthule | 6 years ago
0 likes

Aminthule wrote:

I've just bought a set of Hutchinson Sector 28 tyres to run tube less and asked my local bike shop to fit them for me. The first tyre has gone on fine and snapped straight into the rim bead, however it will not maintain pressure and when tested with soapy water the mechanics have found that the tyre is leaking heavily from the side wall, especially along what appears to be the join between the side wall and the siped tread part of the tyre. The tyre has lost around 50% of the initial 80psi in around 6 hours, so pretty impractical. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?no

Assuming they're full of sealant - they are, aren't they? - try pumping them back up to pressure again. Tubeless sometimes needs a few days to settle down. Btw 80psi is a bit high for 28mm tubeless in my opinion, they'll be fine at 50-70psi.

You'd do well to get to grips with fitting tubeless yourself. It's not difficult, just different to what you might be used to. Generally I can get tubeless to seat with just a track pump so you don't necessarily have to invest in fancy chargers or whatever.

 

 

Avatar
Spangly Shiny replied to Miller | 6 years ago
0 likes

Miller wrote:

Aminthule wrote:

I've just bought a set of Hutchinson Sector 28 tyres to run tube less and asked my local bike shop to fit them for me. The first tyre has gone on fine and snapped straight into the rim bead, however it will not maintain pressure and when tested with soapy water the mechanics have found that the tyre is leaking heavily from the side wall, especially along what appears to be the join between the side wall and the siped tread part of the tyre. The tyre has lost around 50% of the initial 80psi in around 6 hours, so pretty impractical. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?no

Assuming they're full of sealant - they are, aren't they? - try pumping them back up to pressure again. Tubeless sometimes needs a few days to settle down. Btw 80psi is a bit high for 28mm tubeless in my opinion, they'll be fine at 50-70psi.

You'd do well to get to grips with fitting tubeless yourself. It's not difficult, just different to what you might be used to. Generally I can get tubeless to seat with just a track pump so you don't necessarily have to invest in fancy chargers or whatever.

 

 

Also ensure that you inflate them initially to the upper limit of the tyre to make sure they seat properly, then reduce the pressure for comfort. On 28's I would be trying 50PSI on the front and 65PSI on the back on a combined rider/bike weight of 91kg.

Avatar
staffo replied to Aminthule | 6 years ago
0 likes

Aminthule wrote:

I've just bought a set of Hutchinson Sector 28 tyres to run tube less and asked my local bike shop to fit them for me. The first tyre has gone on fine and snapped straight into the rim bead, however it will not maintain pressure and when tested with soapy water the mechanics have found that the tyre is leaking heavily from the side wall, especially along what appears to be the join between the side wall and the siped tread part of the tyre. The tyre has lost around 50% of the initial 80psi in around 6 hours, so pretty impractical. Has anyone else experienced similar issues?no

I had a similar problem with my Sector 28 rear tyre though not quite so bad. It was losing around 20 psi a day. After a month it stopped, I guess the sealant took a while to fully seal the tyre.

I would ride it for a couple of hours, pump it back up to 80 psi and see how much pressure you lose over the next few hours or the next morning. 

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

@gunswick - you may be right. I've reduced the pressure in the Pro Ones and last night although the roads were quite wet, I didn't notice any particular slipping of the tyres although I still didn't feel confident on them in the wet.

I can't seem to find 28mm Hutchinson tyres in stock anywhere, so I'm going to get a pair of the IRCs instead.

Avatar
gunswick | 6 years ago
0 likes

I wonder of the tyre pressure is the problem. 90psi is high for these. I have schwalbe s-ones (g-one speeds) and they grip very well, but, they really only like 60psi (they are max rated at 75 iirc) else they skitter about and are hard.

If you have the pro-ones setup tubeless (and you should!) then try them at 60psi or even 55. The reviews of those tyres are glowing, I can't believe they all did not identify wet grip issues.

Avatar
Ogi | 6 years ago
0 likes

Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season TL?

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

So far, it looks like IRC are winning - especially as no-one (not even ACycles) has the Hutchinsons.

Something occurred to me about the Pro Ones slipping in the wet: I wonder if it's the pressure that's causing the problem, so I've dropped mine from 90psi down to 60psi to see if that helps.

Avatar
schlepcycling | 6 years ago
0 likes

Another thumbs up for IRC tyres, specifically the IRC Roadlite.  I know it's not sold as a winter tyre but I used a pair over last winter and so far they've covered over 4000 puncture free miles.

Avatar
mtbtomo | 6 years ago
0 likes

No issues with my pro ones in wet races. They haven't lasted mega miles but then they're meant to be a fast light tyre so I wouldn't expect them to last 1000s of miles.

I'd use some normal Ones for winter if my non-race tubeless wheels weren't a bit the worse for wear and i was going to fit some new tyres.

I'd never try ghetto tubeless (normal tyre) on a road bike due to the pressures involved. Mtb, yes. Road, definitely not!

Avatar
kevvjj | 6 years ago
0 likes

Have a look at the Bontrager Hard-Case TLR series. Currently running the R3 TLR version and they roll fast and (so far) no issues with ounctures or lack of grip in the wet.

Avatar
rutland | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've done about 1,000km on 25mm Pro One tyres tubeless on Pacenti SL23 v2 rims (20.2mm internal width) at 70 psi.  In the dry they have been great,  but on wet and greasy country lanes I have had the back step out on me a few of times and I've had to catch the front when cornering on a couple of occasions lately.  I'm going to try dropping them to 65psi to see if that improves things. If not, I'll be trying IRC Formula Pro or going back to tubes and Open Pave.

Avatar
paulrattew | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've got 28mm Pro-ones on my 'road bike' at the moment. Apart from the initial lack of grip due to whatever preservative gets sprayed on the tyres at the factory I've never had any grip problems with them. It probably took fifty or sixty miles to bed them in but after that they have been just as good as almost all the other tyres I've tried, even in the wet. Prior to the 28mm tyres I had the 25mm version, which were also fine grip wise. Every sety of tubeless road tyres I've tried seem to require a little bit more bedding in than non-tubeless tyres. The only tyres I've tried that were super grippy straight out of the box were conti GP 4000Sii which are simply not suitable as a winter tyre

On my 'gravel' bike I use a mix of tyres depending on the riding I'm exptecting to do. Two sets of schwalbes - X-ones for CX style riding, 35mm G-ones for more mixed riding, and a set of hutchinson sector 28mm tyres for road only riding (and wintery sportives). I'm lucky enough to have a couple of sets of wheels for that bike so I can keep them set up with different tyres. When the hutchinson sectors finally die I will probably replace them with either the 32mm model or with schwalbe G-one speeds as there isn't enough of a different in the speed of those tyres compared to the 28s to put me off of them.

Avatar
Bowks | 6 years ago
0 likes

If you're looking for the Hutchy Sector 28's, I got a pair for £75 from Acycles a few months back.

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Never subscribed to it, get one that can do most, if not all.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

@sergius - I'm comparing the Pro-Ones with every tyre I've used though not GP4000s. Mainly Vittoria, Hutchinson, Maxxis etc. The problem is when the road is wet/damp and the pressure may be a factor too as this weekend I pumped them up to 90psi and that definitely makes them very slippy. Yesterday morning, I had the rear wheel skid from light-ish braking and then on my way home, I had the rear wheel slip a tiny bit whilst accelerating from traffic lights though it was a shiny bit of tarmac.

I've used Pro-Ones on my previous bike and noticed the same, so I'm pretty sure it's the tyres and not just me being heavy-handed.

@CRX94Di2 - how does that fit into the n+1 ethos?

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Trade frame for so can take 40mm tyres. You then only need one bike two pairs of wheels to do pretty much all terrain riding. Cough Tripster V2  1

Avatar
sergius | 6 years ago
0 likes

I'm running Schwalbe Pro Ones on my best bike, with the time of year I've been taking out the winter bike/best bike depending on the weather.  The 25mm Pro Ones on my best bike don't seem to grip noticeably differently from the Conti GP4000SII tyres I've been using for the last few years on all my bikes (touch wood slightly better with punctures though), and am running the 28mm version of the Contis on my winter bike.

 

I'm in a bit of a funny situation in that I refuse to adopt tubeless right now, but Hunt issued some guidelines that Conti tyres were no longer supported and sent me some replacement Pro Ones - which other than the fitting dramas and the one puncture I've had this year (unseating tubeless tyres appears to be a whole different ball game to the Conti's I'm used too), have been fautless.

 

I guess my only point is that from my frame of reference; with two high end "race" tyres, they seem to offer a similar level of grip - I've done 1000's of km on both by now.  I'm never going to corner at speed across a mini-roundabout on a painted surface in the wet - you need four wheels for that.

I can't really think of any situations where some additional tyre grip would make me go faster, I've certainly never experienced any straight line slip unless the road is wet and covered in crap, and the gradient is 10%+.

 

What are you comparing the Pro Ones too?

Avatar
Jimthebikeguy.com | 6 years ago
0 likes

G-one speed (s-ones in old money), the liteskin tl easy version. Amazing.

Avatar
Miller | 6 years ago
0 likes

Those cycleclinic 28mm tyres are not Pro Ones, they are first generation Ones although still tubeless-easy. I know cos I have a pair on a bike I put together recently. I was taken aback at their weight, 390g per, on the other hand I have come to love them. At 60psi they roll really, really well. They're ok in the wet in my opinion, depending on what you expect a tyre to be able to cope with.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Miller | 6 years ago
0 likes

Miller wrote:

Those cycleclinic 28mm tyres are not Pro Ones, they are first generation Ones although still tubeless-easy. I know cos I have a pair on a bike I put together recently. I was taken aback at their weight, 390g per, on the other hand I have come to love them. At 60psi they roll really, really well. They're ok in the wet in my opinion, depending on what you expect a tyre to be able to cope with.

Thanks. I don't know what it is with the Schwalbe Pro Ones as they're absolutely lovely in the dry, but it just needs a little bit of moisture on the road and they start slipping when accelerating or braking. I've not had any other tyre be so fickle in the wet, but like you say, they do roll very nicely.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

@iso2000 - I can't see any size other than 25mm. Interestingly, thecycleclinic website has some Schwalbe Pro-Ones in 28mm width which almost tempted me until I remembered how slippery they can be in the wet (I've never had tyres that slippery before).

Avatar
iso2000 replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

@iso2000 - I can't see any size other than 25mm. Interestingly, thecycleclinic website has some Schwalbe Pro-Ones in 28mm width which almost tempted me until I remembered how slippery they can be in the wet (I've never had tyres that slippery before).

you can select 28mm here:

https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/collections/road-tyres/products/2017-irc-formula-pro-fusion-x-guard-tubeless-tyres

I haven't used these but will be buying the 28mm pros next summer to replace my winter G-One Speeds.

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

@MoutonDeMontagne - I don't have enough faith in ghetto tubeless. I'd rather just put in inner tubes than always have a nagging doubt at the back of my mind.

Avatar
iso2000 | 6 years ago
0 likes
Avatar
MoutonDeMontagne | 6 years ago
0 likes

I have much the same quandry as I love my G-ones on my cx bike, but they won't fit on the road bile (max 25mm). Not tubeless, but I've recently switched to Vitorria Pave's from GP4000s and been very impressed.

On the subject of GP4000s, I've manage to get them to seal on a non tubeless rim (askium but with schwalbe tape) but not dared ride them. If you're on tubeless rims, might be worth a round the block experiment on the off chance you've an old one lying around. 

Avatar
johnvrcc | 6 years ago
0 likes

I have a pair of Mavic's Yskion Allroads 30mm which I like. Pros: very grippy, pretty fast on tarmac, can be had for under £30. Cons: wear quickly and cut/puncture fairly easily (have always sealed for me, but then can't be inflated past 60psi without bursting)

Pages

Latest Comments