Tubeless vs Tubeless ready

Question

I've decided to upgrade to road tubeless. Hutchinson sells both "Tubeless" and "Tubeless Ready" tires. According to Hutchinson' website, Tubeless Ready means that (in addition to having a special bead) the tire's tread is air permeable and will gradually lose air, so sealant is needed, not just to seal punctures, but to slow the loss of air.

Their Tubeless tires, on this other hand, have a butyl lining that prevents air loss. Although a sealant can be used to seal punctures, it's not required.

My question: Do tubeless tires -- the tires that have a lining -- hold air as well as tires with tubes? (Note, my car's tires don't have tubes and they hold air quite well.) I ask because I need my tires to stay pumped up, and not go soft overnight the way they usually do on my mountain bike.

Answer 1

Proper tubeless (UST) tyres do indeed hold air well, but are also heavy and don't roll as well (due to extra material that needs to deform around objects). Due to the nature of MTB'ing you are also likely to need sealant for puncture protection, as whilst UST tyres are more robust, they can't shrug off all potential punctures.

This is why you see very few UST tyres available for sale now, with most riders (and manufacturers) preferring tubeless ready.

In my experience, a well set up tubeless ready tyre with sealant holds air at least as well as an old tyre/tube combo. I typically lose ~2psi/wk on my tubeless ready setups so usually top them up once a week, but could go 2 weeks if necessary.

Answer 2

My understanding of "tubeless ready" is different from yours: as I've seen it, "tubeless ready" is used to describe wheels (more specifically, rims), not tires.

In order to mount tubeless tires, a rim needs to have a more aggressive hook to retain the tire's bead than you find on a normal rim; it also needs to have a self-contained valve and airtight rim tape (or a continuous bed). Some also have a deeper center trough to simplify tire mounting.

When I've seen something marketed as "tubeless ready," it means that it has the correct kind of rim, but it's not necessarily set up with airtight rim tape, and it has a conventional tire and tube.

As to tires, people running tubeless tires generally put liquid sealant in them. This is primarily to seal punctures on the fly, but it also has the effect of sealing tires: some lightweight tubeless tires will weep sealant for a while, but (as I understand it), eventually the sealant fills the pores so they stop weeping, and this should retain air.

Answer 3

For years I've used Hutchinson Fusion Road Tubeless on Easton EA90 SLX tubeless road rims. I do not use sealant, since once you get a build up of dried latex in the wheel rims, it's hard to get a good, airless, rim fit again. I just carry spare tubes. This gives the comfort and road grip of 90psi.

When new, the tires are EASY to get on the rim using tire lubricant or soapy water, without any tools. On the road, when putting a tube in a flatted tire, as long as you leave one tire rim engaged in the wheel, it's easy to fit it back on with no need for tools. There is a knack to doing this, and it depends on getting the tire rims properly into the wheel channel designed to be used in fitting the tire. But once you get the knack, it really is simple.

Getting the tire off the rim needs two (plastic covered) levers and the start can be particularly difficult.

I find I need to put a few pounds (4 or 5 maybe) of air in every few days, so there is some leakage, but it's very minimal.

It's a bummer that Hutchinson have abandoned the Road Fusion Tubeless and will only produce Tubeless Ready in future. I am going to try their Intensive road tubeless tire, though reviews complain about it being very slippery in wet weather