[Closed] Tubeless for cyclo cross racing

Must admit I"m hedging my bets, one bike with tubs and the other with tubeless. I'm new to tubeless and have heard stories of burping at low pressures so will use them for fast dry courses at first with >25psi gradually reducing psi. I've run my tubs at 17/18 psi in mud with no problems but don't think the tubeless will cope that low without losing air.

Most serious CX riders still run tubs as tubeless isn't as reliable at low pressures

I do as Mr Pants and run one set of each. Tubeless setup was vittoria cross XL on grails, and honestly was 1% of the effort to set-up compared to tubs. Went on easy, inflate, ride - zero problems racing (I'm large so usually ride 25 +/-, would never ride sub 20).

Quite interesting to compare side by side - I actually preferred tubeless in the corners, esp cornering on a descent, because I like the way the stiffer carcass stands up. For outright grip, though, the tubulars ruled. We did one very heavy race in a deluge of wet mud and the tub bike was obviously better on the climbs.

Vittoria Terreno Wets on WTB rims here. Last race dropped them to 18PSi, hit many roots and the like, no issues whatsoever. Had been gradually dropping pressure since getting them. However, they were also the best tubeless combo for setting up I’ve ever used (including mtb) so that may have helped

I really should have done some research into CX tyre pressures before running 35psi and wondering why I was going nowhere on the climbs!

Stans Iron Cross rims with Schwalbe X-Ones, X-One Bites, and Bontrager CX1s.  Work very reliably.  I've had some issues with the Schwalbes unseating at < 20 psi, but not losing air. I've only noticed it's happened after putting the bike in the stand after the race.

All tyres go up easily with a track pump, and have happily swapped tyres a few times during the race before mine after riding the course.

I've run clement tyres on grail rims tubeless with no issue for the last two seasons.

We only ever seem to have muddy races, so two of us are running Schwalbe X One Bites - tried lots of clincher tyres and these seem the best and no problems tubeless with Novatech CXD rims. Only downside is the TL version is rather pricy.

Mrs is running Limus tubs - if buying wheels again she'd choose tubeless with the Schwalbes.

Most serious CX riders still run tubs as they've got loads of nice tub wheels and tyres still.Ftfy

I'm happy using Clement tyres at about 20-22psi tubeless on stans iron cross and on Alex rims cxd4.  I do find they loose pressure over a race - down to about 18psi after a few rim clatters so probably wouldn't go any lower to start

For the past 3 seasons I've used tubeless clinchers and had my tub wheels in the pits, rather than the other way round.

The year before I'd experimented with PDXs on Crest rims set up tubeless and liked how they felt, but they were the non-tubeless ready version and burped a couple times once I went down around 20psi, only once during a race though. The following year I got the tubeless ready version and haven't looked back. Complete confidence with them at 18psi, love how they feel and how light they make the wheels. On race day I try and do a hot practice lap and aim to feel the rim between 1 and 3 times!

Planning on trying the BOS tubeless ready next season, still on Crests. Definitely not a bad idea.

I did some races last season on tubless.
X-ones for dry and Specialized Terra Pro's for mud.

Hunt 4 season disc rims.

I ran the X-ones at low 20's and kept burping the front on a particular corner each lap. After 4 laps I was shouldering and running to finish as I burped too much air out.. It was the sort of hard braking, downhill, all the weight on the front type of corner, with a nasty rut across the corner.

Annoyingly, I got covered in suspicious looking white, slimy fluid (sealant) from running with an unseated tyre. Ooo Err.

Other than that they were fine. My own fault for running them too low. They were fine mid-high 20's.

Cheers for all the feedback. Not great when it turns rubbish then. I like tubular but such a faff!

I've ran tubeless Vittoria Cross XL's for 2 seasons on Stans Grail, drop down to low 20's. Never burped a tyre and the only thing holding me back on the climbs is me, not the tryes I'm running on.

It's so easy to do and for 90% of racers almost as good.

What about latex inners with clinchers? They work especially well with Challenge open tubulars.

I had a set of campag Shamal wheels with Baby Limus tubs and an otherwise identical clincher set with open tubular versions of the tyres and challenge latex tubes. They were my go-to set up for many races last season and when swapping bikes mid race I couldn't tell the difference. I never went below 19psi but then if I had I would have been on a more specific mud tub anyway.

To be honest I've seen far far more people have races end with rolled or punctured tubs than from any tubeless issue.

The worst thing I find is with one wheelset and a multitude of tubeless treads in the garage is the indecision about when to change tyres over, must have gone through gallons of sealant!

I transfer the sealant using a calpol syringe.  You don't lose much on each swap, especially if you hang the tyre coming off for a few minutes to let the sealant pool at the bottom.

And use cheap sealent, I use the OKO stuff diluted quite a bit.

Does anyone use backer rod in their CX tyres (see the DIY huck norris thread)? Struck me that 30mm rod would fill a CX tyre quite well.

Does anyone use backer rod in their CX tyres (see the DIY huck norris thread)? Struck me that 30mm rod would fill a CX tyre quite well.

Don't think there would be much call for it racing. Pretty rare to pinch flat a tubeless tyre on a CX course although of course it can happen (I once managed to locate the one rock on the lap and write off two tubs with a massive impact).

Might be good for general riding if you like to take the CX bike out on the trails. I rarely ride mine in the Peak proper due to the descents being tedious, but it you could open it up a bit knowing the rim was protected that would be good.