May 10, 2007
Shimano and Hutchinson's Tubeless Road Setup
Cycling
By John Bradley
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Shimano and Hutchinson's Tubeless Road Setup
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The tubeless-tire revolution has made its way to road bikes. Pro riders were testing tubeless setups in race conditions as far back as the 2004 season, including in the Tour de France but Shimano's new Dura-Ace WH-7801-SLs are the first wheels to market that are compatible with Hutchison's Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tires.
Wait, race-worthy road hoops with no tubes and almost no risk of flats? What are the drawbacks? After testing them on steep climbs, curving, 45-mph descents, and rough New Mexico back roads that I'm pretty sure were last paved by the conquistadors, I can say: There aren't many. First, though, let me talk about the benefits.
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If you inflate the tires with a can of Hutchison's Fast Air—an aerosol can with a foam that plugs small holes—pretty much the only way you can flat is if you slice the tire open which, in 20 years of cycling, I've never managed to do. This means you can leave the pump, tire levers, patch kits, and spare tubes at home. Also, since the tubeless setup locks the tire to the rim, you can actually ride home on a flat—though, on a nearly $1,000 set of rims, you should only try that if you're very close to home. If need be, you can also remove the valve stem and run the Hutchisons with a standard tube.
Enough with the practical benefits. How do they ride?
Aside from a reduced risk of flats, the main advantage to going tubeless is the ability to ride at lower pressure, which improves handling and delivers a smoother ride. Of course, a lower psi also means more rolling resistance, which slows you down. But Hutchison claims that, since there's no tube rubbing against the tire, the system offers a 25 percent reduction in rolling resistance over traditional setups. I normally ride at 115 to 120 psi, so for my testing, I inflated the Fusion 2's to 100.
As expected, things were noticeably smoother. Cornering was also more stable than I'm used to, since the lower pressure leaves more tire in contact with the road. I would love to have had a power meter to see if the rolling resistance was really comparable to my normal setup. But in purely subjective terms, I didn't feel like I was working any harder. The wheels wind up quickly, hold their speed, and are race-day stiff, while the tires offer noticeable handling improvements.
At a claimed weight of 1,560 grams per pair, the 7801's are about 100 grams heavier than comparable standard wheels. But you more than make up for that by leaving the pump and spare tubes at home. The tires weigh about the same as a standard tire and tube combined, so weight there isn't a concern. The Fast Air cans are a necessity, though. Without them, the tires lose air in a matter of hours. But with them, you won't even have to think about your tires.
Dura-Ace WH-7801-SL, $979 per set, bike.shimano.com; Fusion 2 Road Tubeless, $65 per tire, roadtubeless.com
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