A very well kept secret in the world of tires is that you can use the Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubeless Tires on a regular set of everyday rims. “But I thought they could only be used on specially made like Dura Ace or Falcrum Zero wheels?”, you ask. Not so. Me being me, I got very excited when I first heard this. I just had to try it. Maybe I’ve been riding my bike too much and haven’t been paying close enough attention to the tech world , but I thought that if I hadn’t heard anything about this, there’s probably a few other cyclists out there who didn’t know this either.
The gracious folks at TFM Prahran gave me some Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubeless Tires to try this out with. There’s a bit of a process to doing this, but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it looks at first. I’ll strip this down and tell you everything you need to know without all the other junk.
Why would you want to use a set of tubeless tires anyway? Tubes have been working great since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Well for one, you can run tubeless tires at a lower pressure without worrying about a pinch flat. This comes in handy when its wet out and you need better grip for cornering, or if you want a bit more of a comfortable ride. Recommended pressure on these tires are between 100-125psi. The weight difference between this setup and a regular tube/tire is negligible. These Hutchinson Tubeless tires weigh 290g each. A tube/tire setup is approximately 220g (tire) + 70g (tube) – depending on the tire and tube you go with.
Also, with the Stan’s tire sealant in the tire, you can put a bullet through these tires and you won’t flat. Stan’s will seal it every time. If you get a nasty slice in your tire, then you can always get a $5 bill out and put a regular tube in there and ride home like you would have one with a traditional tire/tube.
What You Need
- Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubeless Tire(s)
- Stan’s Tire Sealant (can also buy in small 2 ounce bottles)
- 21mm tubeless rim tape
- 44mm Tubeless Road Valve Stems
The Process
The process of installing these tires is dead simple. You can read about it here and see the video below:
I found that my Eurus’ installed flawlessly. The didn’t even need the Stans to inflate and kept the air in without any problems. The Mavic Open Pros have spoke holes in the rim so there’s much more potential for leakage. I had a small amount of difficulty getting the Open Pros pumped up and sealing the bead (mostly around the valve stem), but once I worked it out it was fine. The next morning the Eurus’ didn’t loose a PSI of pressure but the Mavic’s lost about half. I pumped them up again and left them overnight. After the Stan’s sealed everything they didn’t lose any pressure overnight.
Over the coming months I’ll keep you posted on how these tires are holding up and how they perform. If you have any installation issues feel free to ask. There’s a couple things on the video that aren’t obvious if you’re doing this for the first time. That said, it’s quite straightforward and really simple. It took me about 1hr. Will take me about 20mins the next time I do it.
BTW, I tried to copy the composition of this shot from Velodramatic. I still have lots to learn about photography…
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LOL you totally copied it :)
I was like total rip off before reading the last line.
Good shot :)
I learned really quickly into this blogging gig that it’s not as big of a world out there as it first seems. If I’m not upfront about the stuff I rip-off I’ll be busted in a heartbeat!
Velodramatic is my unknowing style and design consultant. Inspiration may be a better word…
Hi Wade,
Just a note to consider this article before applying some types of sealant to a tubeless setup. http://www.velonews.com/article/89375/lennard-zinn-tire-sealant-corrosion-disc-brake-spoking
Thanks for that Michael. I’ve written to Stan’s to see what their response to this is. I’ll post their response.
Tires are not the easiest of cycle accessories to review. Hutchinson is one of the biggest rubber manufacturers in the world. The Hutchinson Fusion Air Light Tires are very easy to ride very nice cycle tires, probably the best I’ve used with their top class performance.
I like the copy cat composition better than the original photo. :)
Ha! Thanks Jill. I hope Velodramatic isn’t reading ;-)
the only thing I have on him is COBBLES! Always gives a dramatic effect
The video on the tubeless tires is great. Have you tried this process with Campy Neutrons? Mine are Circa 2003-4. I also wonder if you have computed the weight savings by leaving out the tube considering how much the sealant weighs. Which sealant do you suggest?
Is it stupid to consider a very light tire and the lightest sealant to hopefully reduce the weight by 100+ grams? Since this is the most efficient part of the bike to take off weight it is tempting.
How big of a mess is it when you finaly have to change out the tire, does the sealant present a gooey mess?
tks.
Hi Dwight,
I haven’t tried this on the Neutrons, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work the same as my rear Mavic Open Pro (I assume that there are spoke holes in the Neutrons).
I don’t believe there are any weight savings (if so, they’re marginal) by using these tubeless tires. As I said in the post above “The weight difference between this setup and a regular tube/tire is negligible. These Hutchinson Tubeless tires weigh 290g each. A tube/tire setup is approximately 220g (tire) + 70g (tube) – depending on the tire and tube you go with.” I don’t think you’d go with this setup to be saving weight – I think you’d go with it to reduce punctures.
I haven’t taken them off yet so I’m not sure of the mess involved. There was about 2 ounces of Stan’s put in the tire, so it’s not a lot, but perhaps a bit of a mess. Not sure.
I’ve been riding these tires for about a month now. So far so good, but I’ll be writing another post about these in a few weeks to give a final review on them.
@Dwight: I have used Stans for a while on my MTB so can answer 2 of those questions.
– there is very little weight saving, but a massive* saving in the number of flats you’ll get. On top of that you get reduced rolling resistance because of the more supple tyre.
– when you change the tyres out, there will be a mess. Don’t do it sitting inside on your brand new sofa. Do it outside. :-)
* “massive saving in punctures: in a 10 day MTB racewith a team of 4 in outback Queensland, 3 of us got about 25 punctures because of the horrible thorns everywhere. 1 of us got zero (0) punctures. Guess the 1 guy who had the tubeless tyres with Stans liquid? The rest of us had different kinds of puncture resistant and goo filled tubes – and they didn’t help much.
Dwight,
It almost sounds like from your comment that you are considering running another tire as a tubeless setup. Don’t!! They will blow off – only tires made for tubeless setup can work and right now I only know of one road tire that is tubeless: Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubeless.
Not sure if this is what you were saying, but wanted to make sure it is clear.
Beautiful site, by the way!
I have the regular (non tubeless) Hutch Fusion 2 tires and love ‘em — I might have to try your trick with the tubeless and see what happens.
The velodramatic image is probably HDR — multiple exposures taken at different settings to dramatically increase the contrast.
When you say rims, I presume you mean clincer rim tires. I am not entirely sure, as this is my first year in cycling. Will this work on wheels like the Shimano WH-r500, the Mavic Kysrium Lite, or the Williams Clincher 58?
sorry, clincher rim WHEELS
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