pq wrote:But actually, I don't care that much about any of this. My tubeless tyres feel like the silks I rode back in the 80s. They even sound a bit like them. Not scientific, maybe I'm imagining it, but they do feel great and that's why I ride them. I'm on Schwalbe Pro Ones at the moment but I'm looking forward to them wearing out so I can get the new Conti GP 5000 which look like they'll be even better.
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I agree and concur with your reports and opinions. I also find the sound of tubeless tyres reminiscent of the racing tubs i used back in the 90s
However, my recent conversion to TL tyres was incidental during a purchase of new wheels to replace an expensive pair of carbon aero wheels that are fast but lack comfort and not such a good choice of wheel in winter, so i ordered a new pair of custom built wheels with comfort - reliability - lightweight prominent in the design. The TL ready rims are Spank Industry's Flare 24 which include 'Vibrocore', a kind of closed-cell foam inner fill that claim to ...reduce transmission of harmful vibration frequencies, improving rider comfort, TBH difficult to really confirm but the displacement of the air cavity in the rim really does prevent the uninvited filling with puddle water.
The inner rim width is 24mm, very wide for a road wheel but this fits fine with the GP5000 TL tyres 700 x 32 size. The bike comfort has obviously improved immensely, floats over bumpy tarmac that used to really grate, climbing is easier, lots of traction, very confident handling when descending fast and not to mention unaffected by crosswinds. I'm sure these comfy new wheels are no slower than the fancy carbon aeros.
My decision to buy the GP5000 TL was recommondation of the wheel builder, i'm very glad i went along with it. These tyres have built in fun factor
From the little i've read about GP 5000 tyres, the larger size tends to be more beneficial of tubeless but the smaller sizes more beneficial of being tubed.