When it comes to bicycle components, I don’t usually like fancy items like aluminum spokes, titanium bolts and carbon laminated rims. Of course, they offer some clear performance advantages over their steel and alloy counterparts. Huge tensile strength, greater stiffness, less weight and so forth. Nevertheless, I place greater importance on durability and spare-part availability. Because I occasionally take my bike overseas. And I have never thought about adapting my road bikes to new tubeless technology.
But, on the other hand, I always wanted to try tubeless wheels and tires. A tubeless system requires no inner tube; therefore, it is structurally simpler than clincher and tubular systems. And it is also widely adapted in motorcycles and automobiles. It should also work fine with road bikes. Unfortunately, for me at least, things are not that easy. The overwhelming majority of existing tubeless-ready road wheels require tire sealant instead of the inner tube. Tire sealant never makes complex systems simple. It is not a magic wand but sealing liquid which may contain hazardous chemicals, become the cause of the imbalance and even seal the valve. I personally think sealant is absolutely disgusting.
As the saying goes, everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Hence, when I first saw Mavic’s 2018 Ksyrium Elite and Yksion Pro UST — the first complete everyday riding tubeless road wheel-tire system, I finally decided to give it a shot!
Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST Pair M-25 – Red
The Ksyrium wheels come equipped with tubeless Yksion Pro tires. They are supposed to be delivered ready for riding. All you need to do before going riding is inflate tires — unless the tires are not installed wrong way around. When I got ones directly from France, I found the rear tire fitted in wrong rotation direction. C’est la vie. I removed the tire and measured the weight of the rear wheel (with the air valve) and tire.
I also wanted to know the weight of the front but couldn’t remove the tire that was stuck to the rim. After several attempts, I gave up and weighed the wheel and tire combo. I wouldn’t like to cut the brand new tire in half. And as I checked the weight of the rear tire, I could guess the weight.
If you are not familiar with the metric system, they are approximately 1.97 lbs (895 g) ; 0.56 lbs (253 g) and 2.05 lbs (931 g). The front wheel must weigh around 1.5 lbs (680 g), while the rear is 1.97 lbs (895 g).
Thanks to the tire’s exclusive design for Mavic wheels, it was surprisingly easy to remove and reinstall. So was getting the beads seated. I was, of course, an absolute beginner and had no experience in setting up tubeless tires. In spite of my lack of knowledge and experience, it took only less than 5 minutes to remount the tire on the rim bed. Neither ordeal nor soapy water were required. And both the front and the rear succeeded in holding air! I couldn’t help but let out a yell of satisfaction.
I hoped my excitement would last long — preferably longer than a week. As soon as I stopped inflating the tire with air, the front started losing the pressure. It lost almost all the air in just one hour.
The rear seemed alright at first. It, however, deflated slowly overnight. La vie est dure! I ended up adding a tiny bit of sealant to the tires.
Apart from the setting up, I instantly liked the wheels and tires. They accelerate noticeably quick and roll very quietly, effortlessly and comfortably. They are definitely worth the price. Now I need to test more tubeless tires and find out a way to use tubeless tires without using tire sealants.
