What you see here is the beginning of an experiment. The tires are Hutchinson’s tubeless Fusion 2s. The can in the back is the sealant, and the tool next to it is a modified tire lever. The foreground is where things get interesting. Those black things are special rim strips for sealing off the spoke holes. Behind them are the valves. And in the middle – a golf tee. That’s for poking a hole through the rim strips for the valve. It came with the kit.

I’m going to try mounting these up to my SUNringle’ Accelerator R3.0C wheels as soon as this weekend. Better to test this out on the rollers in the basement rather than out on the road. The benefits are said to be lighter weight, lower rolling resistance, and greater puncture resistance compared to a conventional clincher tire. Sounds great, as long as they hold air and stay attached to the rim!