Very timely post, appreciate the comments. I am looking at the Shimano Dura-Ace WH-7850-SL tubeless wheel set now. I am delaying a bike purchase (planning on a Cervelo R3 with Dura Ace) and those wheels look interesting. I have read enough about the tubeless road wheel advances that I am ready to make the leap. I am not too sure about the Hutchinson tires, but I figure that tire selection will increase fairly quickly. I really like the feel of the Continental GP4000 tires, and run them on our tandem because I can get them in a 25C size, so that is my performance benchmark.

I also like the fact that the Shimano wheels are using loose bearings. I am not sure that I need the carbon rims, and so would likely get the Scandium version, but they do look nice. Special brake pads? Congratulations!

__________________
2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue

I was running the Continental Grand Prix 4000 s on bontrager rims prior to this upgrade. The contis are great tires! Hutchinson is basically the only tubeless tire provider as of now. That will certainly change in the future. They have 3 tire options. The Atom which is a light weight slick, more of a performance race tire. The fusion 2 and now 3 which is a more durable slick and then the Intensive which is an all purpose trainer tire. Thats the tire I went with. I think the Atom and Fusion are in 23C size. The Intensive is a 25. I am very pleased with the road feel of the Hutchinson tire. I have only been out on the wheelset once since i put them on for a 25 mile ride. I love the feel. Like I said, it absorbs so much of the road imperfections. I feel like the Shimano rims/hubs are so buttery smooth. My brother has a set of ultegra rims which i had ridden on before I made the purchase and I really liked the feel. Mounting the tires was a tight squeeze. It is necessary to use some type of sealant (I used hutchinsons latex sealant) for the tires to seal and seat into the rim.
No special brake pads are required because the braking surface is not carbon. This was a huge attractor for that I wouldn't need carbon specific brake pads. That will be a fun bike, your Cervelo R3. I was going to go to a demo day 2 or 3 weekends ago to test ride one. I am running dura ace 7800 gruppo on my bike. I love the Dura Ace gear. I think you should build your bike up with a Dura Ace Di2 gruppo )) haha. As far as the wheels appearance, which is so important they look awesome. You can also get the ultegra in tubeless for much less. But that wouldnt work to build your bike up with DA gear and not get DA wheels.
Overall, an awesome wheelset. Shimano definitely makes a good wheel and I agree about having the loose bearings. I think it would be a great opportunity with building up a new bike to enter the tubeless world. Feel free to ask more questions, especially as i get more miles on the wheelset.

JCL, I like the looks of the last Thule rack. My buddy has the same system lock down on his T2 rack (for a hitch). I may have to look into getting one of them.

AZX, I'm lovin' the 29ers! For me it's been a dream since I'm 6'5" and 270lbs. I've been beefing up my Stumpy over the last year slowly after replacing all the broken stuff on the bike. It's now pretty "Clyde proof". It's amazing how much abuse these bikes can take. I pancaked the stock DT Swiss rims pretty quickly and had a Salsa Semi rim built up and then decided that tubeless was the way to go. The Stans ZTR's with brown Chris Kring hubs have been the best upgrade to date. Absolutely no issues with the tubeless.
The Niner's are sick. My buddy's got the brown RIP and loves it. You'll have to post up the Vana White when she's built up. Red CK hubs would look great on that bike. Never mind they're great hubs. Have you looked into the Industry Nine wheels? Another buddy built them up with Arches in blue for his Salsa Selma and he uses them as his race set.
I don't know much about road bikes but would love to get into that as well. I can just imagine what I'd have to pour into that bike to make it "Clyde proof". I almost pulled the trigger on a TI Seven that has been sitting in my lbs for a while. It's just silly what they're asking for these bike now a days though.

Yakima has a thru axel adapter that'll work for you.

I use it on both my Giant bikes. Works well.
Just understand that, if you're fork mount rack has a lock on it that would lock the bike to the rack (as my Rocky Mount's rack does) the bike won't be locked to the rack. The adapter will be but not the bike.

You'll need to use a cable or "U" lock to lock the bike to the rack.

I looked at "wheel on" racks that hold the wheel/tire when I picked up the rack for the new X.

I knew I didn't want a frame clamp rack. So my choice was a fork mount rack (which I went with) and a wheel clamp rack.

My concern for the wheel clamp rack was that if I had a slow leak in the tire that was not caught when I racked the bike. The bike would get loose in the rack as the air slowly leaked out.

Not a good though when driving down the highway. Hence I chose the fork mount rack...

I have Bontrager rims (original Race) on my Trek 5200, and while I have no complaints, I just want something lighter and faster.

I knew about the Hutchinson Atom and Fusion tires, but not the Intensive. I don't know if it is available locally, but I'll look into it, thanks. My LBS has the tubeless Shimano wheels advertised, so they must have tires.

I thought I had read about brake pad restrictions, but the warning online is just that you can't use the Shimano performance pads, they are too aggressive. Must be thin rims. That is a nice feature, not to have to go to special pads. The carbon hoops are still a bit pricy here ($1400 vs $1200) but that is due to our smaller market. No, I won't go to the Ultegra version. I have Ultegra on the Trek, and it works fine, great in fact. When we built the race tandem we went Dura Ace (and Rolf wheels), but that was in 2008. Again, it works great, but it isn't the latest. We got my wife a Cervelo R3 this year, and she has the newer 2009 Dura Ace, very nice. I want it. I don't need the DI yet, I would probably try Campy just for fun before going DI, although I like the idea and technology of the DI gear.

I think I need to try tubeless on this build. I had also been reading about the Fulcrum two way fit wheels, and the red spoke version would look sharp (white bike), but Shimano gear is nice. Let us know how you like the wheels as you get some miles on them.

Jeff

__________________
2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue

I got back into road cycling after many years away, and wanted something that didn't flex when I stood on it. I am 6'4", 225 (I was closer to 250 in 2006). The Trek OCLV was stiff enough in the bottom bracket for me, and was compliant enough to be very comfortable. They have all come a lot further in the past few years, but you can now get a frame that can stand up. It is worth paying attention to the fork as well. Wheels continue to be something to watch, you just need to buy something that is designed with your power in mind.

When we built up a race tandem (30 lbs, plus pedals) for my wife and I, we got Rolf Vigor tandem wheels. 20/24 spoke count, 1850 grams for the set, twice the torque in to the drivetrain, 360 lb combined rider weight, and I didn't need to true them once in the first 5500 km. Tandem components take much more abuse than any single bike component. We got 5000 km out of the drive chain, and tires. So, it comes down to buying the right components.

I figured I wanted good wheels at 60 km/hr, and they do cost a bit more, but compared to other hobbies, cycling is still pretty cheap.

__________________
2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue

Bunyan: So after kicking around my LBS I have deciding no go on the Jet 9. I found one for a smoking deal but it just isnt the right frame for my riding style or where I live. I really do need something with more travel. Something like the rip 9 would be far better suited for my needs. Saying all of that, I have decided that I am not going to get a new mtn bike at all. I am going to upgrade the wheels on my current bike which is a really nice bike, I just needed to be reminded that haha. I think I said before I am riding a Fisher hifi pro. I have begun disliking the way the bike handles. I think this is mostly attributed to the wheelset. They are the original bontrager rythm elite tubeless wheels. They feel flimsy and extremely not sure footed. It was fun to build up the niner in my mind however. It was one sexy looking bike how i was going to build it up. Anyways, I think what I will do rather than building a custom wheelset is go with the Mavic Crossmax 29er wheel with a 15 mm quick release to beef it up a little more. I know the CK hubs are so sick and have such good bling factor but the mavics would be much cheaper and be extremely satisfying. I have looked at Industry Nine wheels. They are sick!! However they are a little overkill. They are expensive and if they break or have any issues the turn around time to get them fixed will be long because LBS cant work on them. They have to go back to I9. So I am going to continue enjoying my current bike and have some fun spending money on it!!!

JCL: My LBS only had the Atoms. I ordered my tires from artscyclery.com. I buy a lot of stuff from them. They are located in California. Pretty good prices. I was joking about the Di2 gear. I think it is the coolest gear but it is pricey. The wheels i upgraded from where Bontrager race lites. The base level bontragers. I think they are great wheels but no comparison to something like the DA's. I am running Mavic ssc dual pivot brakes. I am not sure what the pads are but I love these brakes. I had swapped out the DA brakes for these. Much better bite and they instill a lot of confidence. My buddy who runs the LBS sent me out today on a real special limited edition single speed hardtail. I forgot who's bike it is we were talking about so many bikes. The bike has Fulcrum Red Metal 29 XLR UST Tubeless wheels. I think fulcrum makes a real good wheel. Riding a single speed in the mtns is something else. It is super fun because it is so light and not having to think about shifting. However, half way through steep climbs you really start to appreciate having gears haha. Maybe tomorrow night I will get out on the road bike and get some more miles on the new wheels. But i would definitely recommend going for it on your new build. It is a lot smoother. When i drop down to an aero position going fast, I dont feel like the bike has any jitters as it sometimes did with the old wheelset. You just cant beat how smooth the ride is. I was able to get a great deal on these wheels. I got them for $875!!!! Wholesale is $850. All the trolling around on Craigslist payed off. They were take offs from an s-works and the shop had no need for them and just wanted to get rid of them and get out of them for what they had in them. This is a lot of fun chatting with you guys!

JCL: After riding the Fulcrum wheelset today on my mtn bike it is on my consider list for mtn bike. I was looking at their road wheels and they offer tubeless versions. Perhaps those wheels would be good options?